Metering on Sony a350 (ND Grads)

[dannyhazy]

Hello WDC Members I hope you can help me...

I am having some problems metering to use my ND Graduated Filters.
This is what have been doing so far...

Set up my tripod and find a good shot.
Place camera into Liveview, Manual Mode and Spot metering.
Point camera at foreground, Set Aperture to F11 and alter shutter speed until meter reads 0
Point camera at sky and see the meter go way off the scale (past +2)

At this point is there anything I've done wrong?
How do i count how many stops it needs to come back to 0 when its off the scale?

Are there any other points/tips people could give me :-)

Thankyou

[Nigel Atherton]

The basic procedure is described here (http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/techniques/camera-skills/mastering-your-camera/452074/neutral-density-filters-nd-grads.html) in our feature on using grads. The basics are to meter for the foreground, then meter the sky, work out the brightness difference in stops and add the appropriate ND grad.

So for example, if your foreground is 1/60sec at f/8, and your sky is 1/500sec at f/8, that's a three stop difference.

You might find it easier to do your metering in Apaerture priority mode, as it will tell you the shutter speed value.

[dannyhazy]

How did u work out that 1/60sec to 1/500sec is 3 stops?

Danny

[Andy Beattie]

How did u work out that 1/60sec to 1/500sec is 3 stops?

Danny

A 'stop' is a doubling or halving of exposure (whether by altering the shutter speed or aperture)...

1/60 - 1/125 - 1/250 - 1/500
or
f4 - f5.6 - f8 - f11

(works in reverse too)

Hope that helps
Andy