Metering for Night Photography

[@zelluloidAT]

Hey Ted, I just wanted to throw this in here: You mentioned Ansel Adams - taking a look at the Zone System you can see very easily why night shots turn out too bright: The camera wants to place it at Zone V - middle gray, it's just what it's trained to do, no matter which camera (either film or digital) you use. Having that in mind and looking at the Zone System it suddenly becomes very clear why you have to underexpose two stops and why the meter gives you the value it does. Cheers.

[@Harvieowen]

A "perfect" photo shows what you see in your minds eye. What your "minds eye" sees can be very different than what your "real" eyes see. Night photography is a fun way to shoot, with film or digital. For me, the #1 thing is to have fun with it, play with it. Motion blur can be a plus, light trials, another plus, and another thing I like to do is "paint with light". Painting with light is introducing light into the photo to highlight or bring out the subject in a "soft" way. One way to "paint with light" is just take the flash off the camera, use the flash in a manual mode to give "just enough light" then fire the flash, 1 time or many times. Firing the flash at a tenth or lower of what you normally do, then fire it, move to another location, fire it, then again, for yet a different position.All the time the shutter stays open. Done right, it will give your subject a "soft glow". Very seldom I use flash, and if I do, I do it for an effect. At night, rear curtain flash is fun. This "mode" fires the flash at the end, not at the beginning of the exposure. You get a motion trial behind the subject(that will show the movement), then at the end of the exposure the flash fires, freezing the subject and "brings the subject into focus" with a motion blur behind the subject, showing movement.

[@theartofphotography]

Its generally going to depend on how much light you've got. There wasn't much traffic in that second shot - the longer time got more cars so it might look a little deceiving. Street scenes can generate a lot of light so you'll have to do some bracketing. Chrome won't be forgiving at all like b+w. If you have a digital you can use to test it might help a bit. 8 seconds just sounds way too short to me.

[@patobrien5307]

What I love most about a Ted Video is that it has some authenticity for the art of photography, while we hobbyist are mining specific photo instructions for technical perfection. However, Ted gives me, and obviously, many others, but not ALL, the soul of photography. He never says what is the best way to do anything. He shares his own process, and how he feels before and after. Ted presents this stuff, so it doesn't feel as though he's selling us on any belief system or dogma (or products). Thanks Ted for just being Ted, cuz I may not follow what you say, but I trust you enough that you'd not ever let me get into too much trouble. For instance I didn't use the suggested Rodinal, It was too hard or too expensive to get to my doorstep. But I did some research and am now happily trying some HC-110. The Kodak stuff seems to kinda follow the principal for chemicals that you laboriously put in my head. Gonna try 1+79 for a stand solution. Thanks again for sharing your philosophy, and to those who criticize rudely: There is only two types of anything, those who catch on slow and those who don't

[@deemdoubleu]

I think a good point here (turning the argument around) is that taking photos outside during the day is made easy courtesy of the Sun, it being The single dominant constantly dependable light source, At night, we have to work generally with many multiple point sources of variable strength and much weaker and more narrowband light and perhaps Moonlight if lucky all interspersed with tons of darkness. A much more difficult proposition requiring more thought, experiment and experience. I get the video, great stuff.

[@DavidMeyerPhoto]

For everyone shooting digital at night: low ISO doesn't guarantee noise free images. Apart from high ISO noise there is also long exposure noise caused by the camera sensor heating up. How much of that noise you're going to get will probably depend on your camera. The point is that you may need to remove that noise in post later using your favourite method. I really like the church photo, Mr. Forbes.

[@oibal60]

Thanks again. Yup, night photography is a whole different world. I second using 'auto' to give you a ballpark, then move to manual for full control. Also, I bring a BIG flash unit to light up the foreground, sides of buildings, etc. Tripod or a beanbag, cable release, small flashlight... It IS more involved, but it's also very rewarding when it works and you GET the shot that matters.

[@jichenzhao8434]

I think people that hate this video is just expecting a "find the 'night photography' mode on your camera" video. But its just not that easy if you wanna take a perfect photo.

