DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> What exactly will a light meter do for me?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 14 of 14, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 03/06/2008 01:37:22 PM · #1
I know its a silly question.

The way I understand is that a light meter will tell you what settings to use on your camera for the optimal exposure? Am I correct?

then another question is. If you have a studio set up, do you use the same settings pretty much every time you shoot a portrait shot? or does your camera settings change based on position the person is in..etc...

When you use studio lights, do you keep your ISO on 200?
 03/06/2008 01:42:11 PM · #2
Start here: //www.ephotozine.com/article/Guide-to-using-a-hand-held-light-meter

Camera settings will change constantly during an average studio session as each pose, position, number of people, etc., requires different lighting, therefore exposure could change a good bit.

No, I do not use ISO 200 exclusively in studio with strobes. I normally use ISO 100.
Outdoors, I start at 100 but if I have a fast toddler or a dancer or other fast moving subject, I'll crank the ISO as needed to get the speed I want.
 03/06/2008 01:45:40 PM · #3
There some good posts in this thread as well.
 03/06/2008 01:52:12 PM · #4
Originally posted by gwe21:
I know its a silly question.


There are no silly questions.

Originally posted by gwe21:
The way I understand is that a light meter will tell you what settings to use on your camera for the optimal exposure? Am I correct?


Yes and no. Your camera actually has a light meter in it. Sometimes it is right, sometimes it is wrong. For off camera light meters there are three types: reflected light meters (your camera has one, they measure the light reflected off the subject), incident light meters (they measure the light falling on the subject), and strobe meters (they are incident light meters that measure the intensity of light falling on the subject from strobe lights).

Using a reflected light meter, the meter makes the assumption that what it is reading averages out to a zone 5 gray, and "average" gray. If you meter a white wall and use the suggested exposure, you will get a gray (underexposed) wall. Meter a black wall and you get a gray (overexposed) wall. So you have to make intelligent adjustments based on what your eyes tell you, and add or subtract exposure to get the optimum exposure.

With incident light meters, you measure the light falling on the scene. In theory, if you set the recommended exposure then all tones int he scene will be accurately rendered. These are very useful if you take the time to use them.

If you do much studio work with strobes, the strobe meter is pretty much de rigeur; it gives you very accurate calculations of instantaneous light values, and it also allows you to balance your lighting as you wish by metering individual lights. You may, for example, wish the fill light to be 1/4 the intensity of the main light, So you set and meter the main light, then turn the main light off and set and meter the fill light, adjust as needed to 1/4 the intensity, then turn both on and meter the whole scene and use that exposure.

This is grossly oversimplified, but that's the basic approach.

Originally posted by gwe21:
then another question is. If you have a studio set up, do you use the same settings pretty much every time you shoot a portrait shot? or does your camera settings change based on position the person is in..etc...


Assuming the lighting doe not change, the exposure will not change, correct. But every time you move the lights you need to recalculate the exposure.

Originally posted by gwe21:
When you use studio lights, do you keep your ISO on 200?


In general, studio work is done at the lowest ISO your camera offers, for noise-free performance. Sometimes, if you want to use a very small aperture for DOF, you can't get sufficient light from a single strobe to use the low ISO. In this case you might bump the ISO up to compensate.

Hope this helps.

R.
 03/06/2008 02:05:01 PM · #5
Originally posted by idnic:
No, I do not use ISO 200 exclusively in studio with strobes. I normally use ISO 100.
Outdoors, I start at 100 but if I have a fast toddler or a dancer or other fast moving subject, I'll crank the ISO as needed to get the speed I want.

Some of us can only go down to ISO 200. ;)
 03/06/2008 02:06:03 PM · #6
Originally posted by _eug:
Originally posted by idnic:
No, I do not use ISO 200 exclusively in studio with strobes. I normally use ISO 100.
Outdoors, I start at 100 but if I have a fast toddler or a dancer or other fast moving subject, I'll crank the ISO as needed to get the speed I want.

Some of us can only go down to ISO 200. ;)


Heh, and I guess you can't crank it to 3200 either, huh? :D
 03/06/2008 02:49:32 PM · #7
Originally posted by idnic:
Originally posted by _eug:
Originally posted by idnic:
No, I do not use ISO 200 exclusively in studio with strobes. I normally use ISO 100.
Outdoors, I start at 100 but if I have a fast toddler or a dancer or other fast moving subject, I'll crank the ISO as needed to get the speed I want.

Some of us can only go down to ISO 200. ;)


Heh, and I guess you can't crank it to 3200 either, huh? :D


mine goes to 6400... :)

Well here is the problem I am having.

When I use a light background (for example today I was trying out a sky blue paper back drop) I get washed out over exposed pics.

I was using 1 strobe, in a softbox. I am beginning to think my strobe must be too bright? It is cranked all the way down. Of course it was an el cheapo one I am sure.

I position the softbox slightly camera right and almost behind the camera. Today after a few shots, I pointed it more towards the ceiling , to take the direct light off of my daughter.

I dont have room in my house to keep my 'studio' set up all the time, so I dont get a chance to practice with my lighting as much as I want.

