Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Exposure
Lighting Conditions
Bright or Hazy Sun on Light Sand or Snow
Sand or Snow
Bright or Hazy Sun
(Distinct Shadows)
Weak, Hazy Sun
(Soft Shadows)
Cloudy Bright
(No Shadows)
Heavy Overcast or
Open Shade§
* Use f/5.6 at 1/500 for backlighted close-up subjects.
Use f /8 at 1/500 for backlighted close-up subjects.
§ Subject shaded from the sun but lighted by a large area of clear sky.
Shutter Speed (Second)
and Lens Opening
Tri-X Pan
Professional
TXP, TXT
1/500
f /16
1/500
f /11*
1/500
f /8
1/500
f /5.6
1/500
f /4
Tri-X Pan
TX
1/500
f /22
1/500
f /16
1/500
f /11
1/500
f /8
1/500
f /5.6
More elaborate recommendations for a wider variety of light conditions can be found in the Kodak Professional
Photo Guide.
How well does it work to simply read Kodak's instructions and follow them as best you can? Quite well with
negative film; not well enough with slide film; not at all when using electronic flash.
Fundamentally, an exposure meter can be built in two ways. The first is to measure the light falling on the subject
that you intend to photograph: incident metering. The second is to measure the light coming off the subject in the
direction of the camera lens: reflected metering. The typical handheld accessory lightmeter gives the
photographer a choice between these two methods. The typical in-camera meter can only measure reflected light.
Both kinds of meters recommend a combination of aperture and shutter speed to the photographer who will then
use that recommendation as a starting point when actually exposing film.
When using an incident light meter, the most important source of error of which the photographer must be aware
occurs when the light is highly directional. The incident dome may not catch the light exactly the way the
combination of the subject and camera lens.
http://www.photo.net/making-photographs/exposure (9 of 13)7/3/2005 2:22:14 AM