How to use exposure lock feature

[hotdrive]

Hello,

I'm using a Canon xh-a1 in Auto mode and am a bit lost how to shoot a subject with bright background, eg. bride walking down church aisle.

Can the exposure lock function help? If yes, how do I use this exposure lock feature? Or is there another trick that i can use without needing the exposure lock?

Appreciate any help/suggestions for this...

Thanks

 

[jaegersing]

The exposure lock is a very nice and quick way of switching the cam in and out of full manual mode.

For example, let's say you like to shoot in Tv mode (like I sometimes do), with the shutter set to 1/50s. The camera will adjust the aperture to get what it thinks is the correct exposure. If people are going to be moving around during the shot, the exposure would try to keep changing the aperture, to maintain a constant average exposure. To me, this does not look good at all.

So before I start the shot, I normally press Exposure Lock, and then make a last minute adjustment to the iris ring. This means the exposure will be fixed during the shot, without any fluctuations due to people moving or the camera panning.

At any time, you can press Exposure Lock again, to put the cam back into Tv mode. This lets you check that you are not getting too far off the "correct" exposure at any time. (You should use the zebras for this as well.)

Regarding the bride in silhouette against a bright background, all that Exposure Lock will do for you is allow you to open up the iris to make the bride brighter. If the difference between subject and background is too great though, you will blow out the background so don't overdo it. It is probably better to stop short of over-exposure of the background, and then bring up the bride in post.

Even better, try to get a fill light to bring up the bride's level during the shot.