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

DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Sunny 16 .... Really?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 8 of 8, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 05/21/2010 03:11:23 PM · #1
I have noticed, on a number of occasions, how the sunny 16 rule is more like the sunny 10.

After setting, for example, ISO 100, 1/100s, and f/16, I find that the best balance of a high contrast scene: bright light and shadows, is ISO 100, 1/100s, and f/10 or even f/9.

Only if there is a lot of white, then f/16 holds up.

Just curious if others have found this too.
 05/21/2010 03:35:45 PM · #2
"Sunny 16" is not designed for high contrast situations. You are correct that if you want shadow detail you need a stop more exposure. Sunny 16 is designed to keep highlights from blowing out, and it works for that pretty well. Think "color slides" and you'll get the idea where it was born. I always used "sunny 11" myself when shooting 35mm B/W...

R.
 05/21/2010 03:38:43 PM · #3
Paul --

I it can depend on where you are shooting. I'm out in Southern California and at ISO 100 often wind up shooting at f/16 at 1/250 or on occasion even 1/500.

05/21/2010 03:51:11 PM · #4
Thanks Robert. I was thinking that may have been the source. At least I'm not going crazy. f/16 does work when there are very bright white objects, but for most, the sunny 11 works quite well.

On days where the sky is clear, I actually meter off the blue sky and that tends to target the exposure pretty well. Of course, that is time dependent too. :)

Originally posted by Bear_Music:
"Sunny 16" is not designed for high contrast situations. You are correct that if you want shadow detail you need a stop more exposure. Sunny 16 is designed to keep highlights from blowing out, and it works for that pretty well. Think "color slides" and you'll get the idea where it was born. I always used "sunny 11" myself when shooting 35mm B/W...

R.
05/21/2010 08:34:47 PM · #5
Interesting. Why? Is there something in particular about the area you're shooting? Perhaps a lot of white?

Originally posted by Germaine:
Paul --
I it can depend on where you are shooting. I'm out in Southern California and at ISO 100 often wind up shooting at f/16 at 1/250 or on occasion even 1/500.
05/21/2010 10:14:27 PM · #6
There's an element of the white reflecting off of buildings, to say nothing of sand on the beach and reflected light off of the ocean. However, as far as I can tell, it's mostly because we are closer to the Equator than you are. Here's an article in Wikipedia that helps explain what's going on.

Originally posted by PGerst:
Interesting. Why? Is there something in particular about the area you're shooting? Perhaps a lot of white?

Originally posted by Germaine:
Paul --
I it can depend on where you are shooting. I'm out in Southern California and at ISO 100 often wind up shooting at f/16 at 1/250 or on occasion even 1/500.

05/21/2010 10:42:21 PM · #7
I'm familiar with the golden hour. I should have been more specific though. The time of day I'm looking at is generally well outside that time. But, perhaps 41° versus nearly 90° does have some impact in the amount of light and the stops.

Just out of curiosity, if you meter on the sky (away from the sun, no clouds), are you still at the exposure equivalent to f/16, 1/250s? When I meter on that, I'm at f/10 and 1/100s.

Originally posted by Germaine:
There's an element of the white reflecting off of buildings, to say nothing of sand on the beach and reflected light off of the ocean. However, as far as I can tell, it's mostly because we are closer to the Equator than you are. Here's an article in Wikipedia that helps explain what's going on.

05/21/2010 10:56:00 PM · #8
Originally posted by PGerst:
I'm familiar with the golden hour. I should have been more specific though. The time of day I'm looking at is generally well outside that time. But, perhaps 41° versus nearly 90° does have some impact in the amount of light and the stops.


Very, very little. We're at 41°N, she's at 34°N, a whole 7° difference in illumination angle. In Summer at our latitude, the sun at noon is more than 70° above the horizon because of the Earth's tilt.
Any local difference in measured exposure is far more likely to be due to the reflectivity of the environment. Altitude can have some minor effect as well, but I think you'd have a hard time measuring it.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 08/08/2025 05:43:55 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: 08/08/2025 05:43:55 AM EDT.