With spot metering on a white area, you usually need positive exposure compensation—about +2 EV is a common starting point. A camera meter assumes whatever you meter should come out around middle gray, so if you meter directly from snow or a white bird at 0 EV, it will often be rendered too dark or gray.

In manual mode, the same idea applies: if you meter from the white subject, you’d typically place it around +2 on the meter rather than at 0.

That said, don’t apply +2 blindly in every scene. If there are important highlights that could clip, or if the scene includes both very bright whites and very dark subjects, the best compensation may differ. In some mixed-contrast situations, 0 EV can be the best compromise.

Practical rule: meter the white subject, add positive compensation, then check your result and reduce exposure if highlights are blowing out.