Ron writes:
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I have always set my OM4t to +2 stops when shooting snow scenes and been
quite pleased with the results. It is indeed a fact that solid white is 2
stops above neutral grey or a neutral color.
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The advice is sound (for slide film), but the reason isn't quite correct.
Opening up 2 stops is an artifact of the contrast grade of a typical slide
film. Slide film captures about a 5 stop range, or in other words, the rate of
loss of density is such that 2 stops of brightness greater than what would
be rendered as neutral grey will rendered by a slide film as a textured white.
Solid white would be 2.5 stops greater, but you would lose all texture to
the snow. A meter reading off the snow is an average over the very small
variations in brightness of the snow that render texture in the snow. By
opening up 2 stops, you leave 0.5 stops of headroom to render the very tiny
variations that are brighter than the average. A lower contrast slide film
like Astia or Kodachrome 64 will help retain more texture, and some people
might even use a grainier film than normal to add texture to the snow.
Shooting in low contrast lighting is also a good idea for snow scenes.
If you were shooting a snow scene in B&W, metering off the snow and opening
up 2 stops would place the snow in zone VII, and you'd have to compensate
by push processing or at print time to get a white, textured snow. Of
course, with B&W it is more customary to expose for the shadows, and
deal with the highlights in the darkroom.
Joseph Albert
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