Basic Daylight Exposure

[DCBarner]

What do you all think about the "Sunny 16 Rule?"

I found this and I wonder what you guys who know way more about exposure think?

Is it a good place to start?

Dane

[ZELDAdog]

Anxious to hear the answer to this, because it might take me a few weeks to REALLY understand what that's saying! LOL! I'm a little slow on the techie uptake!

[kencaleno]

Here's my version of BDE:

This is how us oldies who started in the late 1950’s/60’s learn to read exposure: You will often hear the term “The sunny 16 rule”, or Basic Daylight Exposure” here it is explained: (Assuming a front-lit shot-for side lit images you need to open up a half stop, or more.)

Basically four apertures are used: F16; F11; F8; and F5.6

Shutter-speed is based on Equivalent ISO#

Watching the shadows, the base settings are: ( for ISO 200)

Hard-edged shadows …………………….1/200 sec @ F16

Soft-edged shadows………………………1/200 sec @ F11

Barely visible Shadows…………………..1.200 sec @ F8

No Shadows……………………………….1/200 sec @ F5.6


Remember, these are the base settings: so variants for hard edge shadow settings,would be:

1/200 @ F16
1/400 @ F11
1/800 @ F8
1/1600 @ F5.6
These all give the same exposure (But with different depths of field)
The other 3 settings use the same spatial relationship, the settings you choose are based on subject movement and/or depth of field desired. For instance If you want to keep the Aperture at F8:


Hard shadows……………………………1/800 @ F8

Soft shadows…………………………….1/400@ F8

Barely visible shadows…………………1/200 @ F8

No shadows………………………………1/100 @ F8 (As shadows fade, more light is required)
Heavily overcast…………………………..1/125 @ F8

Deep Shade………………………………1/60 @ F8

Pre-thunderstorm…………………………1/30 @ F8

Brightly lit store interior……………………1/15 @ F8


Well-lit stage/sports arena…………………1/8 @ F8

Well-lit house interior……………………….¼ @ F8

(Of course you would vary the F stop and shutter speed combinations to whatever would be most appropriate. )


To get more exact exposure readings, you may want to bracket exposures. As you can’t use exposure compensation button when in manual made, this is what I do on my Nikon, your Dslr will have a similar action:

I set aperture to F16, and shutter-speed to 1/200, ( for Hard shadows) Take a shot, then:

2 clicks of the thumbwheel to the left-take a shot- this gives me a + 2/3 exposure
1 click to the right now, gives me + 1/3 exposure

1 more click to the right brings me back to the basic (meter as read) setting, then:

1 more click to the right gives me -1/3 exposure, and finally ,
1 more click to the right gives me - 2/3 exposure-so I have 5 exposures from 2/3rds over, to 2/3rds under exposure.

Looking at these, I choose the one that gives the most detail in the shadows and also in the highlights, without blowing the highlights-and after a while you will find you are able to guess just about right with your exposures-It is all very simple, and I hope I have explained in words that make it easy to understand.

For those of you with compact point and shoot cameras,where you can select manual aperture and shutter speed-Due to sensor size and smallest aperture being F8,this is your BDE setting chart for ISO 100:-

Hard shadows.........................1/800 @ F5.6
Soft shadows..........................1/800 @ F4
Barely Visible shadows............1/800 @ F2.8
No shadows............................1/800 @ F2


Regards, Ken

[DCBarner]

Thank you so very much! That was an intense amount of information that I even sorta understood. Thank you!

Dane Barner

[teaking]

If were talking digital here could you not just use the zone system meetering for average colour and zero out your reading and then check highlights are not blown out? that way it should all be exposed unless you have some very unique lighting conditions. Obviously using the kind of F/Stop range you would like to be using for your DOF.

[DCBarner]

The exposure meter is what I have been using thus far. I just wondered if there was credence to being able to look outside and consult a guide of sorts, set the camera and go. We will see.

Dane

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by DCBarner

The exposure meter is what I have been using thus far. I just wondered if there was credence to being able to look outside and consult a guide of sorts, set the camera and go. We will see.

Dane

Apart from being surprisingly accurate,BDE is your built-in, human incident light meter, measuring light falling on subject-which is constant,no matter what the tone of subject.

regards, Ken

[jona100]

Originally Posted by teaking

If were talking digital here could you not just use the zone system meetering for average colour and zero out your reading and then check highlights are not blown out? that way it should all be exposed unless you have some very unique lighting conditions. Obviously using the kind of F/Stop range you would like to be using for your DOF.

Thats exactly how I do it, i dont bother wih BDE, just find a tone I can place (usually the average Z5 tone), check highlights, take pic.

If highlights are going to blow, recompose or use a Graduated neutral density filter to reduce the sky. The zone system just seems so much easier.

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by jona100

Thats exactly how I do it, i dont bother wih BDE, just find a tone I can place (usually the average Z5 tone), check highlights, take pic.

If highlights are going to blow, recompose or use a Graduated neutral density filter to reduce the sky. The zone system just seems so much easier.

But first you need to be able to judge the Zone 5 tone correctly(ie: Green grass/dry tarmac) BDE is much easier-you just look at the shadows, and say," 1/250 @ f 11 and get a perfectly exposed shot.

Regards, Ken

[DCBarner]

So I was playing around, messing with BDE and found I needed to ask a very noob question.

When the chart says plus or minus an f/stop what does that mean. Is plus larger aperture or smaller?

Thanks

Dane