Without going into a full blown discussion of the zone system, what is
happening is that the film does not have enough latitude to cover the range
of exposure values that is found in a bright, mid day scene. Typically,
negative film can cover about a 10 stops range, and about 7 stops
difference with detail. Slide film is less. The meter takes an average,
between these dark shadows and bright highlights, and ends up with an
exposure value that doesn't capture either. I don't think that using the
Sunny 16 rule will help much in this situation. The zone system says you
should try to get the shadow detail in, in other words take a meter reading
for the shadows, then shoot 2 stops less than this metering reading (this
will place the shadows into the area of the range that's darkest but detail
is still visible). However, this doesn't help the highlights any, they
will probably still blow out. One thing you can do is, if you develop your
own film, and this is b&w negative film, is to underdevelop the film. This
will expand the range of the film, and lower the contrast for better
negatives.
Todd
At 01:23 PM 5/6/01 +0530, you wrote:
>I've messed up some very important landscape shots- I had to take them
>about just after noon in blazing sunlight and the resulting images are
>ghastly: burnt out highlights with deep shadows.
>I showed them to a pro and he recommended I use the Sunny 16 rule
>whenever I take photos in bright sunshine- i.e., I ignore the CW meter
>reading.
>Is this good advice? I shoot print film and my usual outfit for outdoor
>shots would be a MZ5+17mm Tokina
>Thanks.
>RK
>Yeah, I know late morning would have been great for such shots but that
>was not possible here.
>Or should I just meter for the highlights next time (there'll be a next
>time tomorrow!)
>
>
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