Me again!! Newb Q
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skysh4rk
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What type of film are you shooting?
With colour negative, I usually meter for the shadows by putting the incident meter underneath the subject's chin and let the highlights fall where they may (many colour negative and B&W films can handle serious overexposure, so I aim to get as much shadow detail as possible). Keep in mind that you don't actually need to have the meter right by the subject when taking a reading, but simply in the same light as the subject, so sometimes I'll just meter the light under my own chin if I'm in the same light as the subject.
If you're using the incident meter with a dome; the dome is meant to simulate light falling onto a three-dimensional object. With some light meters, you can either push this dome in or replace it with a flat disc. Many of the American wedding film photographers usually shoot with the flat disc/dome pushed in, which often results in another 1/3 of a stop more exposure or so.
For slide film, I don't usually meter for the shadows, but for anything that is lit by the sun, because it's very easy to lose your highlights with slide film. Sometimes I will take a reading in both the sun and any shaded areas, to get an idea of the subject brightness range to make sure that it's within the dynamic range of the film, which is usually about five stops with slide. If I'm shooting a landscape and I'm standing in the shade but my subject is sunlit in the distance, I'll pull out my iPhone light meter app and get a reading for the highlights and then add two stops to determine my exposure.
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RJ, very nice 'Incident Metering 101'
skysh4rk
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Cheers, Adrian. I'm sure that there are other ways to approach incident metering, but I've found this works well for me.
Edit: And oh, one thing I forgot to mention that I've only recently just learned: If your subject is wearing a hat, definitely meter for the shadows under the brim of the hat!
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Well I haven't used an incident exposure meter for donkey's years...but IIRC you are correct, which takes into account subject being in shadow or sunlight...For me I meter for the equivalent of a Kodak grey card (which should be the same as incident light) rather than carry mine around.
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Cheers for the replies guys, I was shooting t-max 400 120 film.. I was shooting around a church so I was in and out of shade with sunlit areas in shot.
I think my first roll of medium format film is gonna be all over the place exposure wise.. Should be quite amusing if nothing else!
Only time will tell!
I think my first roll of medium format film is gonna be all over the place exposure wise.. Should be quite amusing if nothing else!
Only time will tell!
skysh4rk
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Right, you might need to ignore bits of my previous advice about metering for negative films, if it is, in fact, T-Max that you're shooting. Unlike many other black and white films, T-Max is supposed to be very fussy regarding exposure (i.e., it has limited latitude) and prone to blocking up in the highlights.
I don't have any personal experience with T-Max though, as I usually shoot Tri-X or HP5, which are quite a bit more forgiving.
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Having used T-Max 100 and 400 quite a few times I would disagree with that, whilst they may not have quite the over-exposure latitude of Tri-X, you can still overexpose either by a stop and a half or more and get great results. Whilst the initial versions of T-Max films in the 80's did have a reputation for being very over-exposure intolerant, and effectively like shooting transparency, the more recent improved versions are much better and give beautiful results in nearly all exposure situations.
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Have to agree with that. I've had no issues with T-Max.
If anything, I err on the side of overexposure.
As for incident metering - I'm very much still learning, but I've found it best to expose for the shadows.
If anything, I err on the side of overexposure.
As for incident metering - I'm very much still learning, but I've found it best to expose for the shadows.
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As stated, with incident light metering, you place the meter in the same light that the subject is in (note the careful phraseology) and point it in the direction of the subject/camera line. To spell it out - if you're full on to the subject with no shadows, turn through 180 degrees and point the meter straight ahead of you; or walk around the camera and point the meter back where you've come from.
Incident metering gets its name from measuring the incident light - that which is actually falling on the subject - and hence, unlike a reflected light reading isn't influenced by the tones in the subject. You'll get the same reading no matter if you're photographing a white cloth or black one. The practical result is that because you're effectively measuring an artifical white highlight, you won't overexpose - and hence why the method is recommended for slide film where overexposure is the image killer.
The downside (if you think about it) is that if there are no bright white areas in the subject, you're still exposing to preserve detail in them; and hence may be underexposing the shadows, where there are details you want to keep.
Incident metering gets its name from measuring the incident light - that which is actually falling on the subject - and hence, unlike a reflected light reading isn't influenced by the tones in the subject. You'll get the same reading no matter if you're photographing a white cloth or black one. The practical result is that because you're effectively measuring an artifical white highlight, you won't overexpose - and hence why the method is recommended for slide film where overexposure is the image killer.
The downside (if you think about it) is that if there are no bright white areas in the subject, you're still exposing to preserve detail in them; and hence may be underexposing the shadows, where there are details you want to keep.