Crash Course: Metering for Film and Digital Photography

[@bryan-wolff]

You’ve single handedly revolutionized my photography… are you happy now?

[@lightleakss]

Oh Bryan, you're too kind

[@bryan-wolff]

@@lightleakss my friend you have grown in leaps and bounds! I’m so happy to watch where this takes you.

[@fauxit55]

Excellant video, thank you!

[@evnwlysmth]

I learned something on KZbin today. Thanks for teaching me how to expose myself, Adam!

[@lightleakss]

Happy to help Evan!

[@hb4834]

Fantastic video...look forward to more of your knowledge and content...

[@lightleakss]

Thank you for watching! Hopefully you can put the information to good use

[@sjmheron]

Great video. Incident metering can be tricky when you're shooting film with a limited dynamic range (slide or specialty) in a high contrast environment. You still need to "place" your total exposure as your whole scene could clip both your highlights and shadows, and you may want to pick one. For metering the sky, aim north (in the northern hemisphere).

[@jakesaltzberg1]

Super helpful tips!

[@LifeofCuzzin]

love the video I've been trying to teach some friend interested in film photography and this is an amazing video to help them learn to properly expose their pictures thank you!

[@lightleakss]

Thank you for the kind words! I hope you and your friends find the information useful

[@enkaphalin1111]

Picked up one of them sekonics as a hand me down with no idea how to read the readings, this is coming in at a great time

[@lightleakss]

That's great to hear! I'd recommend taking the extra time to meter with both your camera and the Sekonic to get a feel for how they operate in different scenarios. Good luck!

[@王真真-u8e]

nice video

[@Vl_Vito1]

Amazing video, thank you

[@clintwoosley9512]

Great review! The blood was a nice touch!😂

[@lightleakss]

Still getting my money's worth out of the Action Essentials pack 10 years later

[@TheManFrayBentos]

I always got good results by underexposing Ektachrome slide film by 1/4 to 1/2 a stop. Gave better colour saturation, too.

[@TeddyCavachon]

What you are apparently not aware of is that the metering standard for ISO is 12% not 18%. 18% is what was used in the older ASA film rating system used prior to 1975. The significance of that is cameras and meters sold after 1975 which have ISO for film speed will only correctly expose the shadows values on negative film if a 12% gray card or the incident dome of the meter is used correctly which for exposure is to place on the camera axis pointed back at the camera so the % of highlight and shadow on the dome of the meter match those of the scene. There is an interesting story why Kodak still sells 18% cards. Ansel Adams created a new ‘religion’ based on worshiping the 18% gray card in his Zone System as Zone V middle gray (perceptually between white and black). Back in the early days of metering taking a reading off the 18% card with an ASA rated Weston meter was the only way to get accurately exposed shadows. You didn’t use the ASA number on the film box, you tested with a series of bracketed exposures CHANGING METER ISO (and shutter / aperture accordingly) until YOUR EYES told you the shadows in the negative were exposed correctly and from that point on that was the ISO setting used on the meter for exposure off the 18% gray card for every Zone System exposure. Adam upon learning about the new ISO 12% exposure / film speed calibration stand went to Rochester NY and lobbied the Kodak executives convincing them to keep the Kodak card 18% so as not confuse those who used his system. That is why if you actually read the instructions for exposing per the Kodak R-26 card you will see a note which instructs the user of the need to adjust meter readings by 1/3 to obtain correct exposure. It is also why if you fill the frame of a digital camera with an 18% gray card and let the camera metering set exposure the histogram spike created by the card will not be in the center as you might expect “middle gray” to be. But if you did the same thing with a 12% reflectance card which are also available from other sources it would be because digital camera metering conforms to the post 1975 ISO 12% standard. I know this because I first started in photography in 1968 developing and printing using the Kodak roll film method of developing all negatives for the same time the using different contrast print papers to fit scene range to print. Then starting in 1971 learned and used the Adam Zone System approach which was to always print on #2 grade paper and adjust negative development time based on scene range I measured with a Pentax 1° spot meter. In 1972 I got hired as apprentice / assistant to top wedding photographer Monte Zucker who devised a method for creating full tonal ranges on color prints in wedding albums by dual two speedlights in a KEY over FILL arrangement to CHANGE SCENE RANGE TO FIT RANGE OF PRINT. It is very simple: Put a flash over the lens on a bracket for Fill, adjusting its power until shadow detail is seen on the negative at the desired aperture the adjust the power of the off camera flash he mounted on a rolling medical IV stand until the highlights it hit were exposed correctly. It was like Adams Zone system but it fit the range of the scene to the fixed range of the color print using LIGHTING RATIO. Keeping the off camera flash 2x (one stop brighter) fill allow capturing a full range of tone in a black suit and huge white wedding dress in the same photo. It is a method I still use 52 years later. My next job in 1974 was in the National Geographic photo lab, one I got by meeting the asst. chief of the labs who was impressed with my experience up that point where I got totally immersed and educated on the technical side of photography and photo reproduction via halftones and color separation for printing which back then was all done with analog techniques. I was mentored by top experts from Kodak and DuPont (which made the lithographic film and color proofing system we used. Thats why I’m aware of the change in ASA / ISO metering standards and the Ansel Adams story about the gray card. The best metering tool is a 1° spot meter because it allows direct reading from the scene in shadows for setting exposure, eliminating the need to meter off a gray card. A modern meter which used ISO numbers is calibrated to reproduce what it meters as 12% gray. The simplest way to meter negative film is to change the ISO setting of the meter about 3-4 stops to change that calibration point to a Zone 2 scene / print value which is the first shaded content were texture is scene. On some meters like Sekonic did can be shifted via a compensation setting or just keep altering the ISO setting on the meter until your eyes tell you the shadows on negative are being record optimally with density on the negative in the darkest shadow areas above total black void (like a cave). If shooting reversal film (transparency / slides) you can use the same spot metering hack of changing the ISO setting but you base it instead on getting the Zone 8 (textured white), Zone 9 (smooth white) and Zone 10 (specular reflections) rendered accurately. With digital / scans the eyedropper values for the critical exposure ‘Zones” are: Zone 0 = 0, Zone 1 = 1-30, Zone 2 = 30 - 50 … Zone 8 = 230-245, Zone 9 = 246-254 and Zone 10 = 255. In other words the only thing exposed at 255 clipping should be specular reflections from the sun or light source on smooth white objects. On a digital camera correctly exposed highlights are simply a matter of turning on the overexposure warning and adjusting exposure to keep all non-specular highlights 1/3 stop below clipping. After doing that correctly expose the highlights you then look a the left side of the of the histogram. If the bars are piled up on the left it indicates the scene range exceeds sensor and you need to decide to either accept loss of shadow detail or adjust exposure to blow out the Zone 9 / Zone 10 contrast that provides the clue to 3D shape on white objects. Exposing for correctly rendered highlights and accepting loss of shadow detail is nearly always the better choice perceptually. It is possible to get a full range rendering of foreground objects in direct sunlight by shooting into the sun using it as back rim light and adjusting exposure to keep any white clothing and skin it hits 1/3 below clipping. The add FILL flash from the camera axis until detail is seen on the front of a black towel draped on a stand, then add KEY light off axis raising it’s power until the white clothing in the shade of the sun + fill flash is raised to the point it is 1/3 stop darker than the sunlit whites (i.e. 2/3 stop below triggering clipping warning with the KEY flash). The result will be a full range of rich tone and detail on the flash lit front of the subject without any blown out sunny highlights. The highlights in the sun lit background will also be correctly exposed but since the camera sensor can’t handle the entire scene range some detail will be lost in the shadows in the background but will not typically be noticed.

