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When measuring light, aim your incident meter at the main
source of the light that's falling on your subject.
Photo © Tony L. Corbell, 2000 |
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What began as a story elicited
so many responses that we've decided to continue it as a regular column.
Here, technical representatives from manufacturers and suppliers share
tips, techniques, thoughts, and photos with you. If you're a supplier
who'd like to contribute to this column, contact the editorial department
at (321) 269-3212 or via e-mail at: editorial@shutterbug.net.
Learn control. I mean control
of everything: exposure, lighting ratios, contrast, communicating with
a lab, everything. In my job for Hasselblad I shoot everything from cameras
and lenses, in which I must show control of highlights due to the dark
subject content, all the way to portraits and fashion when I'm teaching
workshops, where understanding shadow control is more important than highlights.
By having knowledge of both these areas, I'm able to more accurately depict
the subject as the situation dictates.
"Exposure seems like such an
obvious element to control, and yet I talk to photographers all over the
country who are more often than not either fooled by lighting conditions
affecting their exposure or at least uncertain about the appropriate exposure.
When determining exposure with a handheld incident meter, consider that
the meter is designed to read the amount of light falling on the subject.
This means that to properly use an incident meter we have to choose where
to point the spherical dome of the meter. We could aim it at the subject,
but that certainly wouldn't measure any light falling on the subject,
only reflecting off. We could also point it toward the camera. In some
cases this may work, but not always. If the main purpose of the incident
meter is to measure light falling on the subject, it seems to me that
aiming the dome at the main source of light makes the most sense. Obviously,
this is contrary to what some people have been taught. However, if you
will take the time to run some tests for yourself, you may find that the
way you've been doing things may work when you're shooting with the safety
net of negative film, but you lack confidence to try it on transparency
film without bracketing. By testing this idea for myself, I learned a
lot of about what happens when light strikes a piece of film.
"Remember--learn control of
each and every aspect of your work. It's the only way to build confidence."
--Tony L. Corbell
Director of Photographic Education,
Hasselblad U.S.A. |