I set my camera settings to LO 1.0, I tried a few clicks on manual at different settings but couldnt get the exposure right, so I switched it over to P. and I under exposed it 2.0

I am so new to this lighting set up and I just want to get it right! so I keep trying and its so hit and miss!

here are a few that I did today (testing lighting only and my new 50mm 1.8)
I think the lighting is perfect in this one. The background stayed blue and it seems like it fell over her just right.

EXIF data shows ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/60 shutter speed. Taken in P mode and the metering mode was on 'pattern'
[thumb]655255[/thumb]

Here is one with the background blown out. Again, I only used 1 light,

EXIF data ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/60 shutter speed, in P mode and meter on 'pattern'
[thumb]655256[/thumb]

The difference I can tell in settings was the f stop. Since I had it on P mode, it picked the f for me.

And one more that is slightly blown out

EXIF data ISO 200, 1/60, f/2, in P mode and pattern metering

[thumb]655257[/thumb]

Any thoughts???
 03/06/2008 02:59:04 PM · #8
It is my understanding that if you are using strobes you cant use the in-camera meter - infact it is probably better not to anyway even if it did work. The whole point of light metering is so you know what aperture you need... when using strobes as your only light source you just set it to sync speed (normally around the 1/125sec mark) and use the correct aperture / light intensity settings...

I think your problem here is using automatic settings which read the light already on the scene and dont account for the fact you are about to throw a whole lot of light into the shot thus "washing out".
 03/06/2008 03:01:43 PM · #9
Originally posted by inshaala:
It is my understanding that if you are using strobes you cant use the in-camera meter - infact it is probably better not to anyway even if it did work. The whole point of light metering is so you know what aperture you need... when using strobes as your only light source you just set it to sync speed (normally around the 1/125sec mark) and use the correct aperture / light intensity settings...

I think your problem here is using automatic settings which read the light already on the scene and dont account for the fact you are about to throw a whole lot of light into the shot thus "washing out".


Precisely. Try this: Start with your shutter speed at 1/125; ISO at 200 and aperature at f4.5. Take a shot with the strobes. Now adjust the strobe up or down as needed until you get good exposure. That will give you a starting point.

03/06/2008 03:14:26 PM · #10
I would try keeping your strobe at the lowest setting, and using shutter speed and aperture settings of 1/125 and f/8.0 respectively. I use a Sekonic light metre, but many of my shots don't require precision measuring 100% of the time due to the similarity of setup. I find that depending on the position of the light, reflectors, and light power, settings of 1/125 with an aperture varying between f/8 and f/11 works consistently well with appealing results.
 03/06/2008 03:41:15 PM · #11
Originally posted by idnic:
Originally posted by _eug:
Originally posted by idnic:
No, I do not use ISO 200 exclusively in studio with strobes. I normally use ISO 100.
Outdoors, I start at 100 but if I have a fast toddler or a dancer or other fast moving subject, I'll crank the ISO as needed to get the speed I want.

Some of us can only go down to ISO 200. ;)

Heh, and I guess you can't crank it to 3200 either, huh? :D

Mine goes to 11. Which is one higher, isn't it?

;)
 03/06/2008 03:59:44 PM · #12
Originally posted by inshaala:
It is my understanding that if you are using strobes you cant use the in-camera meter - infact it is probably better not to anyway even if it did work. The whole point of light metering is so you know what aperture you need... when using strobes as your only light source you just set it to sync speed (normally around the 1/125sec mark) and use the correct aperture / light intensity settings...

I think your problem here is using automatic settings which read the light already on the scene and dont account for the fact you are about to throw a whole lot of light into the shot thus "washing out".


What you describe is what a flash meter is useful for. Higher end light meters have the ability to trigger strobes and measure the ambient and strobe light levels. Some of the sekonic meters have pocket wizard functionality built in for this purpose, others have a PC sync socket.
 03/06/2008 04:05:19 PM · #13
Also I noticed you are using the f2 In the last photo( the only one I looked at) The focus is off.. maybe on the nose?. You will find that around F8 -f11 is the optimum for sharpness across the whole image. If you start to use Larger apertures you will get a really shallow DOF.Thus appearing to be OOF. I'm sure you know that. I would stick with F8 when shooting this type of shot then use PS to give the sense of Shallow DOF(If you desire). Then use other Fstops(1.8. 2.2...) when using natural light to achieve different effects. Stick with F8 and adjust the lights either by the control on the lights or just move them back and forth from your subject.

to add to what BearMusic said.

When you have a light meter it allows you to set your lights at different power to create depth in your photo. If you set your Main light, fill light and background light all at f8 you wil get a flat looking image becauase the light is the same all around the image. But if you set your fill light 1stop darker than your main then you give your subject more shape and also if you set your background light 1stop from your main it seperates your subject from your background. It is hard to see this with your eye. This is where a light meter allows you to set your lights and test your light settings without having to take many shots to achieve desired results.

Just from my experience.
there are plenty of more experienced photogs than I that will give much more advice.Keep playing with the lights and you will get the hang of it.
03/06/2008 06:09:36 PM · #14
thanks for all the advice, I REALLY appreciate it.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 08/25/2025 06:06:45 AM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/25/2025 06:06:45 AM EDT.