[@lightleakss]

Wow what a great comment! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience/expertise in such detail, it was a really interesting read. I am aware of the 12% vs 18% grey card distinction but chose not to to touch on it for a few reasons: 1) I don't have a 12% card to compare my 18% card to so I didn't feel I could demonstrate it adequately 2) There's only a 1/3 stop difference between the two, which felt like splitting hairs considering all my film cameras can only adjust by full or half stops. It felt especially minute when paired with the advice to lean into overexposure. There are plenty of cameras that allow 1/3 stop adjustments, especially on the exposure compensation dial but again I didn't feel like it was worth mentioning for only 1/3 of a stop 3) the intent of the video was to help fix gross underexposure errors for the general/hobbyist photographer, like the ones I have experienced. I felt that a technical discussion of the merits of 18% vs 12% grey would just get way too deep and would ultimately yield little additional information for the time spent explaining it, leading to low entertainment value Again, thanks for the great comment and I hope you continue to watch in the future!

[@TheManFrayBentos]

Excellent stuff, thank you.

[@Martin_Siegel]

If you don't have a grey card you can also meter the palm of your hand instead of grass or the blue sky. Sometimes it's just handier ;-) Those Seconics 308 are great, my favorite user as far as external meters go. Thanks for the video, extremely good summarized basics of metering, good to have it in one place. And I don't care that you're filming in your closet, people used to develop film there in the old days or make prints. So thanks again and best wishes.

[@lightleakss]

Thank you Martin, nice tip about using your palm. I'll give it a try when I'm out next

[@brugj03]

I got a camera that shoots in raw, has auto exposure and has 15 stops dynamic range. Is there a reason why i would ever need this or am i missing something.

[@lightleakss]

It's mostly geared toward film shooters where you have to get it right the first time. The old "fix it in pre" instead of "fix it in post". Even if you never leave auto exposure it can be helpful to understand how your meter can be tricked. Idk, most people I know enjoy learning how to use their equipment more thoroughly

[@K-Han-sd]

First time watching vid, hear fart sounds. Hooked

[@lightleakss]

What can I say, I give the people what they want

[@marklawson8346]

Very helpful Adam have you ever entered for infrered digital photography in struggling a bit to get consistent results 👍🏻

[@lightleakss]

I have yet to try any infrared photography but I can imagine that your mixed results are coming from your meter not being able to "see" IR as good as you might expect it too. Sorry I can't be more helpful than that

[@jamesmgreen15]

Well played young fella..........Don't give up on that home ownership. In the 80s a home costing say $80k seemed unreal v when it cost your parents $3k in 1963.....I'm not making light of real issues, but keep striving....

[@lightleakss]

I appreciate the encouragement. We're all just trying to do our best out here

[@terrytang5367]

Why are you in a pile of clothes?

[@lightleakss]

It's my (way too small) closet. The acoustics were great!