How to take highlight,midtone and shaddow readings with Sekonic L-758

[russellsnr]

How to take highlight,midtone and shaddow readings with Sekonic L-758?
OK I do no how to do it nearly
BUT!!!
When you spot meter for the midtones in landscapes from what I have read grass or green foliage is the best source and next maybe a grey road surface but when going for the green does it make a difference when it comes to the shade of green? i.e. Pine trees maybe a lighter or deeper green than grass. A little confused on this
Many Thanks
Russ

[stamper]

One of the reasons I haven't bought one is outlined above. Whilst you are using one - or trying to - the light has changed and a bit of thinking has to be used whilst using it. I have been doing photography for 13 years and I get out a lot and the only time I have seen one of those things was in a camera club at a junk sale. However some swear by them take an "accurate" reading use it as a starting point in LR - or whatever - and then change the  "accurate" exposure to suit their aesthetic tastes. I think you can use jeans as a midtone in normal light as well as green grass and pavements. The colour of something isn't taken into consideration by the meter just how light or dark it is. Luminousity values are what you are looking.

[Tony Jay]

Russ, without being a smartass here it might be helpful to explain exactly what you are trying to achieve with such extensive metering.
It will be easier to guide you with a bit more information.

Tony Jay

[russellsnr]

Hi, Thank you for the replies.
If you point a camera at a scene to take an exposure reading the camera does not really no what is and what is not the correct exposure over the whole scene, same as if you place an object in a scene when you point the camera it does not no that it is that object that needs correct exposure, I hope I am correct so far?
When you use a meter it reads either the ambient light falling on the whole scene or the reflected light from an object that you point the spot meter at. The trouble with both of these options as far as I can see is that if you take the ambient reading in a landscape scene with blue sky, white clouds, darker ground etc in the scene then something is not going to be exposed correctly, if you take three reflective reading with the spot meter then you can find out the exposure between each and can compensate for that in your exposure.
This is why I ask what to use to get a mid tone reading in a scene.
The highlights and darks are easy, the white clouds and the shadow area of the scene.
I hope I am correct here? maybe something else I am missing.
On another note, the reason I like to use a hand held meter is I enjoy taking photographs in manual mode, working it out with the help of the meter, it just adds that (i don't no) something to IMO the end result or not in some cases with me.
Again thank you for the replies
Russ

[Tony Jay]

Russ are you shooting RAW or JPEG?

Tony Jay

[russellsnr]

Russ are you shooting RAW or JPEG?

Tony Jay

RAW ALWAYS!!!!

[Tony Jay]

Are you familiar with ETTR - 'expose to the right'?

Tony Jay

[stamper]

Quote

This is why I ask what to use to get a mid tone reading in a scene.
The highlights and darks are easy, the white clouds and the shadow area of the scene.
I hope I am correct here? maybe something else I am missing.
On another note, the reason I like to use a hand held meter is I enjoy taking photographs in manual mode, working it out with the help of the meter, it just adds that (i don't no) something to IMO the end result or not in some cases with me.
Again thank you for the replies
Russ

Unquote
 
That is the problem with using a meter. High contrast scenes make it difficult, or impossible, to achieve an "accurate exposure". I have a friend who uses one. He states it is needed indoors with mixed lighting but never uses it outdoors. I take it you now own one? I think you will possibly run into a brick wall trying to use it. Tony has hinted at better ways of getting an exposure. If you still want to pursue it's use then this site is very good for jargon free tutorials.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

[russellsnr]

Are you familiar with ETTR - 'expose to the right'?

