Bob and Darren have actually said all that needs to be said in defense of using a meter, and nothing more needs to be said, so here I go ...
You're in the studio. There's seamless setup, the model has come out of makeup and hair and is raring to go. The studio costs $50 an hour. So does the model. The lights are setup: a couple on the background to blow it to white, two on the model. Larry: I'l take a test shot. Model: okay. L: POP L: hang on, I'm checking the histogram. L: ... L: hmmm. I think that's underexposed. Let me fix that. L: POP L: hang on, I'm checking the histogram again. L: Um. That might be overexposed. Shit, there's a huge spike at the right. WTF? M: I think my lipstick is smeared. <exits left> Versus: Bruce: I'm going to meter the light. Model: okay. B: POP B: f/8 B: okay, Shel, I want you to pout. Great! Now smile. Super! ... On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 7:16 PM, Larry Colen <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On May 14, 2012, at 2:56 PM, Darren Addy wrote: > > > On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 4:28 PM, Larry Colen <[email protected]> wrote: > >> One thing that I don't understand is how a handheld light meter would > >> work significantly better with digital than taking a photo and looking at > >> the histogram. Or, for that matter, if it's an important shot, why not > >> just > >> bracket. Drop $100 on a light meter, and that will buy you a terabyte of > >> storage. Plus, if you bracket in digital, you always have the option of > >> combining the frames in post production. > > > > I can't argue with your logic, Larry. > > Oh, of course I can. > > :) > > I don't have time for a full on discussion right now, but my issue with > incident light meters is that they don't take into account the reflectivity > of the subject. > > Note, that I also didn't suggest bracketing action shots, nor did I > suggest that bracketing is always the answer. My question is, what does > taking a light meter reading get you that the histogram doesn't? > > For that matter, what does an expensive incident light meter get you that > one of those incident light meter/ white balance lens caps doesn't? > > > > -- > Larry Colen [email protected] sent from i4est > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