[@SinaFarhat]

Hi Ted, thanks for your thoughts, its a good thing to hear another photographers way of thinking! I did some experimenting and found that when shooting at night i will just about always get blown highlight from lights and other reflective sources, i accepted that and i work on the composition so that i get a good shot that is interesting to see. I also found that using a ND filter helps me to get less blown highlights, Have a good day. /Sina

[@BillyNewmanphoto]

Long exposure effects and night photography made up most of my portfolio for a while, great stuff.

[@toonboy7]

two words ... my old Yashica "Electro 35", aperture priority ... it will open the shutter for up to 30 seconds! Classic rangefinder still in shape, it works brill.

[@BradMaestas]

I would recommend removing all filters (unless you're going for an effect). It is also important when you have candles in your shot. Even high-quality multi-coated filters will often produce ghosts with small, intense light sources in your exposures.

[@shaynesabala]

Wow I just read some of the comments and have to say people are mean. What gets me is that a lot of the rude remarks are coming from those that do not understand the concept of the video. Before people say bad things they should realize that Ted has forgotten more about photography than most will ever know.

[@geoffneville6332]

+shayne sabala My thoughts exactly!! Why the hell would you say that? I haven't got anything nice to say about Jim Robinson so I won't say anything!!

[@JefferyAHoward]

+shayne sabala I agree Shayne. Ted is offering advice from his years of experience and and it helped me. I enjoyed the video and am grateful Ted shared it with us.

[@michaelangeloh.5383]

shayne sabala - I see this kind of complaining more often. And I think the "problem" with Ted's videos is that they're almost like sitting in class. I don't mean that they're boring or anything, but people seem to get testy when there's a lot of talking and insist on having quick videos of 5 minutes tops that shows samples and settings. People feel they're entitled to their information-fix, but only if it comes in "fast food" form. Otherwise, they'll bitch about it because they can't seem to sit and listen anymore. It hurts their brain, if what it is. This is a real problem, not cynicism. What I do a lot with this type of video is just sit, put the playback speed at 1.25x or 1.5x, and grow my brain. People's loss if they don't want to listen or get it.

[@UFGator1972]

You are all talking like if he is the only one giving tutorials on photography. When you compare him to the likes of Mark Wallace, Tony Northrup, Peter Hurley, Garvin Hoey, Joe McNally, etc. he falls short of what most people want to see in a video. We just don't want to listen to a lecture. By the way, without having to be mean, most people here find this video boring and uninspiring.

[@sunnysideup1744]

390K subscribers. How many do you have? Lets see, zero! So he is doing something right. If you are so adamant on how videos should be presented, then please enlighten us with one of yours. Or are you just blowing hot air around. Nice work as always Ted. Don't mind the haters,they wake up that way then spend the day looking to put people down.

[@michaelpham12]

I know we shouldnt rely on hardware all the time, but I think that there are some new cameras that have exposure preview or something during the exposure. Like every so often a image displays on the screen so that you visually see how far your exposure is going, maybe that would be useful for landscape. I dont know what camera but it would be a really useful feature

[@HoLeeChit11]

Hey Ted, Obviously it depends on what your subject is when shooting at night, that determines what methodology you will adopt to achieve your best exposure. When I am shooting buildings and sky scrappers at night, I find, put camera on tripod, use manual mode, iso 100, choose f stop and then guess shutter speed, adjust shutter speed higher or lower to achieve desired result. What do you think.?

[@judmcc]

Even back in the film days, I underexposed by 2 stops for night photography. I used to do that with my DSLR, but I found myself usually brightening it a little, so now I underexpose by 1-2/3 stops.

[@CharlieSill62VO]

Ted! It just hit me...your speech and facial mannerisms remind me strongly of Glen Beck! LOL It has bugged me for a long time until JUST NOW! Love your work!

[@willfly111]

That second shot would have been better with some white balance adjustment. I see a lot of flourescent and tungsten lighting in there but otherwise a good shot.

[@paulferrer4194]

Was there a cat on the shelf behind you? I think I saw a paw make an appearance at 10:52

[@BluBerry537]

And that fluffy thing right above his head must be the tail.

