Light and Shadow Contrast

[jennifer_r._smith]

I am a third semster B&W photo student and recently went on a trip up the west coast. I found myself fumbling with the color film and just not getting the depth of color in the nature shots that I was looking for. And I had a problem with shadow vs. light areas. To get the detail in the shadows it ended up blasting out the detail in the well lite areas. How do you meter in order to corret for both areas? I have a Canon AE with a built in meter.

 

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Thanks

Jennifer

[bobatkins]

Sometimes you can't. Slide film is normally capable of detail over

about 5 or 6 stops (or "zones" if you will). If the scene exceeds

that range, you will either get blocked up shadows or blown out

highlights - it's up to you to pick which (or to decide not

to make your image there!). Printing from slides makes matters

even worse, since contrast tends to build up unless you go

via an interneg or masked Ilfochrome (Cibachrome) route.

 

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Negative film has a bit more latitude, but you can't really apply

Zone System principles because development is more or less fixed (unless

you want color shifts). Some people do apply a kind of Zone System

to color work, but you can only really make small corrections.

 

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Chosing the right light is probably the best approach, avoiding times

when contrast is high (bright suuny days around noon for example!).

[anthonty_debase]

Bob's answer is good and, unfortunately, color film's small lattitude is a problem for all of us. I have started using my camera's spot meter to measure the darkest and lightest area of scence and then use that information to estimate if I can get a decent photo. If there are no more than 5 f-stops separating them the photo should turn out OK. If in doubt I expose for the highlight since a burnt out highlight looks a lot worse in my opinion that a very dark area. Sometimes this technique actually works.

[frank_kolwicz]

Jennifer,

 

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Too bad you didn't tell us whether your color film was slide or negative, it would make a difference.

 

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Regarding exposing slides (real-world, outdoor situation): there is almost always a MOST IMPORTANT subject that must be correctly exposed, +/-. Meter that and know where its tone should fall in your film's range - dark things 1 to 2 stops below nominal mid-tone, light things 1 to 2 stops above. If highlights beyond the range of the film are present in the scene you can just lose them, let them go, unless they are a significant part of the image. Likewise for the darkest areas. The important stuff should be perfect or as close as you can get, the rest of the image just falls where it may. This sometimes results in unsatisfactory images, but misplacing the exposure of the IMPORTNAT SUBJECT will always result in an unsatisfactory image.

 

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After doing this for a while you will get to know when the range of contrast and the size of burnt-out or blocked-up parts of the image will be unsatisfactory and learn to judge the light quality needed for that subject/scene/whatever.

 

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In exposure, there is no substitute for good judgement - of the light, the subject and the overall image.

 

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Frank

[david_chananie]

Jennifer,

 

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You might consider using a graduated neutral density filter where about half the filter is clear and the other half is an increasingly dense shade of gray. This sort of thing can be useful with slide film in the type of situation where you have a bright sky and a substantially less bright landscape. You use the darker part of the filter to cover the sky and the clear part of the filter to cover the landscape. So, the sky becomes less bright, the landscape is unchanged, and the contrast ratio overall in the image is reduced. That way the film can actually handle the range coming through the lens. Cokin makes an inexpensive set of these filters, and I just hold mine up against the front of the lens rather than use one of their filter holders. This seems to work for me. If I've said anything wrong, fellow photographers, please chime in.

 

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David

 

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[lightcraftsman]

Insufficient data. :-)

 

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Seriously. What type of film were you shooting? �What time of day? What lens?

 

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Shooting Fujichrome Velvia three hours after sunrise is a lost cause. OK, any film three hours after sunrise is a lost cause for scenics, but Velvia has notoriously poor shadow detail.

 

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Having started in photography with a Canon AE-1 Program, I can tell you from experience its light meter is not very good. You'd be better off getting a hand-held meter. If you can't do that, use the old trick of metering on the palm of your hand and opening one stop. Of course, you'll have to stand in the scene to do that, then go back and set up for the shot.

 

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Using a graduated filter works only on scenes where there is a sharp line separating the light and dark areas. If you are shooting in trees or where the light is dappled, well... don't.

 

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You also commented on depth of color. If you are shooting slides, you are overexposing. If you are shooting negatives, you are underexposing. My AE-1 program tended to underexpose in the middle of the day, so I suspect you are sleeping late and shooting negatives.

 

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Tips:

1) Get out of bed at least one hour before sunrise and get to the scenic spot you found yesterday afternoon.

2) Shoot slide film (Sensia, Elite 100 or RSX 100) and take detailed notes on location, shutter speed, aperature etc.

3) Bracket your exposures.

4) When you get home, compare your slides with your notes.

5) Go out and take more pictures.

6) Have fun.

[chris_hansen]

I was wondering if you were shooting in bright sunlight? I agree with the last comment. I have found that shooting shorebirds is best done in the wee hours or late in the evening. If you are going to attempt to shoot in bright sunshine look for evenly lit backgrounds with low contrast. Also stay away from Velvia in contrasty situations. (I do like that film by the way.)

[jennifer_r._smith]

I would like to thank everybody for their responses. I really like this webpage:)

To answer the big questions:

Kodak 200 Gold, print negatives.

I took pictures throughout the day, I was on a trip up the West/Northwest coast. So I didn't really have much leaway in planning the shoots...it was my first trip.

 

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But after everyones suggestions and tips I will definetly be changing a few things I do. And being even more aware of my light. I was spoiled in B&W class, I cold always fix my mistakes in printing. I unfortunetly can't develope color *yet*:)