Grey card query

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

If you metre off a grey card would the white wedding dress be properly exposed? I have been practicing metering off the dress but then I wondered........

[zona5101]

I swear your head is going to explode...

So ya. you meter a gray card for exposure which is a reflective reading emulating an incident reading of the light falling on the subject (as opposed to the regular reflective reading of the light reflected from the subject). Manually setting to the metered exposure and your dress will come out white. The reason to use a gray card (or incident meter) would be to reduce/eliminate the variance in the relative reflectivity of different surface textures and different colors. Also the 18% gray reading establishes the standard/middle/ "zone5" exposure. This then places your white dress 2 stops or so above this standard gray...making it white.

[ccting]

Originally Posted by FlyingKiwiGirl

If you metre off a grey card would the white wedding dress be properly exposed? I have been practicing metering off the dress but then I wondered........

i think you need to consider the tone of skin also... the darker + more to flash compensation.

+1 flash compensation as your matrix metering will be fooled by the while dress... and the face will surely underexposed... lol..
I always use grey card for both wb and exposure. I believe there are 3 different grey card,, which one you use?

I believe we could always adjust wb if we shoot in raw... for exposure, underexpose a bit should be no problem, missing critical moment is more serious. ;D
. You can also have 2 different wb for a single photo using photoshop...

I figure out this in my mind without experience.. hehehe.


try this: metering exposure off her lip rather than the clothes..

again , i am a noo.b

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by zona5101

I swear your head is going to explode...

You reckon? You want to be in my mind space at the mo'......second thoughts, you really don't! I'm still not nervous though.

.....This then places your white dress 2 stops or so above this standard gray...making it white.

Yes, making it white but, showing detail?? And if this answer is yes, then all I need to do is custom WB(spot metre) off my grey card at each change of site, right?

And my last big worry is that darn tree with the dappled light! I tried to talk them out of it.

Thanks so much for helping out, if you were close I'd shout you a drink or two!

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by ccting

i think you need to consider the tone of skin also... the darker + more to flash compensation.

+1 flash compensation as your matrix metering will be fooled by the while dress... and the face will surely underexposed... lol..
I always use grey card for both wb and exposure. I believe there are 3 different grey card,, which one you use?

I believe we could always adjust wb if we shoot in raw... for exposure, underexpose a bit should be no problem, missing critical moment is more serious. ;D
. You can also have 2 different wb for a single photo using photoshop...

I figure out this in my mind without experience.. hehehe.


try this: metering exposure off her lip rather than the clothes..

again , i am a noo.b

ccting, you make me smile! Especially after have a wine or two. I laughed out loud at your lip comment, have you seen how small lips are in the whole scheme of things? Ok if you're up close and personal, but I don't think my eye sight is that good standing back and getting the whole group(15 ppl) and what about the women that have lipstick on! I take my hat off to you, you ceratinly have a knack for replying in the most "helpful" way. Seriously, I hope you can one day put all this into practice and produce some wonderful shots. You certainly deserve to after all your hard study.

Just so you don't stress for me, I will be shooting in RAW and I do have a grey card not sure which one, it's 18%, here is the blurb-

[graciousness]

Just want to share this link from Neil van Niekerk's site regarding exposure metering fort he bride and her dress, just in case you haven't seen it already. I hope this may help you somewhat. It's an alternative to grey card.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/10/2...-brides-dress/

[ccting]

Originally Posted by FlyingKiwiGirl

ccting, you make me smile! Especially after have a wine or two. I laughed out loud at your lip comment,..

Thanks, and that is my purpose being here - you look so tension.. .. aiya, you can zoom in at 300mm and get exposure from lips then zoom out back at 85mm.. a few days before the event from your model..record it to your cheat list. And, you can always walk near them and take the exposure, lock it, then walk back a few steps and take the photo.. Even with the dedicated metering device, you also need to be very close to them to get the exposure ma.. that what i see in the youtube... ...

ok, try this, walk extremely close to one of them, use your camera to focus at lip, lock the exposure, then walk back a few steps and shoot! This is the technique suggested by Bill Hurter...

ya,, Neil van is a great source to learn.. i love the natural flash ...Neil always use matrix metering, but Bill Hurter always use spot metering at lip. For neil, if background / shirt is lighter tone than skin, you add compensation to flash, otherwise, turn it down. -1.7 to -2.0 for natural flash.. but i find this cannot be generalized... (tested..). We need to study the wall, ceiling and test the reflection behavior.. (there are 3 types of reflection)... I will tell you more after 3 months.. after i finish reading a few lighting books..

You can trust my words as i tested them ... in my dream...


"I shoot photos in my dream...."

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Just want to share this link from Neil van Niekerk's site regarding exposure metering fort he bride and her dress, just in case you haven't seen it already. I hope this may help you somewhat. It's an alternative to grey card.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/10/2...-brides-dress/

Fantastic link! Thanks graciousness. Good info on understanding the histogram on there too. God, I hope I remember all this, it all seems relatively easy when you're sitting reading it

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

And did I tell you all that it's also Guy Fawkes here tomorrow night and the B&G will be letting off their own display(and not behind closed doors either ) and they want me to capture that too! They don't want much for nothing do they

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by FlyingKiwiGirl

Yes, making it white but, showing detail?? And if this answer is yes, then all I need to do is custom WB(spot metre) off my grey card at each change of site, right?

Pretty much... when you read the article by Neil van Niekirk he was talking about taking meter readings to "place" the exposure. The gray card is an attempt to do just that. It's just "placing" the middle exposure. NVK is doing the same processes only he is "placing" the highlights. Since the proper exposure of the dress is the key issue, his method is superior. If your goal was the best overall exposure, your gray card would probably win out. The sensor only has so much dynamic range - on a scale we might say it goes from "0 to 10" The camera can't see any detail in the shadows of 0 or any detail in the highlights at 10. The gray card is establishing the "5" and letting the tones above and below fall along the scale. NVK is establishing the upper limit, the "9", and letting everything fall below. Anything falling above would have no detail.

And my last big worry is that darn tree with the dappled light! I tried to talk them out of it.

Dappled light will be a killer. If it is just a small group(B&G) you maybe able to use your reflector, preferrably a translucent one, to shade off the dappled sunlight. Otherwise take your time and position them so you eliminate it or at least get it off their faces.