 Robert A. Walpole |
Help with Black and white Phototgraphy I have two questions: 1.) I am a student taking an intro to black and white photography here at Millersville university, and my professor has a nasty temper, and makes you fear asking questions. I have an assignment to take some still shots of people eating at my house, and of some food...what should my camera settings be? The light is standard inside home light...a small chandelier over the table, I am using T-Max 100 black and white film. I believe my settings should be ASA 100, F/Stop 16, at 125,60 seconds. Does that sound Ok? My second question: I have to do a second project with artificial light. I have a watch, and I want to take a picture of it with one spotlight around 4-5 o'clock. The light is pretty bright and I will be using T-Max 100 film, can anybody tell me the standard film settings for these shots...I need a good wide variety of working shots. Thanks for any help you guys can provide... desperate student, Robert Walpole
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Either your teacher is incompetent in addition to having poor social skills or you aren't paying enough attention. Has he not covered basic exposure with you? There is no way for anyone to tell you what the settings should be. That's what your meter is for. One of your first lessons should have included a gray card. Place the gray card in the light and meter that.
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Robert A. Walpole |
I never got any kind of gray card... Yes, the teacher is incompetent. Basically I am asking for a rough idea...do my settings in the above problem sound correct? I am paying enough attention, trust me...I know he will not help. The light meter on my camera is also broken...I guess it would have helped if I mentioned that. This class is a required class, not a chosen class...so I can't afford to buy/fix this camera that I am borrowing from my girlfriend's dad...the thing is really old. I just need some rough ideas, thanks for the input, but I believe someone could provide me with some better idea as far as the settings. I am using T-max 100 film, for indoor photography with normal daytime, living room light, what would your setting be? Maybe someone can take their automatic camera and check for me...unfortunately, that is not available to me. Thanks!!
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Judith A. Clark |
Sorry about your incompetent professor, but there really is no way for anyone to check for you, We are not in your sitiuation, and the settings are going to vary with amount of windows, the time of day ect. You need a meter, there just is no other way, The class dosn't have cameras you can check out for your assignments? We aren't just mean and with holding the information from you, we would help if we could. By the way your settings are probably going to be under ss30 and you will need a tripod also.
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Andy |
Without any metering device, it's like shooting in the dark. If you plan carefully, you may hit the target. The keyword here is BRACKET. You may have to bracket 3 to 5 stops of your starting exposure in each direction in order to get the right one. Unless the sun is directly lighting up your subjects, f16 at 1/125 or 1/60 will definitely underexpose your picture. Also you will get sufficient depth of field if you use f8 or even f5.6 and shorten your exposure time. Make sure all your subjects and the food have the same amount of light, next to the window, and that the subjects' faces tilt up a little. Use large white board to bounce the light back to the shadow sides of the subjects if need to (you can afford a white cardboard, right?). The light from the chandelier will not affect the exposure too much (porbably 1/2 of a stop) unless it is very bright. USE A TRIPOD AND SHUTTER RELEASE. I will set my starting exposure value as follows: Bright sunny outside - f8 at 1/60 and bracket (1/125, 1/30, 1/15) Overcast - f8 at 1/60 and 1/125, 1/30, 1/15 and 1/8) Cloudy - f8 at 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 and 1/4 Depending on the time of the day and the intensity of the light hitting your subjects, bracket more if you have to. Hope this helps. BTW, I am a budget photographer and also a student in photography. I also use an old manual SLR (with a working meter, of course) for more than 20 years.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Yeah, if your going to pass this class you HAVE to come up with a meter of some sort. You can't go through the rest of the class guessing at exposures.
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Michaelle Walcutt |
Robert, No one has asked... does your camera have metering capability? I think we all guessed that it did not because of your question... however, with everyone stating that you HAVE to have a meter of some sort, I think we all forgot to ask whether or not you actually already TTL metering. If you do, then life gets alot easier for you. First, use the TTL to meter the scene (specifically something that is aproximately 18% gray), then adjust the +/- EV to compensate for over/under exposure. Definately, bracket as was suggested in earlier posts. You may also want to find out more on exposure settings by reading all you can read either on the web or in the library. Good luck.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Michaelle, see Roberts comment on 12/3: "The light meter on my camera is also broken..."
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Jonathan H. Propst |
I NEVER USE MY METER
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Zaheer Sattar |
Honey, u got to understand "exposure".
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Vanessa |
I am a new Student of Photography but I have already experimented with two cameras. The fist was an ooooold Nikon from the 80's, with no manual and NO LIGHT METER. The result was a very unhappy/discouraged student. I took what I thought would be great photos of snowy things in Central Park. I got back black negatives. Then I used My sisters Nikon FM10 with a light meter of more snowy things and the result: a very happy and encouraged student. Someone above said they never use the light meter but I think for a beginning student who really doesn't understand lighting, nor their camera too well, should definitely get a light meter. I know they sell them separate from the camera so Robert should not have to buy a whole new one.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
If someone says they "never" use their meter they are either full of @#$% or not too bright. You can get by without a meter in a pinch if you know what you're doing. But it would be foolish to never use one if you have the option.
