Dr. T. gets "exposed"...

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There has been a lot of talk lately on the importance of exposure.
It sounds like if you don't have a light meter and you want to
do stereo photography with a Realist camera, or equivalent, 
and slide film, better forget it!  The beginner who just got a 
cheap Dr. T. Realist ;) must now deposit more money for a good 
light meter... 

It's time to expose my feelings on this issue...

The question is: "Do you REALLY need a light meter?"

Dr. T. says: "No, you don't!"

Let me explain... I am not saying that light meters are useless
or that you shouldn't be using one... I am just saying that you
don't really need them to get decent pictures.  I speak from
first and second hand experience.  I started in 3-d without a 
light meter, just carrying an SLR and taking a few quick readings.
Later, I got one so that I don't have to carry my SLR with me.  For 
a period of about a year recently I was without a light meter and 
guessed most of the exposures.  Did not miss a single exposure and 
I do not bracket.  Two friends at work are using Realists without 
light meters.  They have memorized a couple of rules and they are 
doing fine.  Another friend (Dean Jacobowitz, secreatary of the 
Beta folio of SSA) is shooting 3-d for years without a light meter 
and he prides himself of his ability to "sense the light".

So, what's all this talk about how important the light meter is?
I sincerely believe that one could live a good, productive and 
succesfull 3-d life withought a light meter.  Light meters help.
There is not question about it.  But you can survive and even learn 
to live without them.

Greg Wageman writes:

>The feeling that I'm eliminating a large part of the guesswork
>allows me to concentrate on composing the shot and to think about the
>photograph, instead of worrying about whether the exposure is going to be
>OK.  
    
Why worry?  I don't worry about it...  Maybe I am less picky when it comes 
to exposure.  Maybe my photography is based on other values, impact, good 
ideas, composition, etc., and exposure is secondary.  I will accept 
exposures between +1 and -1 f-stops.  Whenever I bracket I do it only in 
full f-stops.  Anything in-between is a waste of time for me... I do not
remember when was the last time that I threw away a picture because of
bad exposure...  It sounds crazy but I swear it is true!  Maybe it's the
film that I am using, or the air in Cleveland ;), I don't know...
    
And, get this, when in doubt I expose more!  Not less.  Do I end up with 
overexposed slides?  Never.  Can it be that the Fujichrome films are more 
forgiving to exposure and overexposure works better than underexposure 
(against what is traditionally taught for slide film)?  Maybe...
  
>It also makes it easier to trade off shutter speed for depth-of-field,
>since by pressing a button on the meter I can get the correct speed for a
>particular f-stop.
    
I can do that in my head... I don't need the meter for that...
f5.6 1/100 -> f11 1/50 -> f22 1/25... What's the big deal? ;) ;) ;)
    
A great man (don't flame me, it was not me!) once said: "Real men don't
use light meters... Light meter salesmen use light meters".  I will 
not go to that extreme... Light meters have a place in a photographer's
bag (including mine).  But you could survive or even succeed without
using one, just like Andy Burr did in his first roll...

>I recently bought a strobe...
   
Hey, finally we agree!  A strobe (electronic flash) is the way to go.  I 
glued mine in my Realist... Superglue... I use it everywhere.  Indoors, 
outdoors, with sun, without sun... EVERYWHERE!  I have seen 100% 
improvement in all my outdoors shots, especially of people... Try it!
    
George Themelis
   
PS. I noticed that Greg Erker asks for a cheap and good flash meter.  
    Is there such a thing? ;) ;)


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