Friday Tip - Nailing Exposure for Reproduction

In today's tip we talk about how to get the best exposure for reproduction.
Sometimes you need to reproduce a photograp, painting, or paperwork. Getting the right exposure is tricky because of the colour and reflectiveness of the piece. With this tip you can get the exposure spot on!
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John Finch
Pictorial Planet
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[@chesslover8829]

OMG! You have a beautiful yard!

[@raybeaumont7670]

Cheers John - I've made a note to try this process the next time I have copying to do. I've previously used a grey card. All the best from the Rhondda.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Ray!

[@BlackLabAdventures]

Excellent Tip!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks, Barry!

[@BlackLabAdventures]

@@PictorialPlanet , Always thoughtful and well presented content, John!

[@siddharghyamukherjee987]

When we are going to get the next FX55 video?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Ha! Well, that was an FX55 video :)

[@siddharghyamukherjee987]

@@PictorialPlanet Ha Ha, indeed! Thank you.

[@Vintage35MM]

+1 this left me with some brain fog trying stretch my brain around this technique. Essentially you are increasing your meters exposure 5 stops and measuring zone 10 with the white paper, which the meter usually sees as zone 5. So you are limiting instead of possibly blowing out the highlights in the photo even more. 2:33 So why don’t we expose our outdoor landscapes this way instead of exposing for the shadows? Does it have something to do with the dynamic range of printed images vs film?

[@PictorialPlanet]

You intuition is right. The dynamic range is less. By dividing the film speed by 5 we are setting the meter 2 1/3 stops down (200-100-50-40), as though the film is 2 1/3 stops slower. We then measure zone 10. What the meter now thinks is zone 5 is actually zone 7 1/3. When we photograph the painting or photo the highlights will be at ~zone 7 1/3 so, quite right, we are protecting the highest tones a tad so they don't get blown out. The printed image or painting has a much narrower dynamic range than real life.

[@Thomas-Stein]

Wouldn‘t it be easier to measure on gray card with the original ISO instead of using that white paper?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Of course there are many ways you might do this but not everyone has a proper grey card or spot meter or incident meter so I try to offer tips for everyone. This way you can get a true meter reading even with the camera built in meter or a hand held simple meter.

[@Thomas-Stein]

@@PictorialPlanet Ok, I understand your intention.

[@matthewdeacon1970]

Would you then develop as ISO 40?

[@PictorialPlanet]

No, develop as normal. Setting ISO 40 on the meter is just to fool it into thinking you have a grey card. Not many of us have a grey card but most can get a white piece of paper.

[@canoedoctor]

Nice tip, but there's no explanation about why this approach?

[@PictorialPlanet]

By dividing the film speed by 5 we are setting the meter 2 1/3 stops down (200-100-50-40), as though the film is 2 1/3 stops slower. We then measure zone 10. What the meter now thinks is zone 5 is actually zone 7 1/3. When we photograph the painting or photo the highlights will be at ~zone 7 1/3 so, quite right, we are protecting the highest tones a tad so they don't get blown out. The printed image or painting has a much narrower dynamic range than real life.

[@canoedoctor]

@@PictorialPlanet Thanks. So, metering for 18% grey wouldn't cut it? How about metering for 18% and then bracketing? I'm curious about the benefits of one approach over the other. Greatly appreciate your videos!

[@PictorialPlanet]

There are many ways up the mountain. This is just one that's particularly easy and gives very good results. Learn something new everyday or that day's wasted.