light meters

[peter]

I had talked about getting one of these a while ago but gave up on the idea as I really was not sure if I needed it or not. Well it popped back in to my mind this week and I went for it. I picked up a Sekonic 308s which does flash which is really what I wanted it for. I have only had time to have a quick play with it but am really happy with the out come. I set the background at f11 and the main at f8 which was so quick and easy to do.

[Stephen]

Re: light meters

Hi Peter, its my feeling that flash meters, for use in the studio are an essential bit of kit. Mainly its to balance the different light units, as you have done here, or if you are using several heads you can alter the output of each. Using a white background means usually that you have to light it and to make sure its properly white increase the exposure on it compared with the subject, again as you have done here. So well done for getting that sorted.

I think perhaps the B/G is a little too bright here as its creating a bit of light bleed round the edges of the subject and its particularly apparent with the bear. Maybe half a stop difference would do, or pull the subject further away from the B/G. Ideally the shadow infront of the bear should not be there.

[peter]

Re: light meters

Hi Peter, its my feeling that flash meters, for use in the studio are an essential bit of kit. Mainly its to balance the different light units, as you have done here, or if you are using several heads you can alter the output of each. Using a white background means usually that you have to light it and to make sure its properly white increase the exposure on it compared with the subject, again as you have done here. So well done for getting that sorted.

I think perhaps the B/G is a little too bright here as its creating a bit of light bleed round the edges of the subject and its particularly apparent with the bear. Maybe half a stop difference would do, or pull the subject further away from the B/G. Ideally the shadow in front of the bear should not be there.

Hi Stephen

That was my feeling as well. I spend to much time trying to sort the lights that I miss out on photos. This time it was so easy to get the settings right and I look forward to using this with a real person. I no it's no excuse but I was fighting for space and this was shot in around 6 to 8 foot from front to back.

I shot the bear first an fully agree with you that it is a little bit blown. I will try to sort that out tomorrow if I get a chance.

[kennykodak]

Re: light meters

high key is a tough one. the subject can't be too close to the background. most people trip over the metering. the background should be two stops brighter than the subject, problem is, most folks don't understand how that works. let's suppose the we meter the bear with an incident meter at f/8. then the background should be f/16 right? yes but not by metering it by incident as well. the background is more reflective that the bear to begin with. the two stops would be reflective metering. if one were to just crank the background light up by two stops incident it would in reality be three to three and half brighter. shadows bring out the detail in a subject in a high key scene.

*high key image, any image where the majority of tones are above 18% middle grey.*

[peter]

Re: light meters

high key is a tough one. the subject can't be too close to the background. most people trip over the metering. the background should be two stops brighter than the subject, problem is, most folks don't understand how that works. let's suppose the we meter the bear with an incident meter at f/8. then the background should be f/16 right? yes but not by metering it by incident as well. the background is more reflective that the bear to begin with. the two stops would be reflective metering. if one were to just crank the background light up by two stops incident it would in reality be three to three and half brighter. shadows bring out the detail in a subject in a high key scene.

*high key image, any image where the majority of tones are above 18% middle grey.*

Hi Kenny

Thanks for that. Like I said at the start of the post the background was set at f11 and the main light was f8 so that would have been 1 stop over I believe. I will say the bear was only about 2 foot away from the background where the front light was about 3 to 4 foot from the bear. I do hope to be having another go at this at the weekend so any more tips would be well appreciated.

[kennykodak]

Re: light meters

you should fine, just pull the another foot forward. the background light is casting a shadow of the subject forward.