How Do You Get Perfect Exposures?

[click]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm curious to know how others create exacting exposures? How do you meter? What decisions do you make?

[Guest nafpie]

This may help:

 

Expose Right

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[andybarton]

It starts of in my head - with experience comes the ability to know (within a stop or two and in normal conditions) what a reasonable exposure will be.

 

Then, with my M7, I use the built in meter to set the exposure. If it's way off what my head was telling me, I consider carefully. Normally the M7 meter is spot on, in Auto mode.

 

For my M2, I use a Leicameter and I use an electronic hand-held meter with my Hasselblad.

[Guest nafpie]

This may help:

 

Expose Right

 

Oh, Film forum, so that doesn't help.

 

Sorry.

[harryzet]

easy: i just set aperture and time, depening on the light of the scene

[earleygallery]

A mixture of using the cameras meter if it has one, a handheld meter and my own jugdgement based on experience.

 

Try using Sunny 16 for a while, it will force you to think about light rather than just shooting AE or lining up the dots! (search sunny 16 on this forum for more info).

[Xmas]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

'Hi

 

Perfect exposure is dependent on what type of film you are using, slide, C41 color, C41 mono, and silver mono, and how you are going to treat it project, scan or wet print.

 

If you are critical you need to understand the film type. But there is a lot of margin if you are not using slide and projecting, overexpose a stop is a good rule.

 

You can use a meter with over and under calibrations lke a Weston or Westons zone method, or you can use a table from the film carton during daytime.

 

Most of the time I use sunny side f/16, but most of the time it is more battle ship grey cloud f/5.6, even when I use a meter. I use a Weston and do use the zone system rules, but most of the time it says too dark go to coffee shoppe..

 

Noel

Edited December 15, 2010 by Xmas
spelling bad

[too old to care]

In my opinion there is no such thing as a perfect exposure for most shots; there are just too many variables. Because of this, I use a combination of things to get the “best” exposure for the subject, and not necessary the whole photo.

 

Use a spot meter and meter the subject, if you do not have a spot meter, get close to the subject to take the reading with an “average, or center weighted average” meter such as on my M6. This will eliminate a bright object from underexposing the main subject. I also expose film 1 stop over because it is easier to fix a dense negative in the darkroom than a thin one. I started this practice while shooting weddings with 2 & ¼ cameras and a totally manual flash back in the days when everyone had to use guide numbers and calculate the f-stops.

 

However, slide film is not as forgiving so expose it correctly, certainly never over. Better to under expose slide film a little if you have to.

 

If I am taking photos of scenery I point the light meter (camera) down towards the foliage, mountains, etc to take my meter reading, while trying to cut out much of the sky to limit over exposure due to the sky washing out the rest of the image. And, remembering the rule of f/16 helps. One last thing, bracket if you can. When I bracket I never go underexposure, just normal then plus 1 f-stop. With slides, just the opposite.

[bill]

I use a Weston and do use the zone system rules, but most of the time it says too dark go to coffee shoppe..

 

:D:D

 

In my opinion there is no such thing as a perfect exposure for most shots; there are just too many variables.

 

Word.

 

My "perfect exposure" renders the scene as I want and/or as I remember it. To achieve it I use a mixture of experience, Sunny-16 and built-in metering (when available), inserting brain to over-ride what the dumb machine is telling me.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Morten Grathe]

I don't!

I use a M6 and a MP, so everything is manual. Basicly I meter the most important part of the image, and let the rest go. I always evaluate what I'm shooting - at the moment fx. snow that needs to be white needs about 1,5 stops more than the meter suggests.

[budrichard]

With film you cannot always expose 'perfectly for every scene.

The brightness range of the scene must be determined and fit to the film used.

B&W is easier because one can vary the exposure to the scene and modify the development time to obtain a better fit for the brightness range of the scene.

