Question about a metering technique

[Vinny]

I shot slides all the time back then and I never heard about or used that technique!

Sky-tone metering was the way many of us exposed color slide film back in the dark ages of the 1980's...it was a reliable way to peg the brightest tones, which is/was how one exposes color slide film.

 

[Vinny]

Thanks for the compliment and the ego booster ... but unfortunately at 51 I am beginning to realize I'm not that young and I really stink at photography! Or at least stink compared to those on this forum!

As Helen indicated this is a very common method of metering and maybe you haven't heard about it as your too young

 

[ann]

even with black and white i have used that method.

when using your hand it is important to be sure your hand is in the same lighting conditions. I still recommend this to my beginners when they don't have a long lens and can't get as close as they made need.

Stink is a reality term

also, just as an fyi, in the old days of press photography and 4x5 film , it was very common for them to take a few film holders and on a nice clear day, expose the film , aiming at the sky. Then use the same film for shooting in low light conditions.

 

[UUilliam]

I wondered this, until I tried it.

it actually works.
your camera has to find the middle grey (18%) so the sky is grey (if you convert it to B&W, camera, well most, dont pick up colour.)

so the sky is the 18% thus a correct exposure value is given
you only do this if you are facing the opposite way of the sun, or the reflective value will be higher than 18%

so, if you want to shoot someone, you dont turn your camera the opposite way, you meter the sky that you see when looking at them.

but you can always stick to the sunny 16 rule.

 

[ann]

then there is always green grass, it is a middle tone value

 

[Josh66]

also, just as an fyi, in the old days of press photography and 4x5 film , it was very common for them to take a few film holders and on a nice clear day, expose the film , aiming at the sky. Then use the same film for shooting in low light conditions.

How exactly does that work? I assume that it would be the same as a multiple exposure in a 35mm camera (one for a nice clear sky, and another for something in low light), what I don't get is what the advantage is...

If you tried this in a 35mm camera using the multiple exposure function, would compensation be required, or would you just expose each exposure normally?

 

[ann]

pre-exposer adds density to the film which helps in the shadow area. Modern folks use an opaque piece of plastic over the lens to avoid specific details.

it is an old technique used often with LF film. basically to help control extreme contreast (pre hdr , i suppose )

you don't make any changes for the exposures. try here

Pre-exposure - A Zone System tool for roll film users
(see what you young folks are missing )

 

[Josh66]

Awesome, I want to try that now.

The only problem I see is that it would pretty much disable your (35mm) camera until it got dark.

Do you think I could (when it's already dark) just make one exposure, firing a flash against a plain wall or something, then do the second one of 'the subject'? Wouldn't that pretty much be the same thing, but without all the waiting?

 

[Christie Photo]

Sky-tone metering was the way many of us exposed color slide film back in the dark ages of the 1980's...it was a reliable way to peg the brightest tones, which is/was how one exposes color slide film.

And it's how I make digital exposures... metering for the highlights. Well, sort of.

I do meter off a grey card, but I'm watching the histogram the entire time I'm working to be certain I'm not clipping the highlights.

-Pete

 

[Taylor510ce]

You can meter the brightest part of the shot ( as if this was the midtone ) and then over comp. like a a stop or two or something. Here is a good article that has to do with metering to maximize your sensors range...

Max Out Your DSLR Sensor - Outdoor Photographer | OutdoorPhotographer.com

 

[ann]

josh,

i don't understand your question

 

[Josh66]

josh,

i don't understand your question

Would taking a picture of a plain white wall, evenly illuminated by flash ('properly' exposed, of course) be the same as taking a picture of the sky?

(For the purpose we were discussing, of course.)

What I mean is - wouldn't any 'bright object' be just as effective as the sky for this purpose? I could pop the flash on a wall any time I want, but taking a picture of the sky (and then not using that camera for hours) prior to the low light picture would pretty much kill that camera for the time between the two exposures.

 

[Vinny]

Thanks for all who answered this thread! If I had the patience and read another 5 or 6 pages he answered the question I posted and - it's exactly as Helen, Ann and Derrel said! He even mentions using your palm! I probably would have introduced those concepts from the start so that as the reader had an understanding of the concept but since I'm not a writer ...

Even though it is a beginner's book, I've learned something from it - glad I picked it up!

 

[ann]

josh

i am not sure, but i don't think so.

I would have to go back and read the link i gave you, or perhaps Helen will pop back and give a more detailed explanation. I swear that woman has forgotten more than i know and i have been doing this a long time and have a lot of information buried away in the old brain.

 

[Josh66]

I think it would work. It just says to use a gray card for the first exposure, so I could just expose a wall so that it comes out gray. Or use a gray card, lol.