P3D Re: Exposure compensation

[Mark Shields <beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 23 Sep 1999 05:26:17 -0600 "Dr. George A. Themelis"
<DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>I have a question for Mark and others that has been in my mind for 
>some
>time now.  For many years I have been using manual exposure cameras 
>for
>3d, following the "sunny day rule" and derivatives and an incident 
>light
>meter to determine exposure.  Now with the S1, I use it in auto 
>exposure
>mode all the time and I have been very pleased with the exposures.
>
>I have been trained to think in terms of incident light determining 
>the
>exposure.  So on a sunny day w/100 film, f16 @ 1/100 is the correct
>exposure, no matter how reflective your subject is.  My S1 of course
>will expose for the standard gray.  Do I need to compensate when I
>have unusually dark or light subjects?
>
>Example 1: I am in Athens photographing the steps of the famous 
>Stadium
>where the first Olympic games were held in 1897 (yes Mark, STEPS!)  
>The
>steps are made of white marble and they are WHITE.  I use the S1 in 
>auto
>mode and the X4 at "sunny day" mode.  The steps in the X4 shot look 
>WHITE.
>The picture from the S1 comes a bit darker.  I prefer the darker S1
>picture because it is more saturated and it looks a bit like very 
>early
>morning or late afternoon light.
>
>Example 2:  I am photographing BLACK bears at the zoo with twin SLR
>cameras.  Under "sunny day"/incident light exposure, the bears come 
>out
>BLACK w/no details.  I overexpose by 2 f-stops.  Finally!!!  You can
>see details in their face!  Everything else around them is overexposed
>but there is detail where there should be.
>
>These examples lead me to believe that the incident light approach 
>will
>not give the best results and you need to take the subject into 
>account.
>Automatic exposure will work better and no compensation is required.
>
>Am I doing something wrong?
>
>George Themelis
>

I wouldn't say "wrong." What you say about the steps means
you are interpreting what you want to see, which is O.K.

The bears are a perfect example--like a black steam locomotive--
where reflected light is what matters. Several times I have
looked at the meter needle in my OM-10, thought in terms of
incident light (I learned photography on a manual camera),
and thought it was overexposing. I was wrong. The exposure
was perfect. About the only time I compensate is if there is
a large expanse of cloudy bright sky in the background. That
will definitely cause underexposure of most subjects. And
even then I often bracket.

Mark Shields
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beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx
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