Basic usage of light meter when shooting portraits

[chris_shawn]

Hello, I just bought a light meter (Minolta Auto Meter VF) to use it

with flash. I read the instruction manual but it was lacking

information on where to place the meter exactly. I have no experience

with meters, can somebody please answer my simple questions:

 

- Where do I meter? Nose? Cheek? Forehead? Or is it all the same (as

long as the part of the face will be part of my photograph)?

- How close do I have to be at the subject with my meter?

Almost "touching" the face with the meter I suppose.

- How many different parts (face, hands, etc.) should I meter? Should

I meter several parts and calculate a mixed exposure then?

- I point the meter in the direction of the camera always, right?

 

Thanks a lot for answering my beginner's questions.

 

Thanks!

[miles_feigenbaum___dallas_]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0967152305/104-1485764-5044743?v=glance

 

 

The Hand Exposure Meter Book (Paperback)

by Gerald Hisrchfeld, Bob Shell, Martin S. Silverman, Jim Zuckerman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

List Price: $19.95

Price: $16.96 & Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. See details

You Save: $2.99 (15%)

[jonathan_brewer1]

Scroll down to this thread....................# Incident light metering. Very basic question! by Leo Rossi (2005-04-13).............which is some ways below yours, you've bought an incident meter, you've mentioned things on a person face so I'm assuming you're talking about photography people.

 

These kinds of questions always spark 'spirited' discussions on various techniques different folks have in using an incident meter. Metering/light/exposure is not rocket science, it's not real complex, but it's not simple either, there's a learning curve.

 

You don't need to be intimidated, you just need to invest in some time auditing imagery that shows the various exposure/lighting techniques/read what you can about the subject/keep asking your questions, and then ultimately there's the kind of learning that comes only from you at some later point 'jumping in' and experimenting/testing these techniques for yourself.

 

A number of people early on in my photography, showed me the thought process behind certain effects/techniques in lighting, and that's the only reason I get involved in threads like these, in passing along what I know, I feel like I'm paying back the folks who showed me.

 

What do you want to do with your lighting? I'm assuming from your questions that you may be considering portraiture, just discussing lighting/exposing/framing a head and shoulders/tight headshot involves endless possibilities,............if you want to shoot the portrait of an old mountain climber to show every pore on a face that's been exposed to the elements for years, and what that experience has done to his face/character.............................I think you'll find yourself making certain choices in how you light/expose for the mountain climbers face to show what you want to show about that subject matter.

 

The way you expose/light does several things to a photograph, you can use it to suggest a mood, the time of day, to accentuate the look/feelings coming from a sitter, you can go for the glamourous look of an old Hollywood movie, or the 'dark and mood' look of Film Noir.

 

In terms of what you want to know, if I'm doing a head and shoulder portrait, I'll turn on one light at a time and place my meter at the sitters position, just a little below the sitters chin(you can place the meter in front of the nose/the eyes, but I don't do this so as not to be intrusive w/the clients face), and w/pointing the globe of the meter directly at the lightsource, I'll take a reading, this simply gives me the illumination on the sitter coming from that lightsouce.

 

If I'm doing a portrait and I'm using one light which is directly above the camera, I can pretty much point the globe of the meter at the lens, and I'll get a fairly accurate reading for exposing that subject matter, that's because the light and camera lens are pretty much in the same spot,...........the light is pretty much lined up w/the camera lens and illuminating the subject matter without a lot of shadow.

 

The above example is a very simple lighting scheme which is very simple to meter, if after looking at the above set-up, I decide I want to lighten the shadows if there are any, I can use another light(a softer/more diffuse light than my original light) to lighten those shadows, and then you talking about lighting with a 'key' and 'fill'.

 

Now when your lightsource and the lens are in two very different positions(the lightsource is off at an angle to the lens, and creating a shadow), you'll need to learn how to meter for the illumination of the lightsource AND whatever shadow it creates.

