The "Right" light

[John Thawley]

Ran a test today using a hand held incident meter instead of the TTL. Stunning difference in the accuracy. These (of my favorite subject) were shot with the Leica Digilux 2, ISO 100 RAW. Short of rotating the horizon slightly, there is absolutely no post processing done to these photos. I used Aperpture's default Digilux 2 RAW conversion settings and sized them for upload. I'm extremely pleased with the natural feel of them.

JT

[stuny]

John -

Very impressive.

[fotografr]

There is no better way to measure light than with an incident meter, and when the exposure is correct, everything else just falls into place.

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by stuny

John -

Very impressive.

Thank you Stuart. I was really quite taken back by these.

John

[roguewave]

John, use this info well. I often adjust the metering with my D2. This can be done in several ways. It is often critical in that with such a wide angle lens, metering in the middle is not what you want. I always carry my Digisix in my pocket and have found a world of difference in my imagery & exposures.

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by roguewave

John, use this info well. I often adjust the metering with my D2. This can be done in several ways. It is often critical in that with such a wide angle lens, metering in the middle is not what you want. I always carry my Digisix in my pocket and have found a world of difference in my imagery & exposures.

Thanks. I have a Gossen Luna-Pro that has enjoyed a peaceful life in my travel bag for far too long. Trust me, as I am embark on my adventures learning my way around "rangefinder" style shooting, it will be put to good use.

I especially found the difference to be extremely important with such a young face. The heavier contrast, especially in black and white, can add a lot of character to an older person's portraits... but with him, it seemed to rob him of his youthful innocence (of course a dreaded moment that will come far to quickly for his mom and me)... so the improved results were especially welcome in this case.

Thanks again,

JT

[jc_braconi]

With a dark foreground the subject 'd be more valuated.
(not to easy to find the right vocabulary at this lately hour)

[osscat]

Shooting digital is a lot like shooting transparencies - you can not afford to overexpose the highlight areas as there is seldom any detail retained.

By underexposing slide film by half a stop from a general incident light reading one not only ensures detail in the majority of the highlights but also one ensures properly saturated colours elsewhere in the slide.

With a correct RAW exposure one has about three stops latitude to play with, where within those parameters one sets the exposure will determine the look of the image. Under expose and the highlights are retained at the cost of medium to deep shadow (some noise depending on the quality of the file) over expose and shadow detail is ensured at the expense of highlight detail.

You takes you pick and you gets what you gets.

Maintaining the look of youth in these shots was the priority and you certainly have done that excellently - what a little cherub - an exposure slightly less than the one you chose might offer some modelling to the contours and emphasise the softness of the skin and draw a little more attention to those eyes.

My grandson - D2 - natural light.

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by osscat

Shooting digital is a lot like shooting transparencies - you can not afford to overexpose the highlight areas as there is seldom any detail retained.

By underexposing slide film by half a stop from a general incident light reading one not only ensures detail in the majority of the highlights but also one ensures properly saturated colours elsewhere in the slide.

With a correct RAW exposure one has about three stops latitude to play with, where within those parameters one sets the exposure will determine the look of the image. Under expose and the highlights are retained at the cost of medium to deep shadow (some noise depending on the quality of the file) over expose and shadow detail is ensured at the expense of highlight detail.

You takes you pick and you gets what you gets.

Maintaining the look of youth in these shots was the priority and you certainly have done that excellently - what a little cherub - an exposure slightly less than the one you chose might offer some modelling to the contours and emphasise the softness of the skin and draw a little more attention to those eyes.

My grandson - D2 - natural light.

After a few days, I reviewed your suggestion and brought up the contrast and lowered the exposure each just a tick in Aperture. I think you are right.... the light rounded over the face just a touch more and gave a little more punch to the image and warmed the look ever-so-slightly without altering the innocence of the picture.

thanks for the comments.

JT

Original / Adjusted

[osscat]

Hi JT

The outcome is subtle and draws attention to the eyes and the soft contours of the cheeks. Nice one.

To gain confidence with correct exposure why not bracket the exposures between one stop under and one stop over at one third of a stop intervals.

A comparison of the results and what can be done with each file will give you a valuable guide for the future.

With film one had to be sure, so multi exposure of the same shot was the norm, just in case one neg/slide got damaged somewhere in the process - and bracketed exposures too in order the risk of a disaster might be avoided.

The physical nature of processing film carries many inherent dangers not to mention the financial costs - the joy of the digital process (for me) is one can experiment and see the results almost immediately and so be able to respond to visual stimuli at the time and make any adjustments on the spot and at no financial cost.

Osscat

[osscat]

Originally Posted by osscat

Hi JT
........

To gain confidence with correct exposure why not bracket the exposures between one stop under and one stop over at one third of a stop intervals.

A comparison of the results and what can be done with each file will give you a valuable guide for the future.


Osscat

Just looked at your web page I can hear the chorus now - trying to teach granny to suck eggs. - sorry for being presumptious.

I love the bikes, particularly the Nortons.

Here is one of a 750 BMW at 12,000 ft in Zanskar - one heck of a bike ride.

This is a gif, can't locate the proper file, it is on my other computer I think

Osscat

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by osscat

Just looked at your web page I can hear the chorus now - trying to teach granny to suck eggs. - sorry for being presumptious.

I love the bikes, particularly the Nortons.

Here is one of a 750 BMW at 12,000 ft in Zanskar - one heck of a bike ride.

This is a gif, can't locate the proper file, it is on my other computer I think

Osscat

Not a place to take your eyes off the road. LOL

Thanks for sharing...

BTW... no offense taken. This camera is having quite an impact on some soul searching ideas I'm having about my "work." I had a very good year... but worked hard at broadening my view of the events I cover and pushing myself to look at the track differently and to look AWAY from the track and more at the event surroundings. However, I still felt I was running a on automatic... repeating the same steps, week in, week out. Suddenly, though, it's nice to turn an aperture ring and a shutter knob. And, more importantly, it's nice to see subtle change of a 1/2 stop here and a 1/2 stop there. I produce so much work in a given season, I feel like I'm on autopilot. I'm going to make the next three months (my off-season) work for me.

Thanks again,

JT