How to meter?

[stefan_johansson1]

Hi,

 

I've been doing photography for a while, but I still haven't learn

how to meter correctly. I am always very uncertain and often take two

or three shots of every subject. It is a big problem when shooting

moving animals and landscapescenes with fast changing light. The only

thing I want to do in those situations is concentrate on composing. I

would like to go out and "look at" the light and set the exposure and

then merely concentrate on the subject. Is it possible?

 

I talked to a professional nature photographer here in Sweden and he

told me that it exist a zone system for slides and colorphotography.

Does anyone know about it? Please help me with this irritating

problem.

 

Thanks in advance,

Stefan

[richard_cochran]

This is a subject that is too big for a single thread.

There are several good books on metering techniques,

including variations on the Zone system for color photography.

One of my favorites is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

See if you can borrow or buy a copy.

[kevin_lackey]

If you have trouble finding it, refine your search. Bryan Peterson usualy goes under B. "Moose" Peterson.

[richard_cochran]

I don't think Moose is the author of Understanding Exposure.

Moose's website doesn't mention it, and the book doesn't have the word

Moose anywhere on the cover, nor does the book use the word

"legendary" enough to be the work of Moose. I think

(but I'm not at all certain) that "Understanding Exposure"

may have been written by the Bryan F. Peterson who wrote

"Learning to See Creatively".

At any rate, an Amazon link to the book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817437126/ref=ase_avsearch-bkasin-20/103-0984626-2328645">here</a>.

[sam_mahmoud]

This is one of those areas in which there is just no substitute

for knowledge and understanding.

 

"Understanding Exposure" is indeed a fine book on the subject,

and would be a good place to start.

 

Another excellent book is the Bahman Farzad book, "The Confused

Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering." This book

goes over the same information repeatedly, presenting it in

several different ways. This makes it not much fun to read,

but being fun to read is really not the point of a book like

this. The point is: when you are finished and put the book

down, do you walk away with the knowledge you need? With

this book, you do. Lots more info about this book here:

http://www.spotmetering.com

 

There is also a good explanation of a so-called "zone system

for color" in the "Chromazone" materials. I personally do

not think the instructional materials here are quite as

clear as the Peterson or Farzad books, but they come with

a unique set of color cards that are good for metering from,

and for comparison to help to judge the "zones" of other

objects. These materials can be purchased here:

http://www.photonaturalist.com/chromozone/index.asp

[george_mathew2]

Hi

 

"The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering." by Bahman Farzad is a good for understanding the zone system. I just finished reading this book and it really gave me a very good idea about zone system and also about varuious metering systems.

 

Next step I have taken today is that I ordered for Charles Campbell's Chromazone expert kit. This kit comes with reference book, set of 20 color cards, audio cassttes and video cassttes. Bahman Farzad follows the zone system that was invented by Ansal Adams for black and white photography. He ask you to imagine your object with out color in order to find out its correct tone which is a difficult task. But where as Charles system does not ask you to think in black and white which is an advantage and more helpfull I think. Cannot comment more about this as I am yet to receive the actual package from them. you can find out both the web page links in the previous post.

 

Good Luck

Another excellent book is the Bahman Farzad book, "The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering." This book goes over the same information repeatedly, presenting it in several different ways. This makes it not much fun to read, but being fun to read is really not the point of a book like this. The point is: when you are finished and put the book down, do you walk away with the knowledge you need? With this book, you do. Lots more info about this book here: http://www.spotmetering.com

 

 

There is also a good explanation of a so-called "zone system for color" in the "Chromazone" materials. I personally do not think the instructional materials here are quite as clear as the Peterson or Farzad books, but they come with a unique set of color cards that are good for metering from, and for comparison to help to judge the "zones" of other objects. These materials can be purchased here: http://www.photonaturalist.com/chromozone/index.asp

[billballardphotography]

I highly recommend the "Chromozone System" by Charles Campbell. The improvements in my photography have been incredible, almost instant.

 

I like his approach to Zone, because, like me, he doesn't care about theory. He only wants results - and the program works like a very specific "how-to" without all the "why" and "why-nots." Don't get me wrong, I know an understanding of basic theory is necessary to use Zone; but if you can understand shutter speed/aperture relationships, I think you've got enough of a grasp of photographic theory to use the "Chromazone System."

