Metering from the environment

Another great tip from Peterson in his book Understanding Exposure relates to how you can use elements within your scene to take meter readings when your cameras meter is confused under difficult lighting situations.  I have tried this and it really works.  Here is the summary.  As before I strongly recommend reading the book to get a better understanding.  I am only writing the information below for reference purposes.

The Sky Brothers:

1. Brother blue sky: for all kinds of photograph on sunny days take reading from of the sunny blue sky
2. Brother backlit sky: for backlit sunrise and sunset landscapes take reading to the side of the sun
3. Brother dusky blue sky: for city or country scenes at dusk take reading from the dusk sky
4. Brother reflecting sky: for coastal scenes or lake reflections at sunrise or sunset take reading from light reflecting off the surface of the water

Mr. Green Jeans: if the composition has a lot of green in it you take the metering off the green area and expose -2/3.

Try it for yourself and see.  Hope that helps.