Default preference on metering mode

[Dawesy]

Just interested to know if the wildlife / bird specialists have a preference for which metering mode to use . I have experimented with all of them with varying success. I appreciate light is the key to everything in photography hence I keep pondering on the metering mode. I seem to struggle when taking photos of birds on water in overcast conditions. The easy option appears to be evaluative metering but it sometimes gives me disappointing results hence I keep experimenting with the others. Any views would be appreciated
Thanks Steve

[planetc]

Re: Default preference on metering mode

If you shoot raw then evaluative is usually a good starting point for further tweaks in post. You can use exposure compensation for very dark or light backgrounds.

[Dawesy]

Re: Default preference on metering mode

Thanks for the reply Paul , I usually default to evaluate but a mate of mine tried hard to convince me that spot metering on the subject was the way to go for wildlife photography which started me experimenting.

[John Liddle]

Re: Default preference on metering mode

I think spot metering is OK if the subject is of reasonably uniform brightness - but can fail where there are high contrast sections of the bird/animal - think penguin for instance - which bit do you aim at?

[planetc]

Re: Default preference on metering mode

I think that's where getting a feel for exposure compensation comes in. Using evaluative, then comparing the whole scene to your target. I've tried spot and partial on my dog sports and never managed to get a better result than I could with evaluative and reading the scene.

[Dawesy]

Re: Default preference on metering mode

Thanks for the replies , will persevere with evaluative mode I think