Positive color or slide film is not as manageable as one cannot vary the development time except to increase in 'pushing' the film. There are some scenes such as dark interior with a bright outside window exposure that cannot be exposed perfectly to capture both. Digital now allows multiple exposures to made of a scene at different ASA that can be combined digitally to yield photos that film could never achieve.

In any event, a knowledge of a simple 'Zone' system will help you and a study of Ansel Adams even more.-Dick

[click]

Thank you for your responses. I've tried many different types of metering techniques over the last fifteen years.

 

I'm well versed with the zone system and have made it work with my 35mm film Leica. I've used spot metering techniques with a hand held light meter and with the in camera meter. I've tried just the visual metering technique where I assess the brightest and darkest area of a scene and metered in the middle. I've used my hand as a grey card and a real grey card.

 

I was just wondering how others do it, maybe you know something I don't, which is likely. I prefer metering off my hand and then opening up a stop, I always have it on me and it seems to work fairly well as long as I can get into the same light as my subject.

[budrichard]

Since you do have considerable experience and are familiar with the Zone System, then

bracket, bracket, bracket.

For non-action scenes or set ups, I usually bracket plus/minus at least one stop. If important and I can't go back again to re shoot, two stops either side in half stop increments,

But now I use M7 and Nikon FM3a usually with exposure lock after determining whic portion of the scene to meter and may or may not bracket. It really depens on my reading of the brightness range of the scene.

There are scenes that i will not photograph with film because I know they won't work.-Dick

[!Nomad64]

I do this, only not really consciously all the time: Ultimate Exposure Computer

 

Hope this helps,

Bruno

[tobey bilek]

An incident meter in similar or same light as subject will give perfect exposures. This be the most brainless way to optimal exposure.

 

Expo Disk- Google.

 

With any reflected light or in camera meter, you have to compensate mentally for light or dark subjects. If the subject is white like snow, the meter thinks there is a lot more light than there really is and you get under exposure. If you meter a black dog, the meter thinks there is very little light and recommends overexposure. In either case, you get a grey snow or grey dog because the meter tries to make EVERYTHING grey.

 

The solution is to meter something grey or use an incident meter which really measures light and not subject reflectance.

[250swb]

Speaking only about B&W I rarely aim for a perfect exposure, or expect that to work on its own. I work with a plan and think ahead to the development stage where compromises in exposure can be amended to get much better negatives. But if plans go out the window (which they often can) I still think back to the latent images on the film (and the exposures I made) and consider how best to develop for the important ones.

 

The Zone System is difficult to follow slavishly in 35mm, but the principles are sound when it comes to seeing the negative as a 50/50 result of exposure/development.

 

For colour I expose for the characteristics of the film, and that is done as much by experience with the film as theory.

 

Steve

[pico]

Since you do have considerable experience and are familiar with the Zone System, then bracket, bracket, bracket.

 

Exposure is only part of the system. It's really hard to bracket development.

 

Or maybe one could use an OLIGO, however that's almost as difficult as shooting MF sheet film.

 

Seriously, I have been experimenting with a two-bath, mildly staining developer, Barry Thornton's Exactol. I do not have it down yet, and I think it's because of the paper I am using.

[jplomley]

Expose for the shadows, process for the highlights. When I am in doubt of my M7 meter, I pull out the 1-degree spot meter and dial in the expsoure manually.

[Zorki>Leica]

How Do You Get Perfect Exposures?

As a street photographer, I usually don't.

 

However, in my pursuit of the "perfect exposures" I tend to meter a scene with the camera, but I exclude any bright light sources from the view. I also like to add 1 to 2 stops, based on my gut feeling. Its part of my "more juice" philosophy.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[aymoon]

with film, I always use an incident meter combined with experience with the film. I love my old sekonic studio deluxe 398A. Doesn't need batteries and works flawlessly, though in very low light situations it can be pretty useless, so experience has to take precedence.

Edited December 19, 2010 by aymoon