On Thu, 25 Sep 1997 17:29:44 -0700, Tony Meadow wrote: >I've read several rules of thumb about exposure: >1. Green trees/grass >2. Skin (caucasian) >is equivalent to a gray-scale card. In practice, I've found that they can >differ and it sometimes, but not always, shows in my slides. How do you >all check your exposures? (Carry a gray-scale card around?)
Hi Folks: Here is a bit of my experience. Green trees/grass are 1/2 to 1 stop darker than 18-percent gray. The inside of one's palm, regardless of race, is approximately one stop lighter than 18-percent gray. Ballast, either red granite or typically dirty limestone, is very close to 18 percent gray. Carrying a gray card is great if you want your photos to be 18-percent gray. It makes your reflected light meter an incident meter, and you have just wasted a lot of money :-). My advice is to learn the values of various objects. Select the most important object in your composition, translate that value to 18 percent, and make your exposure accordingly. Any correlation to Adams' "Zone System" is purely intentional. Later, Warren P.S. For most train pictures on nice days you can use the information guide that's packed with the film and obtain better results than with improper or automated metering. --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
