Metering Question For Head And Shoulders Portrait

[IanBarber]

If taking a Caucasian skin portrait photograph with natural light in a room where the light is more or less even, would you expose the face for Zone VI using a spot meter or would you just take an incident reading close to face

[xkaes]

An incident meter with a hemisphere cone -- NOT a flat incident reader -- pointed at the camera.

[IanBarber]

An incident meter with a hemisphere cone -- NOT a flat incident reader -- pointed at the camera.

Thank you

[Pawlowski6132]

I use spot meter and expose to zone vi.

[mdarnton]

I use an incident meter, but will measure in several different directions to figure out and allow for light vs shadow. It probably wouldn't occur to me to take a picture in a place where the light was genuinely 100% flat.

[Luis-F-S]

Why don't you try it both ways and tell your results!

[Doremus Scudder]

Both techniques will get good results if you know what you are doing. For me, it would depend on what kind of meter I had :)

If you have both, then do what's easiest. Incident metering needs a lot of walking back and forth if you need more than a couple of readings. That said, you may be able to compare lighting ratios a lot easier with the incident meter. It's more direct that way.

Best,

Doremus

[Pere Casals]

If taking a Caucasian skin portrait photograph with natural light in a room where the light is more or less even, would you expose the face for Zone VI using a spot meter or would you just take an incident reading close to face


It is a matter of personal preference. I prefer spot metering from the camera point of view, because it delivers a very exact reading of the fill vs key illumination ratio. In portraiture you have several illumination control factors, even with available natural light you can "modify" illumination, for example by placing subject closer to a window. One of the important factors is fill vs key illumination ratio, with spot metering you read the light amount that is directed to the camera, as illumination can be directional (like rim light) an accurate reading needs to be taken from the camera point of view.

IMHO best photometer is a DSLR spot meter and preshots.

Of course a Pro with a lot of experience/knowledge about his lightning gear may prefer incident reading, also subject feels more confortable than if you point him with something. Me, I feel more self-confident if I use an spot meter and I check well fill and key light.

Anyway, incident metering is a good practice for being proficient with flashmeters.

[Rich14]

If taking a Caucasian skin portrait photograph with natural light in a room where the light is more or less even, would you expose the face for Zone VI using a spot meter or would you just take an incident reading close to face

Rate your film (B&W or color neg) at half box speed. Expose for the shadow side of the face. Develop for box speed.

Scan the negs or print normally to multi-contrast paper.

Yes, this is "over-exposing" the film. Prepare to be amazed at the contrast control, very long tonal (dynamic) range, grain control and over-all excellent image quality.

Works beautifully with any kind of lighting or subject, but especially for back-lit, high-key subjects.

Rich

[IanBarber]

Some good tips there, thanks for the suggestions, evry one noted and I will certainly be trying most of them if not all

[Ken Lee]

In line with Rich14's succinct answer, you might find this brief article helpful: A Simpler Approach to Metering (http://www.kennethleegallery.com/html/tech/index.php#simpler).

[pendennis]

Just one other "PS".

If you take an incident reading close to the subjects face, be sure that they're aware of what you're doing. That close, you're getting inside their "personal space", and it can cause them to be a bit edgy. Some folks aren't all that comfortable in a studio setting, and the mechanics can be a bit bothersome for them.

[chassis]

Is the light really flat? Light often appears flat but in fact can have some directionality. The film wil see the directionality.

I use an incident meter with a dome, with three readings from the subject position:
- in front of subject pointed directly at the camera
- on highlight side of subject with dome pointing toward the light source however flat it may be
- on shadow side of subject with dome pointing toward the deep shadows, however flat they may be

Exposure is a creative choice, having in hand the data that is needed for rhe decision. If the middle reading is halfway between the others, that is the exposure I use. If not, I have a choice to make.

Sekonic’s website has video and articles on this technique.

[Peter De Smidt]

All good stuff. The thing to do is pick one and adjust based on your results. I setup all my lights with an incident meter, but than I use a spot flash meter to make sure I'm getting what I want. Note, when I use and incident meter, I meter with the dome pointed at the camera in the brightest illuminated area, and I give one more stop exposure than what it says on the meter. The idea being to place the exposure between the fill level and the Key + Fill level. (The key light shouldn't be brightening the shadowed areas, whereas the key light and fill light illuminate the brightest areas.) For bw, my fill light is usually 2 stops less than my key light.

[jp]

I've usually incident metered. I can also incident flash meter if using strobes. This has largely been replaced by DSLR tests. A meter works perfectly fine if you are confident and know how to use the meter. But the person being photographed can often benefit with some practice casual photos with a DSLR. You get your lighting right, they get their posing nerves relaxed, minor lighting issues are corrected, communication is improving, everyone's happy with a few good DSLR photos, then everyone's ready for the big camera.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I would want to make 3 readings. The highlight side, the shadow side, and the overall exposure. Portraits look good in the 3-1 and 4-1 range. So I would want to know the ratio in case I had to bump a bit of light in there with a reflector. And then just a straight reading for the exposure, preferably with an incident meter pointed toward the lens, or possibly a gray card at face level with a spot meter.

[Luis-F-S]

You meter it just like you would meter anything else you want to photograph. If instead of typing on this thread, the OP would go out and take the photo, develop, print, look at the results and adjust if needed, we wouldn't be having this discussion.