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Thread: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

  1. #1

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    Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Just received my Kickstarter dry plate holder and I'm excited to get out and start shooting the standard ASA 2 J Lane Dry Plates. However, being that I live in the desert southwest where I typically photograph desert scenes with lots of saguaros I'm thinking my usual spot metering techniques (used with film) may not be accurate due to all the green around; especially a saguaro itself which is, many times, the subject of my shot. So, I'm thinking that an incident reading may be more useful? How do all you dry plate shooters meter? Do you concern yourself with vegetation?

    Thanks!

  2. #2

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    I use one of my spot meters near Tucson, just as I do on almost all subjects.

  3. #3

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    I would suspect that you'll get more variability due to the availability of UV than by the type of subject itself.
    If you go to his page he talks about adjusting the ASA depending on the time of the year and potentially location as well as some useful metering tips:

    https://www.pictoriographica.com/tec...-and-tips.html

    under "METERING OUTDOORS - VARIATIONS IN EFFECTIVE SPEED".

    It would seem this is not the type of thing where you want to have an UV filter on your lens ;-) however he does recommend a blue filter on the meter to match what the emulsion will see.

  4. #4

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Thank you, both. I guess I was somewhat concerned about the potential UV from green vegetation affecting my meter readings. Sounds like I'll be just fine using my spot meter as I normally would.

    @Kiwi7475 - I read all those useful tips. I will be paying particular attention to that chart revealing how the speed of Jason's plates can change based on time-o-day and time-o-year. It will certainly be a good starting point until I get some experience using these plates.

  5. #5
    Nodda Duma's Avatar
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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Having lived (and metered!) in the desert southwest, I’d try doing a wide field ( i.e. non spot) metering at ASA 2 as a starting point. You will definitely get something.

    If you spot meter on your saquoro and want to place it in the midtones, add two stops as a starting point. But I think you’ll overexpose everything else. So yeah I’d say meter as you normally do. That’s what the ASA 2 rating was intended for...it gets wonky over time of day and time of year sure, but down where you are the variation isn’t nearly as extreme as the London plot on the website shows.

    -Jason
    Newly made large format dry plates available! Look:
    https://www.pictoriographica.com

  6. #6

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Quote Originally Posted by Nodda Duma View Post
    Having lived (and metered!) in the desert southwest, I’d try doing a wide field ( i.e. non spot) metering at ASA 2 as a starting point. You will definitely get something.

    If you spot meter on your saquoro and want to place it in the midtones, add two stops as a starting point. But I think you’ll overexpose everything else. So yeah I’d say meter as you normally do. That’s what the ASA 2 rating was intended for...it gets wonky over time of day and time of year sure, but down where you are the variation isn’t nearly as extreme as the London plot on the website shows.

    -Jason
    Thanks Jason. Maybe the metering app on my phone would be best? If possible, I could move close enough to eliminate most of a bright sky (after all, our daily forecast is: Change of severe clear!)?

  7. #7

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Maybe its just me, but I have never spot-metered anything, only incident since I started photography in the 1980s. I rarely use a meter anyway, "sunny 16" is perfect.

  8. #8
    Nodda Duma's Avatar
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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan9940 View Post
    Thanks Jason. Maybe the metering app on my phone would be best? If possible, I could move close enough to eliminate most of a bright sky (after all, our daily forecast is: Change of severe clear!)?
    Yeah I use Pocket Light Meter and agree that’s a good way to go. The other thing I’ve been doing lately is meter off a gray card and also learning to meter for shadows. Also been playing with my (new to me) Gossen Luna Pro meter and in all cases get decent results.
    Newly made large format dry plates available! Look:
    https://www.pictoriographica.com

  9. #9

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    Re: Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Quote Originally Posted by Nodda Duma View Post
    Yeah I use Pocket Light Meter and agree that’s a good way to go. The other thing I’ve been doing lately is meter off a gray card and also learning to meter for shadows. Also been playing with my (new to me) Gossen Luna Pro meter and in all cases get decent results.
    Yeah, I was just thinking that using my Sekonic L-558 in incident mode and holding the meter in an open shadow area might give me a good enough exposure. I used Pocket Light Meter years ago and just now re-installed it on my phone.

    Btw, just fooling around in my yard a few minutes ago doing some metering and I'm getting 2 - 4s shutter speeds for f/16 or f/22 (the apertures I typically use.) Is there any reciprocity failure with your plates that I need to concern myself with? I didn't see any mention of this on your "Tips & Techniques" page of the website.

  10. #10

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    Metering technique for J Lane Dry Plates

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan9940 View Post
    Yeah, I was just thinking that using my Sekonic L-558 in incident mode and holding the meter in an open shadow area might give me a good enough exposure. I used Pocket Light Meter years ago and just now re-installed it on my phone.

    Btw, just fooling around in my yard a few minutes ago doing some metering and I'm getting 2 - 4s shutter speeds for f/16 or f/22 (the apertures I typically use.) Is there any reciprocity failure with your plates that I need to concern myself with? I didn't see any mention of this on your "Tips & Techniques" page of the website.
    From an old thread....

    “In practice (outdoors) I add about 50% exposure time after 45s and 100% after 2 minutes. Faster than that ISO 2 is fine.”

    I haven’t been in that regime of beyond 10-15s so I can’t vouch myself, but I’m sure Jason is right!

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