Still Life & Flash Metering

[oneshotbeary]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum & Large Format Photography. I have the use of a LF camera in a college studio for a little while an i'd like to do some still life LF with it. However i'm not sure of the process i should use when metering with Flash.I think i need to use flash as i was getting some lengthy meter readings with out the flash which would probably cause reciprocity failure.

How can i meter using the studio flash if i can't attach the camera to the flash?

Thanks!

[AtlantaTerry]

I'm not sure of the process I should use when metering with Flash. I think I need to use flash as I was getting some lengthy meter readings without the flash which would probably cause reciprocity failure.

How can I meter using the studio flash if I can't attach the camera to the flash?

It would help greatly if you said what brand and model flash meter you are using.

I think what is wrong is you are indoors but have the light meter set for continuous light like you would outdoors in daylight. Since indoors is darker you are getting a false reading.

Since I don't know what light meter you are using, let me say a few things in general.

1. you don't necessarily need a camera/shutter attached to the flash meter

2. be sure your film/sensor ISO is programmed into the meter

3. set up the flash meter to not take a reading when the camera shutter goes off but, instead, set it up to react to the flash itself

4. once Step #3 is set set up the meter for incident or reflective readings

5. if incident, take the meter to the subject, set off the flash then look at the readout. You can do this a couple ways:
5a. set the meter on the subject or have the subject hold it then go set off the flash
5b. use a long wire from the flash to the strobe
5c. use a small weak handheld strobe to trigger the main strobe
5d. use a wireless transmitter handheld or plugged into the meter to signal a receiver to trip the strobe
5e. some flash meters such as my Sekonic 758DR have a transmitter module installed that can tell a Pocket Wizard receiver plugged into the strobe to trip it

6. generally, you are only interested in aperture with a flash meter so set the shutter speed to one that is as high as possible without creating problems. By that I mean if you are using a camera that has a focal plane shutter you want to be sure it's speed is not so high that only part of it is open when you take a picture. With view cameras, the shutter is generally in the lens so you can set it to a high speed such as 1/125 or 1/250. Even if there is a shutter speed like 1/500 available I don't like to use it often because I feel it stresses the shutter. (With a Hasselblad, Mamiya RB/RZ or similar I don't worry so much.)
Be careful that you do not use a slow shutter speed such as 1/2, 1/4, etc. because the strobes's modeling lights will add both light and color to your image. Since most modeling lights are incandescent light bulbs they look "warm" to color film therefore can make your photo look warmer than you might want.

7. focus / compose / etc. with the view camera's aperture at it's widest and the shutter opened fully

8. close the shutter

9. set the aperture to the reading you got with the light meter

10. insert the film holder

11. remove the dark slide

12. take the picture

13. insert the dark slide with the black side facing out (I think of it like a sun tan - skin gets dark when exposed to light)

14. remove the sheet film holder

15. write down the film holder number, exposure, film, etc. in a notebook

The big question I have is why didn't the school teach you to use your equipment properly?

RTFM

[Leigh]

How can i meter using the studio flash if i can't attach the camera to the flash?

Hi, and welcome to LFPF.

Ordinarily a studio camera IS connected to the flash being used. That's sort of fundamental to the process.

Depending on your setup, you may need an assistant to trip the shutter while you hold the meter.

You need an exposure meter designed to evaluate flash.
It may be a dedicated flash meter or a more general-purpose one with flash capability.

For incident readings, aim the meter toward the camera, pointed halfway between the flash and the lens axis.

Alternatively, you can take a reflected reading from a gray card set at the subject, again pointed halfway between the camera and flash.

Reflected readings are typically done with spot meters, or other meters designed for this usage.

- Leigh

[ShannonG]

So the lens on the LF does not have a flash sync port? One needs a flash option on the light meeter or a flash meeter to measure flash.If the lens doesn"t have a flash sync port you can leave the shutter open for a few sec. and trip the flash. You may have to bracket a few sheets. One can also do this in a completely dark room ,open the shutter,then paint the subject in with light. Experiment and have fun.

[lenser]

Leigh, I'm going to gently disagree with your suggestion on pointing the meter toward the camera for the incident reading. That would only be accurate in one of two circumstances, first if the main light was also at the camera position in which case you could establish your value for the main light, and secondly, if you are trying to set the value for the fill lighting to compare it to the main for contrast ratio, assuming that the main is coming from another direction.

