Hello,
I am taking portraits by spot-metering on (white) people's cheeks and NOT giving it +1 stop.
I thought that by spot metering on something you would get "middle grey", i.e. zone 5.
Somebody can explain? I am very well confused...
Printable View
Hello,
I am taking portraits by spot-metering on (white) people's cheeks and NOT giving it +1 stop.
I thought that by spot metering on something you would get "middle grey", i.e. zone 5.
Somebody can explain? I am very well confused...
18% Grey, ie. a Kodak Grey card is Zone V, Caucasian skin is Zone V1 one stop lighter, so you do need to add +1 stop.
Well, ok, I thought the same.
But my photos show people's faces not grey at all - maybe my dev times are too long?
Yes, spot-metering the cheek/subject will place the cheek/subject on Zone V(middle gray). But, you must decided where you want to place the subject's value on Zone Scale. You can place Caucasian skin either on Zone VI or Zone VII depends on skin tone.
Film needs testing before you employ Zone System.Quote:
Originally Posted by pierods
I would rather incident meter esp., when shooting slides.
You can do the same for the negs, when you have uniform light.
If there are hightlights and shadow, then you may need -1 or +1 correction accordingly.
Yes, medium gray is considered zone V.
Caucasian skin normally falls in VI-ish.
(Roman numerals are normally used to denote zones because zones don't always correlate equally to stops.)
The classic correction/offset when metering Caucasian skin is to increase exposure by 1-stop.
My caveat is that it depends on the lighting, the skin that you meter from should not be in shadow nor in highlight.
If you have, or can borrow an incident meter, you can find the classic camera setting that will give you "normal" zone placement, then you can meter various points on the face to find the various zones and variations on the face, on a grey card, or on some other reference point.
A bright side cheek may read in zone VIII, dark side zone III.
That variation is simply the nature of the beast when reflective metering is used. (It is also why, when given a choice, I almost always incident meter.)
Sorry Mark,
but I am really too ignorant:
if skin is zone 6, and I meter on it (that puts it on zone 5), to go to zone 6, that is 1 MORE stop - why do you say 1 LESS stop?
Your meter do not know whether it is a white skin or black coal. It sees the world as medium gray. If you spot meter the skin, then you have to decide where you have to place the skin on Zone Scale. This is the same for metering the shadows...
For white skin, it is recommended to place either on Zone VI or Zone VII and where as Zone III or Zone IV for shadows. It all depends on how you visualize and what you want on the negative.
Probably because I haven't had enough coffee yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by pierods
I stand corrected, open up one stop.