[rollei_list] Re: Lightmeters and Estimated Photography
- From: "John A. Lind" <jalind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:16:29 -0500
At 07:01 PM 4/29/2005, Marc James Small wrote:
>Shame on you, Richard.
>
>Both Gossen and Metrawatt in Europe were producing photoelectric meters at
>the same time as Weston. While Weston produced the first branded hand-held
>meter, it was Metrawatt of Nurnberg which produced the first clip-on meter
>for the Leitz camera, a rather rare 1939 product. =20
>
>But, in the end, any photographer who cannot properly evaluate a sunlit
>scene and determine the exposure from his own head needs to rethink the
>process. Using another camera to determine the exposure is less a
>confession of weakness: it is an acknowledgement of a failure to
>comprehend the mixture of light and subject which allows us to take
>pictures. An undue reliance on a lightmeter indicates a failure of
>understanding.
>
>Marc
Marc,
Some of us are AR about exposure settings. I am personally a True Believer
in using incident readings as they are the most accurate, especially for
shooting color chromes, most especially for Kodachrome, which generally
needs to be centered in exposure for midtones. I made the following
photograph in southern Utah a few years ago:
http://johnlind.tripod.com/2ndagrt/2ndagrt19.html
This is a full-frame scan of it. For display prints I crop the bottom deep
shadow out and some off the right side making it more of a "panoramic
style" aspect ratio. I've given the full frame scan so one can see the
deep shadows I was in at the time and they were elongating away from me.
To get a proper incident reading from the mesa back toward the camera, I
took two quarts of water, my Weston Master V with invercone and headed for
the mesa. Took all night and into the next day, arriving at a suitable
location on the mesa about mid-day. Grabbed some rest in the shade under a
convenient scrub tree (checking first to evict any scorpions that might be
waiting in the shade until sunset) and waited until the same approximate
time of day I would shoot the photograph. Made my incident reading and
headed back to my car. Arrived the next day, rested in the car and waited
until approximately the same time of day again (adjusted for daily changes
moonrise/moonset). Was glad I had taken two quarts of water as I had
consumed it all during the round trip to make a proper incident meter
reading. Made the photograph of the moon setting over the scene, and
continued my journey toward Arizona.
There is a bridge I crossed that night near the Utah/Arizona border and
found it for sale for an excellent price that I couldn't turn down. Has a
great view over a deep gorge; excellent for photography of the gorge and a
large nearby hydro-electric dam. From the edge of the gorge, the bridge
itself is quite photogenic. However, it's not likely I'll be back there
anytime soon and really don't need it as much as I though I might. Since
it's Friday, I'm offering the scenic bridge up to the list before puting up
for sale on ePrey.
-- John Lind
---
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