Jim Davis wrote: > But when you have something like that white wall in direct sunlight > you have to ask yourself if it's important to keep detail in it. If it > is important, then you also have to realize that the rest of the range > you're going to get is very limited.
Often, this may well be the case. But if you know the camera's characteristic curve (say, RGB vs. scene luminance value), you can measure the scene luminance range and determine when an exposure compromise may be needed (e.g., when to allow clipping of some highlights and how much to allow). Digital is a bit more constraining than with modern negative films, which don't clip, and don't really exhibit much shouldering unless you really fry 'em. But it's really the same class of problem that Ansel Adams faced in the 1940s--make the most appropriate fit of the input luminance range to the imaging medium's capability. Admittedly, you probably can infer most (if not all) of this from a careful reading of the histogram. The key, I think, is that the final placement is the photographer's conscious decision rather than a random occurrence. I still prefer a spotmeter for doing this--but maybe I'm just too set in my ways. As always, there's usually more than one way to do it. Jeff Conrad * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