 

www.photonaturalist.com

[dan_smith]

Take a couple rolls of the film you normally shoot & go out & photograph some setup shots. If you shoot animals, get some stuffed animals or a skin & photograph that. Meter & bracket & take notes & then look at the slides. Do this in bright direct light as well as angled light, early & late as well as in the shade. You will make all the basic mistakes & correct them on a roll of film or two with a 2-3 stop bracket. Your notes will be helpful in reminding you just what was shot & what your meter said when you did it. Then you will have a graphic display of what is 'right' and what is definately over & underexposed for the lighting & subject matter you shoot.

You can always do another roll in snow or heavy overcast or whatever, further refining your understanding of the meter you usually use in various lighting conditions.

[alex_lofquist]

B."Moose" Peterson is Bruce Peterson.

[photosyn]

Dan's advice is very good. You could do a trick that works for me

most of the time and look for an 18% gray card. They are lying

around everywhere in nature... I'm not kidding! Grass, leaves

rocks any thing will do, just try and visualise the tone of a gray

card is and apply it to lets say a gray rock that a White sea bird is

sitting on. If you meter for the white bird your exposure can be out

by as much as 2 stops, if however you take your metre reading

off the rock it will be spot on. You have to trust your self and your

meter. I shoot a lot of flowers in gardens so I use this method all

the time. A white or yellow flower.... not a problem I meter off the

leaves spot on exposure. Go out and experiment take nots

make mistakes and learn! THINK GRAY OR GREY depending

on what neck of the woods you inhabit. Cheers!

[gary_jean1]

Finding a middle tone only solves part of the problem. Then you have to decide if you want to put the middle tone in the middle. Which means you have to understand the full range of exposure values. Suppose the full range is 6 stops? You're going to have to decide if you want to expose for the highlights, the shadows, or the middle tones (thereby letting the shadows block up and the highlights blow out). You can read all the books (and it's a good idea to do that), but you need to just go outside and meter. Meter everything in all kinds of light. Take notes. An incident meter is nice to have too. Compare incident reading with reflected readings. My camera has evaluative, partial, center-weighted, spot, and multi-spot metering, but I still pull out the incident meter from time to time for a basic sanity check in unusual conditions that can fool you (like fog).

 

Since you are interested in landscapes, I'd also recommend John Shaw's books (e.g., Nature Photography Field Guide). He offers a simple but very workable exposure method that doesn't rely on zone system.

[sam_cotton]

Hi Stefan,

 

Read the exposure chapter in Arthur Morris' 'The Art of Bird Photography' - its got everything you need. Exposure is a universal thing so its not specific for birds.

 

Sam.

[frank uhlig]

What is wrong with just investing in a good modern camera, from any company and trusting the program mode? For a while ... that is. And when you realize what you would want to have done differently if you had metered (and probably lost your wildlife shot ...) then you can learn to compensate for those specific situations on the fly by opening or closing a bit.

 

I realize that nearly everyone above told you ways to learn metering by the books, but with modern technology on an F100 or a Canon 1, who needs to learn metering? No-one goes out with a yard measure nowadays to set the proper distance, is there anyone who does not trust the built-in focussing help?

 

I personally can see no need for separate light metering today, very little need. But instead, a consciousness of where and when the otherwise 99% certain in-camera meter will go wrong.

[daniel flather]

Frank is right. With modern cameras, the in-camera meter is very accurate. The only time

you really need to compensate is when your subject is overly bright or dark. If I'm out

shooting in the snow, I just spot off the snow and open up 1.5 stops and I'm set. If you

need you can buy a gray card, for $5 you can't go wrong. Just shoot a few rolls of

chromes and look at where the meter was off, if at all.

[pphaneuf]

Vadim Makarov's site has a pretty interesting page on this: <a href="http://www.vad1.com/photo/spotmeter.html">http://www.vad1.com/photo/spotmeter.html</a>.

[dan_smith]

There are currently no large format cameras (those 4x5 to 20x24 often used to photograph landscapes) with built in light metere. Much less auto metering or program 'mode'. (and they don't have landscape & portrait "modes" either, you shoot horizontal & vertical compositions with them)

Learn to meter accurately. This will only come with experience and that experience can be sped up by shooting a couple rolls of film of what you normally photograph while bracketing 2-3 stops both over & under your meter reading & then critically analyzing the results.

Hollywood movie cinematographers do not bracket the hell out of everything while praying 'something works'.

Learn to use your tools & you will free up the mental faculties to concentrate on excellent images rather than worrying about whether or not you got the exposure right.

