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Quesiuxurpire
Joined: 10 Feb 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Bermuda
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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: How important is it to have an exposure meter for outdoor ph |
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| I am a novice photographer..and i am trying to gather together the essentials needed to create a good photograph..Besides the camera, lenses, and tripod..what other things does one need...? |
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raysor0540
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:55 am Post subject: How important is it to have an exposure meter for outdoor ph |
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| Your camera will likely have an exposure meter built-in.However, because it's designed for average lighting situations, it may not be able to give you precise exposure where the lighting is not average.If your camera has spot metering, learn how to use it -- this will make your exposures more accurate.The alternative is a hand-held meter. Make sure to get an "incident meter" like Sekonic's superb L-398.You'll be able to make dead-on exposures with any camera in any light.HTHV |
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stevemeister
Joined: 27 Dec 2007
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:46 pm Post subject: How important is it to have an exposure meter for outdoor ph |
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| A handheld exposure meter is nice to have, but not necessary to get started in photography. You want to get your basics right first. Over time, you will gather enough experience in order to override you camera's settings to get better images. I would suggest that you focus in the beginning on composition and things like, what difference it makes to use a different aperture etc. Learn, how to operate your camera and lenses, so that you don't have to think too much, when you take your pictures. It is fine to rely on automatic settings, in the beginning. Feel free to experiment and the nice thing about digital photography is that you can check, what you did once you uploaded the images to your computer.CheersJurgenhttp://blog.jurgen-photo.com |
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salcramma
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Puerto Rico
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: How important is it to have an exposure meter for outdoor ph |
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| You don't need a handheld light meter anymore, especially for outdoor phtoography. Most cameras, even prosumer entry-level DSLR's have a built-in meter that works in the same way, often with better results. You already have most of the equipment you would need, some other things would be a strong knowledge in composition and exposure. I recommend picking up a few books at your local book store. Look for authors like Bryan Peterson, Scott Kelby, and Michael Grecco, respectively covering exposure, technical principle of photography, and lighting. That's about it, other than that, develop an eye for good photographs and take as many as you can. |
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Skaguekizaxiadus
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 3
Location: World
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:26 pm Post subject: How important is it to have an exposure meter for outdoor ph |
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| You do not state what camera you are using / plan to use... i.e. film or digital; SLR; Point and Shoot?So I will just tell you the best thing you can do for yourself to learn to nail exposure with film and your in camera spot meter.The great Ansel Adams developed the "Zone System" of exposure and processing. It is a 10 range system based around the light meter's attempt to expose a scene to middle grey, (18% grey). It can be difficult to learn, but it can be greatly simplified. However, you MUST have a camera capable of taking a SPOT meter reading. Evaulative metering systems trying to average an entire scene will not work with this system.A camera, or even a hand held meter is not always going to give you proper exposure. There are just too many variables that can create incorrect exposure.What you need to do is learn to see a scene as to how it relates to middle grey. Snow is a good example. Many times people who take photos of snow do not like the dark, greyish look the snow has in their photos. This is because the light meter in the camera is seeing the white of the snow and trying to "correct" it to middle grey, and thus producing an underexposure. YOU need to know that, ... and when you do, it is easy to compensate for it. By using the simplified zone system, you know that the snow is a pure white, and you must INCREASE your exposure by two stops. Conversely, if you are shooting a shady tree area and you want detail in the tree bark, you would SPOT meter the tree bark, and DECREASE your exposure by one to two stops. That is because the camera meter is again trying to bring the exposure UP to middle grey, so you need to decrease the exposure manually.In most outdoor scenes, you can just meter for the darkest area where you want to maintain detail, then decrease exposure by two stops.Now... I am talking using a SPOT meter in the camera, and using negative FILM. Here is what I have been talking about. Take time to look it over, no matter what camera you use. It will teach you a lot about light metering and exposure compensation.http://www.simplifiedzonesystem.com/zs645n/page3.htmOf course, there is always the grey card method of exposure calculation. You must have a large ACCURATE PHOTOGRAPHIC grey card to place in the scene you want to shoot. You then meter off the grey card. This will give you correct exposure with no compension required. Only problem is, it is not always practical to use this, so it is good to know how to use your eyes and brain to determine accurate exposure.steve |
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