How do you meter/measure light?

[eddy_d]

I was wonder how everyone measures light, especially when photographing people

outdoors. I used to strictly use the ttl metering in my camera without any

handheld meters or reflectors and got decent results, I then used fill flash

with again decent results, now I use ttly with a reflector and also a hand held

meter which I just started to use, with mixed/somtimes hit or miss results. I

would like to get better results using reflectors and/or a hand held meter. I

know there are photographers who just use meters and I believe there are

photographers who may not use any of the above, they just read the light. I

know it comes down to what works for each individual and preference. I would

also like to know, if it is possible, to photograph people indoors without

using flash or strobes and getting decent results using just available/ambient

light? I went to a workshop and all that was used was a clip on light, slide

projector and then we moved into an art studio with again a clip on light and

available window light from way up above where the windows were. I used my ttl

metering as well as a hand held meter and also a tripod. I shot with 2005

expired black and white c41. I also shot two rolls of color. The black and

white of the model came out the best. I knew of a photographer who did not use

anything and his customers supposedly loved his pictures as he put it. I shot

with him at a shoot indoors with strobes. He would open up the f stop all the

way and shoot. He did not use light meters or refelctors. I bracketed my fstop

between 5.6 and 4 and got good results. I am sorry this is so long.

[eddy_d]

Hello. I just realized after I posted that this may be the wrong forum for my question. I am sorry for that.

[spanky]

Incident readings for me. Living in LA I can get away with Sunny 16 most of the year, but still, I like to be certain. As long as my subject is in the same light I am in I just take a reading set the exposure and shoot.

[eyepasha]

Regarding yoru survey on light measurement:

 

Continuously: Sunny 16

LF: add incident light reading, forward and back and several reflected light readings with the spot meter.

Digital: if time, as above. If less time, quick check with ttl spot mode on my targetted neutral gray

Lately with digital, a lazy but effect mode if a static scene or studio : eyeball the light, check the histogram reshoot after necessary adjustments, but I generally don't like the exposure as much as careful use of the spot readings and a careful analysis of zones.

 

Regarding your question on natural light: yes! There are masters out there who exclusively portrait in natural light. I would say it is probably the most common portrait in doors (excepting fashion photography). A great window with reflectors is all you need.

 

The attached picture is an outtake from a session with two strobes (I feel much more comfortable with the absolute control of studio lighting (you may have noticed a certain AR-tendency :), but on a quick break I noticed the light from the window we had opened was really nice on her skin, so shot it in the available light.

[eyepasha]

Ouch, sorry. I chose the wrong file size. Any way to delete that?

[craig_buckingham]

I don't understand how sunny 16 can be of any use.

 

Doesn't natural sunny daylight have more dynamic range than any camera can cope with?

 

If so there would always have to be some adjustment depending if one need s to capture shadow or highlight areas in an image.

[James G. Dainis]

Craig,<BR>

"<I>Doesn't natural sunny daylight have more dynamic range than any camera can cope with? </I>"<P>

The same is true even if you used the camera's meter or a hand held meter.

[craig_buckingham]

James I am not sure what you are saying there. Are you saying that light meters don't work in extreme lighting conditions?

[James G. Dainis]

On a sunny day with 100 ISO film at f/16, you would use 1/125 shutter speed @ f/16. a gray card reading would also give 1/125 @ f/16. Neither method, in fact no method, could capture the dynamic range of natural sunlight.

[craig_buckingham]

Sure James. Grey card or in camera meter, pretty much the same thing. But if you spot meter the area of interest in a high dynamic range scene you can then expose correctly for that area of interest. Sunny 16 rule doesn't work in those circumstances.

 

So these articles that say sunny 16 rule is all you need are really not true. It is a good starting point and that is about it.

[James G. Dainis]

Using sunny 16 the people's flesh tones should fall on zone 6, the correct zone. Using a spot meter for the flesh tones you would also place them on zone 6. If you had a snow scene in which the dyanic range was from zone 1 to zone 11 and you exposed to get the snow on zone 9, white with some texture, the flesh tones would be on zone 4, two stops under exposed, very dark.

[craig_buckingham]

Thanks James for filling in the gaps for me. So you can see my lack of knowledge on exposure for certain things. "Zone 6" you speak about I take it relates to doing exposure using the zone system which I have heard a lot about and have just googled. So now I know.

 

I only new that daylight had too much dynamic range and that one had to choose the object they wanted to expose for and under/over the other stuff of less interest. Or if permitting two exposures to get it all and combining them later.

[kelly_flanigan1]

The purpose of reflectors is to fill in the dark shadows; reduce the number of fstops of the scene. The movie industry did this in the 1920's in LA; before the zone system was invented as a simplfied system for still photographers. In the movie industry sometimes folks will take pot shots at the zone system saying its for folks who cannot handle fstops!. Bright daylight had more range than a glass plate could hold 150 years ago; filling in shadows and controlling lighting makes the scene softer; with a lessor number of fstops that "maps" to the plate or film.