> No problem at all. Forget your built in meter and use an ambient light
> reading, that way you measure the light falling on the subject and not the
> light reflected from the subject. In fact, try to use this method as often
> as possible - you will be amazed at the results! ( If you do not have a hand
> held meter, take your camera reading off a 18 0rey card)
...
> Steve
This is good advice, though I would caution about doing this with
genuinely dark-skinned folk (most African Americans are not that dark)
especially in bright/contrasty light. The ambient light reading will tell
the film to expose properly for the range of brightness that the eye sees,
but film can't handle that much contrast.
For example, I overexposed this photo (from color negative film) relative
to what an ambient light reading would indicate:
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~epederso/Photo/Gallery/People/PandiBald.html
The effect, by the time the image reaches paper (and then the scanner and
your monitor) is that the saffron and white clothing and the dusty
background are quite washed out (although detail is still available enough
to be acceptable, I think). However, the unnoticeable effect is that you
can see the detail of the subject's face which would have been lost if I
had made a normal exposure. Since the face is the main point of the photo,
the washed out background is the right price to pay. The skin tone is
represented as actually far lighter than in reality, but the idea of
"dark" is maintained by the contrast, and the details are importantly
there.
Again, that's an extreme situation. Most backgrounds are not that light
and most skin is not that dark. So an ambient or grey card reading is
indeed appropriate. Still, with darker people, I find I almost always
slightly dodge the face in printing to give the detail our eye would see
in the world without making them look pallid.
As an aside, I'm having my first (!) gallery showing in about a month:
environmental portraits of the poor of India so I'm struggling a lot with
imperfectly exposed portraits -- despite using mostly OM equipment :-).
Still, I find photographing pale skin in a flattering way far more
difficult!
Eric Pederson
epederso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (no "n" in "epederso")
Professional home page:
http://logos.uoregon.edu/uoling/faculty/pederson/pederson.html
Personal home page:
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~epederso/
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|