[@michaelangeloh.5383]

LOL That was like a cartoon. As if the cat wanted to grab something, but decided not to. Maybe it came to Ted asking for food... Wanted to tap him on the shoulder.

[@AlonzoWest]

lmao, it did it at 3:11 too.

[@nicolasgonzalez127]

Hi Ted, great video ! More than metering for night photography, I found that I'm mostly struggling with picking the correct white balance !

[@shaynesabala]

+Nicolas Gonzalez I find that with these shots it is so much easier to correct white balance in post. If you shoot in raw it is the way to go.

[@skandababy]

HDR is totally possible. The dynamic range would be for the buildings and foreground, but not really for blurry night clouds, so just mask out the sky when processing. It doesn't take anymore time to process than a normal HDR. 1. Take the sequence of HDR exposures, as normal, 2. In post production, mask the sky out when processing the HDR. 3. Process the HDR as normal 4. Decide which sky shot will be used in the image 5. Adjust the sky as needed to blend with the final result of the HDR portion

[@boat3038]

I like your style. I already knew a lot of what you had to say but I always pick up something useful. Now subscribed.

[@yasserhasan8635]

You could elaborate on using different type of metering modes offered in modern cameras. I am curious to know the verdict of professionals on this Canon’s 'partial metering’.

[@JairoRojasPhotoStories]

Great Video... You are great at teaching.... I have learn a lot with your videos, just amazing. Thanks!

[@IainHC1]

Many thanks for this Ted. I have wanted to shoot night film photography for some time now! but seeing your shots, and with your advice, I'm gonna give it a go maybe tomorrow night :-)

[@christopherhowell3209]

Great video Ted....as usual. ! .I have just bought a mamiya 7,and was wondering whether to go buy a light meter,as the 7 has a rather touchy spot meter...What is your recommendation?...cheers

[@sfayers3361]

Thanks for the video. The Highlight Metering Mode works quite well as a starting point for this for those with a Nikon D810 D750 and later bodies.

[@shaynesabala]

Good stuff. I wanted to tell you what I have been doing lately with good success. I will over expose in order to bring details in the shadows out and go back and lower the exposure in post. I always find the mood of the exposure I want and take a shot as a reference point so that I will know where to lower it too. Of course you have to be careful of blown highlights but It seems to work well so I wanted to share. Feel free to use the idea lol.

[@teguh.hofstee]

You want to expose to the right, fix it in post. Digital cameras have more values at the high end than the low end, the first picture of the clouds is going to have a lot more data than the second picture, and you just do the -2 stop exposure in post.

[@ke4uyp]

My Sony NEX-VG10 has (Night scene Mode) it Shoots night scenes with less noise and blur without using a tripod. And my NEX-6 has (Hand-held Twilight Mode) it also has (Superior Auto Mode): Shoots images with a wider range of shooting functions than those of Intelligent Auto shooting. Recognizes and evaluates the shooting conditions automatically, performs Auto HDR, and chooses the best image.

[@Fillk0]

Hey Ted. When shooting night/dark/low-key on digital what are your thoughts on exposing-to-the-right (ETTR). I understand the reasons from a logical perspective, but it never quite feels right - I prefer to get the exposure in camera close to how I want the final image.What is your process? Cheers.

[@halimj7]

BismillahThanks Ted. I have had luck with spot metering in situations like this. Do you recommend that approach? Thanks again for all your hard work and great videos.

[@SM_zzz]

Thank you for sharing your insights and experience. The video was informative, clear and interesting, despite what some of the comments say.

[@lewisfilms]

The camera's meter, like all reflected light meters, want to render the world as 18% grey. I think the evaluative meter mode will scan the scene, identify the brightest bit and the darkest bit then pick a setting that splits the difference. Is this accurate?