Tony Jay

Hi Tony, Yes I no what ETTR is and how to do it as long as the highlights don't get blown.
Russ

[russellsnr]

Quote

This is why I ask what to use to get a mid tone reading in a scene.
The highlights and darks are easy, the white clouds and the shadow area of the scene.
I hope I am correct here? maybe something else I am missing.
On another note, the reason I like to use a hand held meter is I enjoy taking photographs in manual mode, working it out with the help of the meter, it just adds that (i don't no) something to IMO the end result or not in some cases with me.
Again thank you for the replies
Russ

Unquote
 
That is the problem with using a meter. High contrast scenes make it difficult, or impossible, to achieve an "accurate exposure". I have a friend who uses one. He states it is needed indoors with mixed lighting but never uses it outdoors. I take it you now own one? I think you will possibly run into a brick wall trying to use it. Tony has hinted at better ways of getting an exposure. If you still want to pursue it's use then this site is very good for jargon free tutorials.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

Hi, thanks for the reply and the link, I am already signed up at CIC but always felt that here there seems to be more people still using film cameras of various makes and they are more likely to use a hand held meter.
Russ

[Tony Jay]

Hi Tony, Yes I no what ETTR is and how to do it as long as the highlights don't get blown.
Russ

Russ, this is the way to go for outdoor shooting in RAW.
Michael Reichman has written a piece on this:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml
and followed it up with this as well:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/optimizing_exposure.shtml

Tony Jay

[biedron1]

How to take highlight,midtone and shaddow readings with Sekonic L-758?
OK I do no how to do it nearly
BUT!!!
When you spot meter for the midtones in landscapes from what I have read grass or green foliage is the best source and next maybe a grey road surface but when going for the green does it make a difference when it comes to the shade of green? i.e. Pine trees maybe a lighter or deeper green than grass. A little confused on this

I think it is great you want to try to actively meter the scene instead just mechanically using ETTR. As you allude to in a subsequent post, it can make the process more rewarding. It would also be a useful skill if you ever really want to go retro and shook large format film, since those cameras have no built-in meters 

Sounds like you are on the right track by looking for metering targets in the greens in plants. One thing is to not sweat it too much - it is not an exact science, since there is no "perfect" exposure. The greens in trees or grass are generally good targets, but as you know, they vary in tone. You might get yourself a cheap grey card (e.g. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/101853-REG/Delta_22030_Gray_Card_8x10_1.html), and just see what sort of greens look to you to have a similar tone. As someone else mentioned, it is the tone and not the color that is important. Pick a green that seems a mid-tone, and meter it. In the same light, meter the grey card - if your green target was good, the readings should be pretty close. Practice and you'll soon have a good feel for it. Also with practice you will be better able to determine mid-tones in other things, in case there aren't any green grass or trees nearby.

Bob

[Vladimirovich]

On another note, the reason I like to use a hand held meter is I enjoy taking photographs in manual mode, working it out with the help of the meter

why do you need a meter at all in this case ? just use a camera's own spot metering (but first study how it meters)

[russellsnr]

Hi, Thank you for the replies.
Why do I use a meter? Because I enjoy it for the first part, Also your camera meter as I understand it when using the spot meter built in can only give you (depending on the camera and also the lens attached) about 3 Deg of spot so when you meter say a mountain that is half a mile away the spot will diffuse to a wider beam where as with the spot on the hand held it gives 1 Deg if the object is half a mile away or 10 feet away.
I am even at 60 years old still trying to learn and as I said I enjoy using the meter, it is Quick, Accurate and I already have one .
Thanks again for the replies

[Vladimirovich]

Also your camera meter as I understand it when using the spot meter built in can only give you (depending on the camera and also the lens attached) about 3 Deg of spot so when you meter say a mountain that is half a mile away the spot will diffuse to a wider beam where as with the spot on the hand held it gives 1 Deg if the object is half a mile away or 10 feet away.

OK, get a cheap P&S w/ zoom and meter using it... costs less, serves as a camera as well, spot meters less than 1 degree (if you zoom to tele enough)... but I understand the importance of making an impression w/ Seconic  

PS: and P&S has IS/OIS when you need to spot meter at very tele position - that helps too, imagine spot metering some specular highlights