Spot Metering

The Sony Mavica 91 digital camera has a spot metering mode. In this mode, you can aim a spot, at the center of the view finder, at the part of the image which you wish to expose properly. In high contrast situations (like this dark coral on white sand), this can be very useful.

In the first exposure, I aimed the spot meter on the center of the button coral. The exposure is about right, although the details in the skirt are lost, because they are too dark.

The second exposure was made with the spot meter on the brown skirt. The details in the skirt are clearer, but the center of the coral is now a bit over exposed.

In the final exposure, I metered on the sand. The details in the sand are now clear, but the coral is very under exposed.

In order to create a proper exposure, you first need to decide which part of the image is most important to you. You then can use the spot meter to vary the exposure in order to achieve the desired result. By slowly moving the "spot" from a very bright spot to a darker spot, you can select the exposure you desire.