What is your way of calculation?

[adam_mueller]

<p>Just wanted to know all your different ways of calculating exposure whether it be using a meter, experience or using the in camera meter...I thought it would be interesting to know :-)</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Depends on what, when, and how I'm shooting. Handheld incident meter, camera's meter in any or all of its modes, or seat-of-the-pants-and-check-the-histogram.</p>

[kevin_chow1]

<p>I rely on the camera metering system, then dial in more or less compensation depending on what happened on previous experiences. If conditions are a bit tricky (dark) and I have time or I don't know, I fire a few free metering frames and look at the histogram and change as required.<br>

Occasionally I use the histogram to adjust contrast if the distribution is a bit narrowby changing to a more contrasty tone curve.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Histogram check. It takes a second. No mind numbing calculating required.</p>

[SCL]

<p>If I'm using a camera with built in metering, I'll generally rely on that compensated as I know based on subject matter. If a camera with no metering, I'll either use a hand held incident meter or the Sunny 16 rule.</p>

[dan_south]

When using a digital camera, I'll use the lazy man's method most of the time.

 

- Set the camera to Aperture Priority mode and Evaluative or Matrix metering.

- Take a shot.

- Review the blinking highlights display and the histogram.

- If changes are required, switch to Manual exposure mode and dial in the desired aperture and shutter speed. Note that I

never use Auto ISO.

 

If the subjects are moving quickly as in sports of street photography, I preset the exposure using the method described

above with a neutral subject and then leave the camera in M mode until the light changes.

 

If I'm shooting film or working with a difficult to expose subject, the meters come out and I make as many measurements

as needed or as I have time for (in cases where the light is about to fade or the subject is likely to walk away). I prefer

spot meters because subject distance and approachability are irrelevant with spot meters. At a minimum, I measure the brightest, darkest, and most important areas of the frame. A gray card is handy for measuring a complex foreground like a field of flowers. I use graduated ND filters frequently, and I base the decision of which to use based upon the spot metering data.

 

Studio flash requires an incident flash meter. With portable strobes on digital, it's all trial and error.

[William Michael]

<p>I use both the TTL and hand held meters and sometimes, no light meter at all - as in these examples: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=972502">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=972502</a> </p>

<p>I find for a quick check that the blinky things more useful than the histogram - but I don't look all that much.<br>

That's not meant to sound smug - it is just I don't look all that often but I do look when I am unsure and it is a good tool to have: but I think many film shooters, especially transparency shooters, are trained to be meticulous at the front end about metering the scene.</p>

<p>When I am using M Mode and with TTL Metering I use the Spot Metering the most – to meter parts of the scene and compute or just Exposure Lock on one part of the scene.<br>

When I am using Tv or Av mode (usually at an event), I will more often use CWA and ride the Exposure Compensation.</p>

<p>WW</p>

 

[matt_needham]

<p>I use a test shot and check the histogram. It's like having a field densitometer. My eyes can determine more about the exposure in a split second glance at the histogram than several minutes of fooling around with the meter. The meter tells me one thing with each measure. The histogram displays the tonal range of the exposure.</p>

<p>Most of my cameras that don't have histograms don't have built in meters either. I've got a wonderful Sekonic 508 that I used to carry around, but these days I just sunny-16 it. After a decade plus of wandering around with old cameras I'm pretty accurate figuring exposure from experience. If I'm using one of my classic cameras it's just for fun anyway.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>I use the camera's meter and check the histogram.</p>

[ray_dockrey]

<p>I also use the camera meter and then check the histogram. For my studio shots I use a light meter (Sekonic L358) to measure the light from each light to make sure my ratios are correct.</p>