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12/30/2011 03:01:11 PM · #1 |
... it saves lives... well, ok not lives but it might save you a client or two.
I used to trust only on camera metering, by using center weight, going back and forth to the lighter area and darker areas and coming up with my even settings. It works most of the time, but in studio it's almost a must to use meter with any kind of strobe/flash photography... or even with continuous lights.
Frank is a meter maniac, and his work is awesome. He ALWAYS uses meter before his shooting. Mark also believe in metering, and shows how to do those things in his videos (Search channel with the word "metering") |
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12/30/2011 03:36:01 PM · #2 |
| Cool, I can't wait to check it out! |
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12/30/2011 06:34:20 PM · #3 |
| Yes, you're supposed to. I took a class with one, and can't stand it. Makes no sense to me at all. Instead, I use the histogram and it's done me well. |
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12/30/2011 10:45:08 PM · #4 |
| Here is a direct link to one of Frank Doorhof's blogs about Light Metering... pretty interesting and funny, that's his way, he is not boring in his blogs :) |
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01/01/2012 01:11:45 AM · #5 |
I'm not a fan of meters. It takes the fun out of lighting with digital. When people were shooting film and it was expensive and you had no visual feedback to what you were doing I can see how using a meter was relevant, practical, and acceptable. In the age of digital, it's a $400 crutch that takes all the technical work out of photography.
Edit: I just read the blog post and I get where Frank is coming from. I've had to fix images in post and there's always a chance that you lose detail, even when shooting RAW. Generally I'm spot on when analyzing my histogram while shooting but there are times when I'm rapidly changing setups and/or rushing to get a shot that a meter would have made positive that I was getting the right exposure.
I'll shoot my entire next shoot with the help of a meter and see if I feel any different.
Message edited by author 2012-01-01 01:17:59. |
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01/01/2012 09:56:42 AM · #6 |
Plus, it's a matter of repeatability, Kevin. Studio lighting is to ambient-light photography as baking is to cooking. They have points of similarity, but they are conceptually different. If you are NOT diagramming your light setups and measuring your light ratios, keeping a notebook on your shoots, you are missing out on an extremely valuable, professional tool.
Here's another example; this one's a little esoteric but it illustrates a principle. Back in the day, we used to photograph art for museum catalogues. We did this for the LA County Museum, the deYoung in San Francisco, and others. We'd basically be lighting canvases with 4 lights, and they'd be mounted on the edges of a rolling cart that had also the tripod in the middle. The lights would have to be aimed so the entire surface of the painting received absolutely even illumination, and this couldn't be done by the naked eye. We's have to take ambient-light readings at all 4 corners and in the center of each work of art. So even with a highly repeatable setup, the meter was required for the most professional results...
R.
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01/14/2012 12:43:44 PM · #7 |
bump
Message edited by author 2012-01-15 09:45:27. |
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01/15/2012 09:45:37 AM · #8 |
Here is a fresh video from Frank Doorhof about light meter
Enjoy :) |
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