Meter for highlights? Meter for shadows?

<p>I've often seen meter for highlights - slide film, meter for shadows - negative film. But just exactly what does this mean - meter for the highlights, then +1 or +2 exp. compensation; meter for shadows, then -1 or -2 exposure compensation. If no exposure compensation, then we are going to get some black and white becoming gray. Or just meter on the highlights/shadows, then leave it alone?<br>

Thanks for your help on this mattter.</p>

 

<p>I've always understood "meter for highlights" to mean, spot meter on the brightest thing in the frame that you don't want to blow out, then add two stops. Meter for shadows, similarly, means spot meter on the darkest thing you want to have detail on, then subtract two stops. This seems to be pretty much what my Minolta Spot Meter F does if I press the highlight or shadow buttons after taking a reading.</p>

<p>I look at this the following way. If I measure the exposure on a highlight region (white or white like in color), I open depending on how much "whiteness" I it to be. Similarly, I close depending on what is the color of the shadow and how dark I want it to be. I do this while keeping mind the range of stop the my film will capture sufficiently well. I am no expert, but I usually allow around 6 stops for negative film and allow 3~4 stops for slide film.</p>

<p>I also note that in negatives, it is more important to capture the shadow details. Given the high latitude of negative film, it is quite likely that the brightest region will also be within the dynamic range of the film. In slides, however, the highlight are clipped and distract more than dark shadows and thus need more weight while deciding the exposure.</p>

<p>The following link will help in understanding the basics:<br>

http://www.normankoren.com/zonesystem.html</p>

<p>I am by no means an expert, and would love to read what experienced users have to say on this topic ... which is going to be a lot! :-)</p>

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<p>The adage regarding negative films is, " meter for the shadows, and develop for the highlights". If you underexpose the shadows or important dark areas, no amount of time in the developer can add density to these areas. And in theory if they're properly exposed ,over developing cannot cause the shadows to lose detail either. So an important concept is that "exposure effects shadows areas, and developing effects the highlights".</p>

<p>Correct metering of slide films is something that a single practice roll can teach you. More important than metering, you have to understand that with slide films, you have a rather limited brightness range. And it is best to carefully choose subjects that have limited amounts of overall contrast. So if the scene has a higher brightness range than the film can handle, metering is a moot point. In fact slide films can lose detail at both ends in a single scene. This where the use of graduated ND filters can wrestle the contrast down to acceptable limits.</p>

<p>For over 50 years I've generally followed the axiom...slides, meter for highlights, negative films, meter for shadows, and it gave generally satisfactory to really great results. About 15 years ago I seriously began to make two important changes...first was to begin using a gray card and learn about the zone system concepts, the second was to gain a more complete understanding of incident light metering. Although most of my cameras have built in metering (reflective metering of course), the key to consistent success here was to remember that the meter would read the scene as if it was a gray card, so adjustments needed to be made, stopping down for darker subjects and opening up for lighter ones; whereas with incident light metering, I found my overall results were more consistent without making many adjustments. Negative films are pretty forgiving compared to slide film, i.e. they have more latitude. Modern cameras, especially those with matrix metering or its equivalent, make it pretty hard to really screw up an exposure unless you are talking about extremes of light and darkness, or really high contrast. I much prefer to grab my incident light hand held meter and shoot based on its readings, and often in difficult lighting situations, I still occasionally pull it out to validate what my camera's meter is telling me. For me, the "Aha" moment came when I realized that the "Sunny 16 Rule" was what Kodak ha been printing on the inside of their film packs for over half a century (they don't do it any longer), and that is just what my meters were telling me as well! These days, I mentally estimate the exposure, take a reading, and if need be rationalize the difference, and make any necessary adjustments. What once was an exercise in mental acuity and analysis, has become pretty much akin to grabbing a toothbrush in the morning...and yes, I test myself almost every week just to make sure I'm not overlooking something. Now flash is a different animal entirely!</p>

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<p>Meter for highlights? Meter for shadows? ... just exactly what does this mean</p>

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<p>This is why I don't like using short "jargons" like that. They don't really make sense.</p>

<p>The issue here is if you expose brighter you can get the details in the shadow areas but you may lose the highlight areas because they will be too bright. On the other hand, if you expose darker you can get details for the highlight areas but you may lose the shadow areas because they are too dark</p>

<p>Meter for the highlights means expose as bright as possible without losing the highlight</p>

<p>Meter for the shadows means expose as dark as possible without losing the shadow</p>

<p>It is crazy to me to give someone the rules above (in the OP question) without fully explaination</p>

<p>John's advice is pretty good. Put another way:<br>

Meter for the highlights means "don't overexpose the brightest parts of the scene to the point you lose detail you want"<br>

Meter for the shadows means "don't underexpose the darkest parts of the scene to the point you lose detail you want"</p>

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<p><em>The adage regarding negative films is, " meter for the shadows, and develop for the highlights".</em></p>

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<p>Not bad advice but for most of us shooting roll film, you normally develop the whole roll the same way. If you know you took the roll (or at least the important pictures on the roll) in high or low contrasty light, you might adjust development for the highlights/contrast. So the advice still holds but is more directly practicible with sheet film.</p>

<p>I got something out of Carson Graves'<em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zone-System-35MM-Photographers-Exposure/dp/0240802039/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284616999&sr=8-2">The Zone System for 35MM Photographers: A Basic Guide to Exposure Control</a> </em>book. It's largely about a relatively practical approach for zone system with black & white negative roll film but what you learn about exposure control will not be wasted when applied to color & transparency as well.</p>