[@Doud92]

Hello Ted, I'm quite puzzled right now. I'm going to London this winter for a week and am bringing a Kodak Brownie for long exposure night shots. I never used this camera and did a little bit of research. According to my information for a traffic night shot (iso 100 / f 16) I should expose the film for only 8 seconds! Did you have a filter on for those 10 min exposures? The brownie has 3 f stops (11 16 22) and I'll be bringing 100 iso chrome film. Do you have any tips? Any pattern to follow?

[@Adilboukind]

Definitely the best youtube photography channel! Ted, I have some questions can I send you an email or you are too busy?

[@ssp242]

Hi, Thank you for your videos! I'm getting back into film these days. I started 20+ years ago with Nikon FM-10, then DSLRs with Nikon d7000, recently Sony a6000... but getting back with the Flexaret VII from cupog, as suggested by you. For night photography on film, I've heard of the Schwarzchild Effect, where you have to expose film longer than what you meter for because of a "reciprocity effect". Would you be able to point to a good database to get all the "cheat sheets" for different types of film? Thanks again! :)

[@DannyNealProductions]

Oh my god you sound so intelligent. So easy to watch. Thank you for the tips!

[@RobertsonDMcI]

Thanks for the point of view ... vey helpful.

[@Doud92]

Thank you for your advice! I found an EV chart on wiki but it is quite vague, "night traffic" is EV5 according to them which corresponds to 8 sec at f:16 / iso 100. I wouldn't trust it, Ted suggested I use my digital camera for a lightmeter, problem is, in aperture priority mode, it won't expose longer than 8 seconds.. So it won't work even at f:2 on the digital one. I should do some test shots before living because I don't have the money for a lightmeter.

[@myblueandme]

Use spot metering I.e inbuilt camera. Increase your iso. F16 iso 400 1/30

[@seansolina895]

Great thoughts. Very well presented.

[@evelasq1]

Digital photography makes it much easier to work with when it comes to night photography. Film photography, I would consider using an ISO 800 speed film. Even though I have used ISO 400 speed film before. Peace, Flood!

[@twistoffate01]

THIS AUDIO IS CRISSSPPPPPPYYYYY

[@kensoko0l]

Subscribed for the shots of Dallas

[@charlesstephens5974]

When metering in film or digital r u using evaluative in digital and reflective but not stop in analogue?

[@Doud92]

Thank you very much, I'll test it out before leaving so I don't have any bad surprise

[@cibckwong]

should we take off the UV filter for night scene?

[@genesisdesignd3282]

Whats your settings which you have used?

[@wildbill9919]

At night I ignore the camera's meter, guess at an exposure, and bracket heavily from there. I've learned most cameras don't meter the way I want them to in low light.

[@Acquavallo]

Can you do an episode on double exposure?

[@jillianhorsley5985]

Loved the info....great stuff, thank's.

[@StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

Jack, your comment is... RIDICULOUS!

[@adriandephantomhive]

Love your cat behind and in your videos

[@flagranger007]

Thanks Ted As always great info.

[@rolandrick]

As always very interesting, thanks for your thoughts. I really love your clear and decent kind to explain things. Something completely different, at 3:12, the cat 🐈 is in the camera 😂😉... Pets... unpredictable... 🙈

[@angelc5266]

Settings: Speed: 1/4000 Focus: All over the place

[@Photoshopuzr]

outstanding video I agree 100% on what you said man, i experience the same thing.

[@tobroken1965]

Another good video.

[@theartofphotography]

You got it!

[@Adilboukind]

Thanks a lot! But with which email should I contact you?

[@cafeglobulot]

The cat gave its stamp of approval : check the paw !

[@EaselCat]

Thanks for the videos!

[@TheCr8tivity]

Bryan peterson's book " the right exposure"

[@journeyquest1]

Can you just multi bracket off a tripod?

[@pembdock]

I agree with you, post production sucks, get it rite in the camera.

[@DavidMeyerPhoto]

F/16 and 8 sec will not work well in my opinion. I usually don't go for f/16 with my camera (be it night or day), my typical setting for late evening rush hour type of traffic is f/8-11 and 15-30 sec, depends on how well the environment is lit in general. Also, depending on the traffic, you may want to go for more than 8 seconds simply to have more of it in the photo. If you're on a location where there is one car going every 10 seconds, the result is not going to be particularly interesting.