[stan_murawski__jr.]

Hi Stefan,

 

First of all Bryan Peterson and Moose Peterson although professional photographers are two very different people.

 

You can�t trust the most sophisticated camera�s program and matrix metering system for all images. Check out John Shaw�s column on metering white on the Joe Van Os website, http://www.photosafaris.com/ and many of the other archived columns for other interesting subjects by world famous photographers.

 

Most professional photographers I�ve encountered make their exposures using a system where they metering the main subject in a scene and determine its tone and set exposure from it. I agree that John Shaw�s latest book �Nature Photography Field Guide� and video #1 �Understanding Exposure� of his video series by Frank Hughes Productions is also a very good teaching aid. Another good source for exposure direction and fundamentals would be John Gerlach�s �How to Shoot Perfect Natural Light Exposures on Color Transparency Film�. He hands this out at his seminars so you might have to email him at, gerlachjb@aol.com, to obtain a copy. To use Shaw�s or Gerlach's method you must perform tests with each film you plan on using to get correct ISO settings in each camera you plan on using. As a follow-up, check out Campbell�s Photographic Art website, http://www.photonaturalist.com/, and his teaching aid �ChromaZone� a tool that helps you determine different tonalities. Arthur Morris� book is another outstanding source of metering on the fly, again you have to do quite of bit of experimenting. Check out his website, http://www.birdsasart.com/, and read some of his old newsletters in the archive section. He show some of his photos and explains how he exposed most images.

 

Getting the correct exposure is essential to obtaining great images and requires use to use our brain as well as the camera manufacture�s.

[jason_elsworth3]

I would agree with those above in terms of using a spot meter and a zone based system. I have found this to be the best way to achieve control of my images in landscape photography, especially in "interesting light". However, it wont meet your objective of setting an exposure in and forgetting about it. In rapidly changing light you will still have to take frequent meter readings. It will though take away much of the uncertainty over what your final results will look like.Charles Campbell's book the Backpackers Photography Handbook explains it well.

 

When it comes to wildlife phtography I think that using matrix metering and dialing in exp comp depending on the scene is probably the best way to go. This is method used by Arthur Morris and explained in his books, and allows you to work as quickly as possible and concentrate on composition. However, in practice I have found it difficult to use, as I don't yet know my meter well enough to detrmine the correct compensation each time. Arthur Morris offers some advice in his book, but I have often found it difficult to apply as it involves judging the tone of both the subject and the background. Currently I use my spot meter around 50% of the time and matrix around 50%. My aim is to move to around 80/90% matrix.

 

Jason Elsworth www.jasonelsworth.co.nz

[scott_fairbairn]

The other day I was confronted with an exposure dilemma. I was photographing a shorebird in late afternoon on dark rocks with waves crashing on them. To complicate matters, there was a brigh blue sky reflection intermixed with a very light reflection from the hill behind. There was nothing that I felt confident in calling middle tone around other than the back of the bird. Normally I would spot meter it , but it would not stay very long. Using matrix and dialing in compensation is useless in cases such as this because everytime a white wave comes in, it changes. So using matrix and dialing compensation in is not always useful. Does anybody use incident light meters for difficult conditions , or is it just another piece of clutter to drag around? It seems an incident meter would be ideal as it is not affected by the reflectance of your subject and you could adjust the exposure according to the tone of your subject?

[karl_lehmann]

Scott, in that situation try metering on the palm of your hand (held in the same light as the subject) then opening up about a stop. Alternatively you can try spot metering on a white wave and opening up about 2 stops. You won't usually get detail in both dark rocks and white surf, the contrast is to high.

[rod_barbee]

The problem with just trusting the camera's modern evaluative metering and hoping for the best is that you won't be able to get the best pictures possible. Think about those landscape images with dramatic lighting. Most of the time the range of light in these images is beyond the capability of the film to record. In this instance, it doesn't matter how good your matrix meter is, it can't change the fact that the film cannot record the range of light in the scene. The only way to get great photographs in these situations is to understand the limitations of the film and to use a spot meter to find out what the range of light in the scene is. Then you can take some steps to help the film record the scene, such as split neutral density filters and fill flash. And you usually need to use a spot meter to determine what the range of light is, what tonality you want the different elements in the picture to be, and which split ND filter you need to use to achieve all this (1-stop, 2-stop, or 3-stop)

 

hope this helps a bit

 

rod