To establish the highlight exposure range (and then be able to adjust it for the desired zone value) the incident dome must be aimed at the main light, wherever it is located. Then you can set the fill range and expand or contract the contrast ratios as you wish by incident readings of that source and then the appropriate brightness adjustments.

That part of the thought process is identical to making ambient readings and adjustments. The way you described will work after a fashion, but it won't be strictly accurate.

Oneshot, Leigh is right about the use of an assistant, but lacking that, if your meter has a tripod thread mount or you can just prop it up in the scene so that you measure the source you want, you can do this by manually triggering the flash. If you initially don't have the power you want, most meters have a function that allows you to accumulate flashes until you see the f stop that you want for either depth of field or brightness needs. Just put the meter on that function and fire the flash multiple times (waiting for full recharge in between) and when you see the f stop you want, see the display for the number of "pops" it took to get to that level. Then open the shutter in a darkened studio (including turning off the modeling lights in the flash if any) and pop away until you get to that level.

[Leigh]

Leigh, I'm going to gently disagree with your suggestion on pointing the meter toward the camera for the incident reading.

Hi Tim,

You missed half of what I said, namely:

For incident readings, aim the meter toward the camera, pointed halfway between the flash and the lens axis.

This is the way exposure meters are designed to work when you use point-source lighting (flash).

If you're using uniform ambient light (outdoors), you just point the meter dome at the camera lens.

- Leigh

[mdarnton]

Seeing a point here that needs discussing. With most flash meters it is NOT necessary to run a wire to the meter from anything. The meter not only knows when the flash has gone off, but usually can also integrate ambient light into the reading IF you have it set to that option. You just put the meter in position, press the read button, and the meter waits for the flash to go off. I use a remote trigger to fire my a blank on my camera and that fires the flash.

The other option is to hook the lights up directly to the meter and trigger the flash with the meter. That requires a different setting on the meter, and a wire to the flash contact on the meter from at least one of the strobes (assuming the others are connected with some type of remote sensors, which they will be). If the meter doesn't have that contact (and some don't) that's not an option.

What you really NEED to do is read the meter's instructions. Meters are all different, and do different things. Only that will tell you what to do with the specific meter you're using. Instructions for virtually everything are available online.

The only thing people here will be able to tell you that the instructions don't is the specific nuances of where to hold the meter and how to interpret the reading, and you're going to get a LOT of varying advice on that. My advice is to start with a digital camera, not film, and test various ways of using the meter until you arrive at a method that gives you the results you want. Then transfer those concepts over to the film camera. You're not going to learn as much by stumbling through a mix of other people's incompatible methods as you will by just doing the footwork yourself. It should take you all of about 15 minutes of your life to sort it out.

By the way, you say you can't attach the flash to the camera? Do you really mean can't attach the flash to the meter? Anway, if you really can't connect flash and camera, put a half-second exposure on and hit the manual flash button in the middle of it. If the room is as dark as you say, using the f opening that's probably right, the half second won't do much.

[lenser]

Leigh, At one point I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. Then I went to a couple of Dean Collins seminars and learned a much better and more accurate way.

[Leigh]

Tim,

The one common thread that runs through every discussion of personal preferences and processes

is the word "personal".

There are twice as many "right" ways to do things as there are people doing things.

I've attended Dean's lectures and have all of his videos. He's a master in the studio.
But that's not relevant.

The universal truth in photography is consistency. Regardless of how you do whatever with whatever, if you are absolutely consistent in your technique you will achieve consistent results.

Once you achieve that point in your professional growth, you start examining different aspects of the discipline, changing this or that or something else to see how those changes affect the results.

Which brings up my #1 hot button... personal EI for film.

The results on a negative depend on only two things: 1) exposure, and 2) development.

If you use the development recommended by the film manufacturer, with accurate metering and shutter speeds, you WILL get the expected results, every time.

The most common problem is that people don't use exposure meters correctly, so their exposures are off.
They compensate for this by changing the EI settings on the meter. One error to compensate for another error.

Back when I was teaching photography, this was my #1 law, that I stapled to everybody's forehead at the beginning of every class. "Do what the manufacturer tells you to do, exactly, every time, and you'll get consistent results."

Whether those results are what you want or not is a different question.
You may need to change the process to achieve your "vision".

This is the artistic aspect of photography, divorced from the technical.
But this is not a newbie thing. It can take a lifetime to develop one's own world.

- Leigh

[Daniel Stone]

Here's a video of Mr. Collins doing his thing:

http://youtu.be/uL2NG-0GnM0

Starting at the 25:00 mark in particular, shooting watches on tabletop.

-DS