Comments on: Postcard From Delhi III

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:43:09 +0000

Thanx for the hint! already had a look at your post about exp&met and downloaded darwin’s ebook.. I’ll go out & shoot… trying to understand why sometimes brother blue sky is not so brother to me! ;D

By: David

David — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:39:43 +0000

@Andrea – Your light meter is capable of taking readings from different areas of the scene – but the camera itself can’t expose for all areas of the scene at the same time so you need to pick one. Do you want to expose for the hand and have all other areas go deep black, or do you want to expose for the boy’s face, hidden in shadow, which would force the hand and flowers to blow out (overexposed) completely. So in that case a meter reading off his hand specifically would help.

You’re shooting digital however and if you use Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture (etc) – I recommend you read this in regards to exposure in the digital world: http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/2009/08/exposure-and-metering/

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:22:10 +0000

Hi David and everybody out there!

Sorry for the silly question but I’m quite a newbie at “annotated photography”… what you exactly mean with “exposed for the hand”? the thing is: sometimes in M or AV mode with my 450D letting the light meter do the work I get an almost perfect 18%gray shot…in particular on chilly overcast days…so I turn on spot etering and exposure for green trees or red something…recompose and shoot..and guess: I get a strong overexp shoot!!! Where I’m wrong?!? btw I really appreciate both ten & ten more!! greetings from Italy!

By: David

David — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:19 +0000

@WGW -Wait a sec. Cameras have LIGHT METERS? How did I miss this for over twenty years?

Seriously, you missed the point by such a margin of error that I’m tempted to give you a prize. Perhaps this isn’t the blog for you…

By: julien dorol

julien dorol — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:21:38 +0000

Interesting point of view. I think sometime we think to much about the technical issues and forget to shoot with the art.

I often have to kick my ass and say “stop thinking about this light meter, just focus on the feeling and keep shooting !!!”

Even with a lack of technique or an “insolved” problem, a picture can be great.

By: Barry Sherbeck

Barry Sherbeck — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:03:11 +0000

WGW, I don’t think this post was at all about light meters, I think it was about remembering to see past normal “problems” of light (like this situation) to find and choose opportunities to make interesting images.

Have you ever “missed” an image because you were bent on capturing something else? I know I have. But most of the time we don’t ever know what we’ve missed. As I understand it, this is a reminder to improvise with what the light’s doing.

By: Wow Gee Whiz

Wow Gee Whiz — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:08:16 +0000

How your camera’s light meter works one of the first lessons of a Photography 101 class. I can’t believe this is a new revelation for you especially when you are teaching other people…

By: Barry Sherbeck

Barry Sherbeck — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:29:51 +0000

Wonderful illustration about seeing the light.

By: Simon Sticker

Simon Sticker — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:13:38 +0000

A great lesson indeed… Thanx for sharing this! Brings me back to the roots of it all. It doesn’t matter what you look at, but what you see….

By: Postcard From Delhi III – David duChemin (pixelatedimage) @ Photo News Today

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:04:53 +0000

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