P3D Re: Exposing Christmas lights

[roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (John W Roberts)]

>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 22:24:58 -0700
>From: "Greg Wageman" <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: P3D Re: Exposing Christmas lights

>...The eye is easily fooled...  When you read a text description in a guide,
>you really have an unclear idea if your current situation matches what's
>being described.  The meter will get you immediately into a ballpark
>where you will get an image on the film resembling what you see.  Beyond
>that, I fully agree that bracketing is essential.  And as you say, full stops
>(e.g. halve and double the exposure time).

For the illuminated building example I agree, but I think it would take a
mighty intelligent meter to correctly expose outdoor Christmas *lights*
at night so that the lights are properly defined and not washed out (bright
colors) and the area between the lights is dark. If you use a conventional
meter, you're likely to get an image, but I expect the lights themselves
will be heavily overexposed.

To make matters more complicated, I would probably want bare bulbs and frosted
bulbs to be exposed differently, or at least I would have different criteria
for judging acceptable exposure.

John R


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