Journaling exposure and other things.....

[d_s31]

When I'm shooting with my manual film camera, I very rarely log the exposure,

film or conditions. Partly because I'm so caught up with the composition, that

after a couple of shots, I forgot what I shot. I basically take the exposure

that the camera gives, think of the DOF I want, see where the light is coming

from or if I'm shooting a very light subject against a dark background or vice

versa. The only times my exposures are wrong is when I have a case of cerebral

flatulence. <p/>When I look at photos in magazines or here, I see that many of

you log exposures, film, focal length with zooms, etc....<p/>Is it really worth it?

[doug grosjean]

I tend to log the info when shooting a new-to-me camera, or shooting something that I'm guessing about, to confirm if my guess is valid or not.

 

I also logged that info down a *lot* when starting out, so I could compare settings to results. Really steepend my learning curve early on, to have setting on one paper and results right next to the settings.

 

But usually, no.... If I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, no.

[Ed_Ingold]

Which settings you use is not nearly as important as why you used them. Determining the correct exposure is an art form more than a science. You are far better off forming "rules" that work for you than mindless logging of data.

 

Listing shutter speed and f/stop are a long tradition in Popular Photography (and others), along with the camera, lens and (now) brand of tripod. I suspect that most are simply made up on the spot when the photo is submitted. I usually remember which tripod I used (Gitzo), but not necessarily the model ;-)

 

In a less cynical light, many pictures follow the "Sunny 16" rule and variations on that theme. An experienced photographer knows this almost intuitively. There aren't many surprises after tens of thousands of shots. With digital cameras, this data is logged in metadata , which can be read in a number of ways. I've never met anyone who meticulously logged exposure data in the field, and I'm not sure I care to.

[mcpoljak2003]

If you're shooting 35mm, probably not worth the time unless you process your own film. However, if you ever move up to large format and process your own film, you'll probably want a small note pad and paper in your bag. I log everything I shoot with 4x5 on a steno pad and then transfer to spreadsheets later when I've got time. Why? Because I only shoot 8-10 images when working in LF in the field. Makes it easy to keep track. I number the film holders and then use the same numbers on the pad to record what I did with that sheet and what I'll probably want to do with development, and then when ready to process, just go in order so I don't get them mixed up.