 Lisa Lenderink |
New Light Meter...How do I use it?? I'm so excited, I just got my new Konica Minolta VF Light Meter in the mail today....The manual is a little overwhelming..I've no idea where to start! My business mainly consists of babies, kids, families & senior pics. Anybody have any good tips on where I should start? Good grief, I don't even know where to begin. Right now for studio work I am using hot lights (hopefully will get strobes this fall) and for outdoor work I always use a fill flash. I know I just need to jump in and experiment....but hoping that somebody has some tips (where to even hold the darn thing...in front of the person...etc.) When reading about how to use the meter w/ flash it said to put in my shutter speed....duh, I thought the meter would TELL ME what my shutter speed & fstop would be. I don't have a sync cord so will have to operate in non-cord mode. So far I guess I've lucked out with my cameras auto settings...but w/ the prospect of new lights I know I need to figure this out and get off of the "auto" mode. I use a canon elan 7 Any tips/suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! I'm so excited to figure this thing out!! Thanks!
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
You're making a way bigger deal out of it than you need to. Ambient light, you put in your film speed, put in your shutter speed that you want to use, hold the meter with the white dome facing back at the camera position, push the button to get the reading, and it tells you the correct aperture. Non-cord mode, you put in your camera sync speed, put in film speed, place the meter where your subject is or have them hold it with the white dome facing back towards camera position or back where the light is coming from, push the button and while the display is blinking, shoot off the flash and it tells you the correct aperture.
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Lisa Lenderink |
Right now, everything is a big deal to me. I just want to finally get out of the "auto mode" on my camera so I worry about doing things correctly. I know that I just need to get out there and use it...thanks!
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Lisa Lenderink |
When shooting indoors I mainly do high key portraits. W/ my hot lights set up do I meter from the subject and then meter just the backdrop and average?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
a high key white background you'd need to have the background exposure to be at least the same exposure as the subject, but better to have 1/2 a stop over. You have to add some light to a white background or else it will look grey if you only use light from the main light.
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Lisa Lenderink |
Thanks! I do use 2 additional lights for the backdrop....they aren't as big as I really need them and sometimes get grey areas on the borders...which I end up cropping out. Hopefully when I get my new lights/umbrellas I will have enough light to be successful every time w/out cropping. Thanks for your tips!
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