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Doug Vann |
Andy is pretty close with his reply - I assume you are using a 24 exposure roll of film so use a tripod or some other means of supporting the camera if you don't have a tripod. Also if you have a remote shutter release use that. Take as many shots use slightly different settings as Andy suggests and you should come out with a couple of shots that are acceptable. You teacher reminds me of the ones my kids had - 5 bad ones for every good one....
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Tekla Frates |
Hey Robert! I think everyone has covered how important it is to understand exposure and metering your light. You are a beginner? Don't worry.... in the beginning everything is confusing. Some people forget that some beginners are.... well, true beginners. When I first started, people were talking "f-stops" and "shutter speeds." I had NO IDEA what any of that evn meant. I had a professor some what like yours. Very intimidating. Most of the time teachers already "know" everything and forget that they have to slow down for a second without being annoyed at those of us who don't. Just remember it is probably repetative for them... they probably teach the same courses over and over again... and are probably still remember how far along the previous class just came.I had to confront my teacher (nicely) when no one was around and explain how "beginner" I really was. I needed someone to start at the beginning. Tell me what each speed film meant, what an f-stop was, and basically how to hold my camera. One on one... he was extrememly helpful and is still today one of my most valuable sources of information. I just don't want you to get discouraged by "not knowing" what some may think is obvious. I was there before.... but you'll get it. I graduated top of my class... and was one of the worst in the beginning. So... as everyone has said. You need a light meter, or a camera that has one built in. It depends on how far you take photography in the future. Someone who does not use a meter... has been photographing for a long time.And is great at seeing light. It's possible for someone who isn't completely lazy. After a while you can start to recognize what certain settings look like. You'll look at the sunlight and the shade and say " hmmmm. I bet that's F-16 and the shade is 3 stops different." This is a fun game if you have a light meter and the free time.Who has that though. This may be obvious to you. But what you "see" through your camera lense is "not" what your photo will look like necissarily. You have to set the f-stops and shutter speed to see what you eye does automatically. Think of your eyes as an automatic camera. It adjusts to the dark, light, etc.... without you having to do anything. Your camera is an "eye"... but you have to tell it what to do. My suggestion.... if you have to photograph food inside, and you have no way to meter... do it by window light. Set your camera at 125. Then take a bunch of photos changing your f-stop each time. leave your shutter at 125. Shoot with your fstop at 22,16,8,5,6,4,... etc... Maybe you'll get one out of it.???!!! Even if you don't ever plan to photograph again in your life.. you may not get through the class without ever metering. If you do... you'll be doing A LOT more work than you have to.And be getting awfully lucky. Just get a meter or start working with someone who has one or work with someone who has a camera meter that works. Then you can work together. It may be cheaper that way. You may end up loving it in the end.... I've babbled too much... good luck
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John Delaney |
Thank you Tekla F. for finally giving this student a proper response. Too often it seems that people respond without reading any of the other responses. It only required one person to tell the student that he needed a meter... which I am not sure is the best advice, and here is why: Given the situation, we know that Mr. Walpole was in a pinch and needed to get his assignment done. He didn't have a meter and he was asking for experienced photographers to give hime some advice on how they would approach the situation. Rather than reply with the obvious answer, I feel it is important to give the question more than two seconds consideration before responding and reply with a creative or at least a well thought out answer. Secondly when giving someone a response, why not qualify it with a reason. Telling Mr. Waldpole he needs a meter without telling him why, even though it may be obvious to some, is not instructing him a bit. An architect or engineer doesn't design a building a certain way, just because that is how other people do it, they have to learn why the design works how the forces are resolved through the system. Thus when they need to design something that has never been designed before they have not only the tools the need, but the knowledge needed to use them. John Delaney
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António Liberato |
You could also take a look at this... THE ULTIMATE EXPOSURE COMPUTER: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm Hope this helps evaluate the available light, so that you can take properly or almost properly exposed photos...
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Yeah, photo taking can bring out the helpful folks as well as the snobby folks. Ironic ain't it? Mr. Walpole, your asa 100,f/16, at 125 or 60 is the f/16 rule for outdoor, clear day sunlight. If you're going to be in typical house light only, with no light coming thru a window from outside, you really should use asa 400 if you can. And your exposure with that is probably going to be around f/4 at 1/30. Accent on the word around, because nobody can give you too much help without being in your house. But nobody's mentioned if you were planning on using a flash with asa 100 and just forgot to mention it. But if you have to use asa 100 and no flash, you can shoot the food as a still life if you use a tripod, but the people eating will be blurred. As a guess, asa 100 in a kitchen or dining room will probably be around f/4 and 1/8 a second.
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