P3D Re: List of empirical exposure settings

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Eric G wrote:
> 
> The decision to choose incidence versus reflectance measurements is not
> a simple one... I am sorry to say that for serious photography, there
> are no magic meters or simple rules or guidelines which will substitute
> for an understanding of what meters "meter," and how photographic film
> reacts to different quantities of light. If snapshots are your thing
> than sunny-16 and tables provide acceptable results most of the time.
> 

For those who are interested, Phil Davis' "Beyond the Zone System" has
a very good section on how to use spot meters for zone system metering
and incident meters for working with lighting ratios.  The book's main
purpose is to explain (in as non-technical a manner as possible) how
film and paper react to light and how to match their differing
responces to produce a good print.  The examples are all for black &
white, but could easily be extended to color.  The section on metering
is the clearest I've seen in any photography book.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Humans explore the Universe with five
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              |   senses and call the adventure science."
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/ | - Edwin P. Hubble


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