[@theartofphotography]

Always but send away… I can get to it.

[@noep99]

Good video, thanks Bro

[@luckykramer1758]

Could listen for hours.

[@JanisLarmanis]

Is that a cat in the background at the end of the video?

[@anapausantos7870]

who are some good photographers that use the bokeh technic ?

[@eagle112800]

Was hopeful you were going to talk about reciprocity failure...

[@skandababy]

Funny, you just wanted everyone to know that...come on now, be honest. Although it's clearly beyond the scope of this video anyway, it's not difficult. After becoming accustomed to shooting in a particular exposure setting, light will become quite predictable, even when the levels fall below reciprocity. Shooting stars or the moon, or a street shot at night needn't be complicated by theorems when the best calculator you can have is reproducible results, through experience.

[@pivotsweeter]

Great vid

[@dicoslee4222]

is there a cat behind ?

[@camilogomezs.4194]

I think so

[@phsyckomantis]

Cool stuff....btw was that a cat on the back :B

[@drewcunningham2]

why don't you correct your perspective distortion?? get a shift tilt or use photoshops simple fix - buildings don't lean

[@kaysee326]

Why?

[@helgenx]

3:15 cat paw lmao!

[@node547]

The buildings are falling over. Architecture is usually done with a perspective control lens. But I know, not the point of this video ;).

[@timppatimo6287]

+Koen Verbeke unless you WANT them to look "falling over" ;)

[@QuarterCrawl]

1st.................great vid.....thanx

[@TheCr8tivity]

Bryan peterson

[@ernestkanu1247]

Nice topic but you lost me 7 minutes and 10 seconds into the video. 7 minutes and 10 seconds into the video, yet nothing had been said about what adjustment to make. Too much talk spent on what the topic is without giving us the details of what to do. I wonder how 160,000 plus viewers sat through 12 minutes. I lost interest after listening for 7 minutes.

[@mumtazshamsee5029]

The art of talking. I thought it was about metering. All over the map and nothing really on metering.

[@HoLeeChit11]

Metering at night is done with your brain, numnuts, not with a meter. It all depends on what you are shooting, if it's stationary or moving, people or landscapes, do you want motion blur or freeze the motion, front curtain sync or rear curtain sync, and many other factors. So you see, that's the reason why Ted was talking about how different situations affect your shots at night. Hopes that helps.

[@TheSwoax]

You have a cat in the background!!!! :D

[@SteveLaMotteoc]

It's like you like to hear yourself talk. Slow down make a part 1 and part 2 if you need to.

[@jerp1138]

So many words, so fast but you could come to the point before my brain was fried.

[@janmartin4864]

Too much talking around about got nothing from this video not enough samples

[@SantaridesaKTM]

I like Waffle!

[@richardponsford5698]

Absolute, Waffle.

[@juzan9999]

dude, slow it down. i guess this is for "advanced" newbies. you went so fast and threw around so many technical terms. lost me as a rookie.

[@owentuckett938]

You're right, this is not for rookies. To get the best out of these brilliant tutorials I would suggest you do some basic studying, as I did. Check out Mike Brown, B and H and some of the suggestions that KZbin will make for you and then come back here and enjoy Ted's enthusiasm. It's worth it, I promise you.

[@juzan9999]

Owen Tuckett thanks

[@owentuckett938]

You're very welcome. Merry Christmas and enjoy your photography.

[@gordonwharton6225]

Not good blar blar blar , STOP take a breath think about content of your vids and how you can get the point across clearly and quickly then you might get the information people are looking for and a lot more in half the time and with out describing what you had for breakfast, its all just lost in the blar blar blar .

[@haroonur69]

Too much theoretical .

[@jackwenman777]

Your face is hard to watch please don't sit i nfront of the camera use a picture or something

[@Wonderfullcrazy]

lol wtf

[@TimXMan1000]

You have problems lol 😂

[@matthewbaker429]

Bored talking

[@deepak1054]

You talk too much, man!