jbouchard Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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I've used one minor piece of it. In the case where I have a portrait with a very dark background, average metering would over-react to the background and overexpose. I remember from the Zone system the typical Caucasian skin tone is supposed to be +1 from basic 18% gray, so I'll spot meter on skin and set exposure at +1.
Back in the day, they needed the zone system because they didn't have the instant feedback we have now. After I take a shot I can look at the LCD with the "clipping" screen enabled, and things that clip will be blinking at me. Sometimes it's OK to have little pieces clipping, sometimes it's not. If the exposure isn't right, adjust and shoot again. They didn't have that luxary, so to avoid coming home with junk they spent a LOT of time trying to get exposure right on film. With modern gear and instant feedback, we can work on composition and spend less time fretting over exposure.
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