Light Meter

[2WheelPhoto]

Yeah I've been using sun and fill without issue but I guess I'm the type that if i buy a meter its all or nothing. I'll sit on nothing for a while longer and manually calculate and pop 2-3 shots as i have been. Mike thats what worries me is I'll buy the meter and then still pop a few shots look and think instead of bothering to get it out of its vinyl case.

 

[Josh66]

I got an L358 recently. I have to say that I love it. It's probably overkill for what I do with it, but if I ever need those extra features - I'll already have it.

I have been using it a lot, but I also shoot mostly film, so I can't do a test shot and look at the LCD.

It's also extremely easy to learn to use. There are tutorials all over the place for it, but once you get it in your hands you might find that you don't need them. The manual for it was also pretty good at explaining what everything does.

 

[mwcfarms]

So theoretical question then. Sorry to hijack the thread but I have no problems at all outside working with the sun and fill. Great constant exposures, nice catch lights etc but in studio my lighting is all over the place. Not sure if its the white bouncing everywhere lol set is mostly white or mostly black but white walls and low white ceiling. I get flat flat lighting or blow back all the time. Would having a good light meter for studio work help with that? Or is the pencil and paper good to use too. I struggle with lighting.

What kind of light modifiers do you use? How big is the shooting area? Low ceilings? CLose to walls? SOunds almost like you're using shoot-through umbrellas, which make a real mess of things in tight quarters, or when used with powerful flash units, OR, and this is a biggie--when the flash heads do not have the right type of reflector to "kill the spill" that emanates from a circular flash tube on many flash heads. If you have no issues outside, but have issues indoors with "blow back" and/ or "flat lighting", it sounds to me that SPILL LIGHT is what is messing you up.

I pulled out the tape measure and measured so my backdrop is not that tall 6.5 or7 feet, ceilings are 8 feet tall and I cant help that backdrop extends out another 8 feet and then I have 6 to 15 feet in shooting length away. So I can be really far back and shoot with my 70 - 200 if I want. Lights are closer to backdrop and for modifiers I have an umbrella lol but I NEVER use it inside. I have a Large Softbox from Paul C buff measures 30 by 60", a stripbox with grid thats 2 feet by 5 feet and a set of bar doors etc. I use AB's or my flashes, sometimes a combination of the two. I have a reflector that I will sometimes use for fill. Lately I have been using one light for key and then the other AB for background. Or One for key, the other ab for a hair light and a flash for background.