Sekonic L-508 Incident Metering with Landscapes

[thomas_earle]

I know there has been much talk about the above subject; however, after reading most of the responses, I'm still confused on where to point the meter while taking incident meter readings. Do I point the dome towards the camera? light source (i.e., the sun)? or somewhere in between? It "almost" makes more sense to point it towards the light source (i.e., the sun) since this is what's illuminating the landscape. However, does one point it towards the sky slightly away from the sun or does it really matter given the view of sky the dome "sees". The problem I see in pointing the dome towards the camera is only half of the dome is illuminated from the light source (assuming no golden hour), except for the light refecting up from the ground. Would this lead to overexposure? Another question pertaining to just the Sekonic L-508, should the dome be all the way out while taking the reading or should it be nessled in its hole?

[ross_martin4]

For incident readings, place the dome in the same position as your

subject--facing the camera lens, and in a plane parallel to your

film. You must make sure that the light you are holding the dome in

is the same brightness level as the light that is falling on your

subject. So if your subject is a sunlit mountain and you are in

complete shade, you cannot take an incident reading but should

instead rely on interpreted reflected spot readings.

[dlabrosse]

Thomas,

 

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Keeping the dome half illuminated will give you an average reading

somewhere between maximum highlight detail and maximum shadow detail.

If you want to expose for maximum highlight detail (say if you are

shooting transparency film) then point the meter straight at the

light source (in the case of a landscape that would most probably be

the sun). If the scene is backlit and you want to expose for shadow

detail then point the meter at your camera and try not to let any sun

strike the dome. I'm assuming the dome is recessible for this exact

reason.

 

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However the beauty of the L-508 is the ability to take reflective

light meter readings. This, with a little bit of Zone System

knowledge will allow you to avoid the guesswork altogether!

 

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If you do not have much reflective metering experience, buy a book or

take an introductory Zone System course. Even if you shoot colour, it

will really force you to become adept at using your meter.

 

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Regards,

[walter_glover]

Hi Thomas,

 

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The Sekonic hemispher works in the retracted and projected

modes: retracted for flat-art or two-dimensional subjects (an

alternative to the flat disc of other meters and also for checking

lighting balance between various sources (key/fill ratios etc.) and

evenness of illumination, projected for three-dimensional

subjects.

 

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In his book 'Beyond The Zone System' Phil Davis describes a

two-reading technique that will give you the required exposure

information and the necessary contrast adjustment. It is not

necessary to follow his entire system set-up to achieve

marvellous results from his incident meter technique.

 

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Good luck,

 

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Walter Glover

[scott_jones2]

Yes, and to finish the answer asked, the dome should be all the way

out for a landscape incident reading (and all the way in as just

mentioned for flat copy work such as photographing a piece of flat art

work). Yes, point the full dome directly at the lens parallel to the

film plane. The idea Thomas is that the dome will experience not only

the direct light falling on its directly lit aspect, but also the

shaddow light falling on its shaded aspect just as the subject of the

photo would. The average of all this light is then used by the

meter for the reading. You just have to be sure the light hitting the

dome is the same quality hitting the subject. It works very well in

the right situation and many times is much easier than spot/zone work.

I use it for situations dominated by whites or very darks and often

for portraits and especially for dog portraits when I can't decide

what tone would be the best (a zone type decision) for their fur.

Often with caucasian skin you could choose zone VI and for black skin

zone V, but there of course are many shades between and therefore you

may sometimes want to do incident.

 

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Sometimes when I have the time I compare careful zone measurements

with incident readings and often find that they are the same. Fun to

test for yourself.

 

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May I suggest two terrific web pages from the Sekonic Co. that really

goes into this? First one gives you the basics:

http://sekonic.com/IncidentVsReflect.html. Second one gives you great

comparison pictures of work with both methods and where incident

might work better that reflected/zone work:

http://sekonic.com/BenefitsOfIncident.html

 

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Hope this helps...

 

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Scott