 

A little farther down the learning curve will be dealing with multiple lights illuminating a scene/subject matter which will be illuminating the subject matter from different positions and how you intend to manage not only the illumnation from these lights but also the shadows they create.

 

Most incident meters have have a translucent globe over the sensing cell so that you can point the meter at the lens in order to simulate the effect of your lighting on that globe, if your subject matter is a human face, the lens will see the lighting coming from whatever angle it's coming, AND the shadows created by that lighting and how they hit that face,.................................if you place the globe of an incident meter in front of that human face and point it at the lens, your lighting will hit the meter in exactly the same way the lighting is hitting the face, and the meter will calculate for the lights and their shadows.

 

My suggestion is to read/look at the establisment of mood in paintings/ask questions/find some interesting books on lighting/check out the images of folks that inspire you, and try to figure out how they did what did.

 

Start out simple, start testing, play around with one light, take your own pace and build on that, but eventually just from curiousity, you'll ask more involved questions, which is the point where you need to know. There are a lot of folks that will give you advice, and you probably intend to do this already, but test, start experimenting so you can judge what you've been told as against what actually works for you when actually light a scene.

[chris_shawn]

Jonathan, thank you very much for your long response. I really appreciate it. I will practice and try out things.

[jonathan_brewer1]

I forgot some dynamite flicks that never cease to inspire me.................'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Murder my Sweet', 'Double Indemnity', 'Gilda', and two movies by the same guy, one in b&w, one in color, 'In Cold Blood' and 'Cool Hand Luke' photographed by Conrad Hall.

 

Good luck.

[mark_schafer1]

First of all adjust your meter to your camera, lens, film and development parameters.

Set up a scene (and keep it for a repeat if necessary with the same illumination) with15-20

very different shades including bright white and full black (or a grayscale from Kodak)

measure it towards the camera at the ASA the film is rated or at what you usually shoot it,

and bracket it generously over and under (I?d got 3 stops in half or third stops) develop

and look at you best rendering of the scene. That shows you where you need to be, if you

expose and develop it right (and possibly adjust your ASA rating or/and the meter in the

back, at least the IVf has this feature).

Second look at your subject you are photographing, where is the light, falloff, shadow

what do you want to see i.e. expose right.

Let's say you shooting someone with the sun (or a flashhead at some distance for even

illumination) right behind you, lighting this person straight in the face and you have the

same exact light where you are (no fill cards, white buildings

shirts etc), the face is evenly lit (think Peter Lindbergh). Now you place the meter anywhere

in front of that person face (For the perfectionist right where the face will be, in the exact

plane, but you're photographing people so don't get to specific, they're human after all)

facing

the lens and you have your exposure. In the daylight situation you could also stay behind

your camera and just mimic the face-lens direction next to the camera, as there are no

differences between where you are versus your subject?s location you'll get the same

value.

Once that makes sense and you get the tonality you like, a side-lit situation is solved the

same way, let's say you turn your subject 45 Degrees clockwise (and you follow around)

the light now comes from the right, the shadow is very deep (aka dark) on the left, so look

where the light is even/is changing and place the meter in the same lit spot than in

the shot before, the tone in that area is now the same than before and the shadow falls to

what it is (Now comes the zone system...see Amseln Adams the Negative, the ultimate

read). But try to read it to the camera, you'll get an average reading between highlight and

shadow, that's what many explain as the proper exposure and that's to simple for me.

The meter helps you to keep you exposure consistent, you can move to different location,

read the exposure and you get the same tonality for that area than before, there is no rule

of chin, forehead, earlobe (unless you like yor earlobe a certain specific density over and

over) etc. Most of all, know what you want, really look at the scene,

analyze it, know what the meter actually tells you and let the meter guide you to a proper

rendering of it. It will also help to verify any problems you have with your lighting, too

much- too little contrast, learn about a scene in terms of light values etc. (Hope that's not

esoteric!) MS