Canon T3i Experience
some situations the exposure that the camera determines may not be the exposure you desire. This may happen when photographing scenes with very bright and/ or dark areas, or some other type of dramatic lighting. Since dramatic and interesting lighting can make for compelling images, you will need to know how to deal with this. In these situations you can make use of either Exposure Compensation, Exposure Lock (AE Lock), or one of the other Metering Modes below. Of more likely, a combination of these three solutions.
3.6b Partial Metering
This mode meters a small central area, about 9% of the viewfinder area of the T3i. The area is approximately a circle that is larger than the spot metering circle you see in the viewfinder, and reaches to about the inside edges of the nearest focus points (see Figure 14).
Figure 14 - Harbor, Gloucester, Mass. - Partial and Spot Metering Areas of the T3i - Partial Metering Mode evaluates only the area under the superimposed grey circle to determine the exposure settings. Spot Metering Mode evaluates only the area inside the black circle seen in the viewfinder to determine the exposure setting. Shutter speed 1/400, aperture f/4.0, ISO 100
This mode is useful where there is a dramatic difference in lighting between the foreground or subject and the background. For example, when your subject is backlit - maybe standing in front of a bright window or the sun - and consequently their face is in shadow. I know I said evaluative mode can often handle this type of situation, but if you
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