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Film exposure / lighting different in two images shortly taken after each other.


dennis_gyprot

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<p>Hi there,<br>

I need some help with determining how to measure the light and how to expose an image correctly. I'm new to film photography and I did some testing last weekend and I got for two images shortly taken after each other two different results. I wonder why this exactly is and how I would manually influence this change in output?</p>

<p>http://s9.postimg.org/8zamgiinz/000019.jpg<br>

http://s9.postimg.org/rg517bym7/000018.jpg</p>

<p>I hope anyone can give me some advice on this! Thanks in advance.<br>

<img src="http://s9.postimg.org/8zamgiinz/000019.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://s9.postimg.org/rg517bym7/000018.jpg" alt="" /></p>

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<p>You have a different look in these two pictures because you have different lighting. In the first, at least partial or thin clouds are obscuring the sun. You have soft shadows to prove it. In the second, the cloud has moved away and you have clear sunlight with hard shadows.<br /><br />Replicating the look of either one isn't a matter of exposure. It's a matter of lighting. If you have a bright sunny day with direct sunlight and you want the overcast look, you need to go somewhere out of the direct sunlight, or put up a "scrim" to soften the light. If it's a cloudy day and you want the bright sun look, you need to bring in a lighting unit, be it flash or otherwise.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the reply Craig.<br>

Now you mention it, that makes totally sense! Thanks for the tips, I'll utilise them and fool around with it next time I'm testing some film photography.<br>

Also, do you reckon on the sunny version, that if I would underexpose the shot by -1/3 or -1, it would reduce the highlights, especially on his forehead?</p>

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With film it's best to wait for better light, use

modifiers as Craig suggested, or try filters.

Cinematographers sometimes use contrast reducing

filters. Few still photographers have experience

with these so Google around for some

cinematography forum chatter. Some highly

regarded pro cinematographers are remarkably open

about their favorite techniques for working with

available light on deadline.

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<p>Reducing the exposure would reduce the brightness of the man's forehead. But it would also reduce the brightness of everything else in the photo. You already don't have any detail on the back of his pants or his lower jacket. One of the most common tricks in still photography in full sunlight is to use flash. That way you can reduce the exposure to accomodate the bright spots, but the flash fills in the shadows that would otherwise go too dark as a result of reducing the exposure.</p>
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<p>Ditto to what Craig and Lex have said. You have several options:</p>

<p>• Modify the light with a large scrim (though not always practical).<br /> • Use flash or reflectors.<br /> • Wait for the light.</p>

<p>Many daylight-exterior lighting issues can be more easily solved by simply waiting for the light. Note that due to atmospheric haze, late-afternoon sun can amount to as much as three stops less light than when the sun is high in the sky. If shooting in mid-day sun, you may need to resort to large scrims (e.g., Lastolite Skylite Rapid), reflectors, or brute-force flash power. It's often easier to just wait for the light.</p>

<p>I believe low-contrast filters ("lo-cons") have mostly fallen out of vogue since the old days (e.g., 70s-80s), since modern film crews tend to solve these problems with brute-force amounts of lighting and grip equipment these days. Lo-cons also have the effect of bleeding highlights into shadow area (i.e., halation effects), which is sometimes desired for effect, but can look unnatural.</p>

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