Best Way to Expose for Landscapes

cherryrig · Feb 2, 2009

Right this is my issue.

I only have a L-358 with the Retractable Lumisphere and I'm having some problems with getting the right exposure for the landscape.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips and pointers to getting the right correct exposure. Some people have said to take of the Lumisphere and then point it towards the scene, making sure you cover around the light sensor.

Just need some people really and if you could try and explain in newbie talk as I'm quite new to all this landscape exposure stuff haha :rolleyes:

Cheers

optique · Feb 2, 2009

I have this meter. Did you read http://www.sekonic.com/images/files/L-358.pdf esp page 8-10?

cherryrig · Feb 2, 2009

Yea I just have now, doesn't really say about measuring for landscapes

Ian Grant · Feb 2, 2009

In Gloucestershire the green grass is a good equivalent of Zone V or a Kodak Grey card, metering off the grass works fine (no diffuser). I don't know your specific meter but as it has a diffusing sphere with that in place point that sphere at the light source, the sun on the few days it's out, or the brightest part of the sky the other 360 days of the years That give a good reading for all but complex situations with deep shadows & bright highlights.

Ian

eddym · Feb 2, 2009

If you are standing in the light from the same sun that illuminates the landscape, just take an incident reading.

cherryrig · Feb 2, 2009

eddym said:
If you are standing in the light from the same sun that illuminates the landscape, just take an incident reading.

But if I'm not

Say if I'm taking a photo of sunset so the only light is from the setting sun. How do I meter for that?

bobwysiwyg · Feb 2, 2009

If, by sunset, you mean the sun is virtually sitting on the horizon, you don't have much time. I use to meter the sky well above the setting sun and then bracket (was shooting 35mm). Seemed to work pretty well for me.

Poisson Du Jour · Feb 2, 2009

I usually spot meter then average a sunset scene with my L758D (very similar in appearance to the L358), but as the L358 does not have this facility I concur with an earlier post that if the light on the landscape is the same as where you are, that will be a sufficient starting point to meter, then bracket +/-1 . If you're a newbie, come to grips with understanding the very basics of the Zone System (irrespective of whether you're using negative or transparency film, though the procedure is different for the latter) and tricks for metering when you're unsure of where to meter from. This is especially true if you plan to stick with a hand-held meter.

Re setting sun query. Here's a trick. Set the camera up facing the sunset. Hold the meter up also facing the sunset as close to the camera's lens axis as you can, lumisphere up, and meter. Otherwise, a spot meter is excellent for 'touching' the sky in several places around the sunset not actually the sun itself.

Q.G. · Feb 2, 2009

Just what i was going to write: just point the meter at the sun (no need at all, though, to keep it close to the camera), with the incident dome on, and take a reading.

Chan Tran · Feb 2, 2009

I think incident light measurement is not very good for landscape as most landscape scenes have areas that are in shadows and areas that are in bright light. Reflected spot measurement is better. I don't know if your meter has spot mode.

Christopher Walrath · Feb 2, 2009

I always used my L358 by measuring portion of objects in the landscape that were near me and in the same light and incorporated various readings to arrive at a base exposure that would capture everything I wanted to get.

rpsawin · Feb 3, 2009

If I'm not mistaken Sekonic makes both a 1 degree & 5 degree spotmeter attachment for that meter. I would suggest you look for the 1 degree attachment. You may be able to find one used.

Best regards,

Bob

Q.G. · Feb 3, 2009

Chan Tran said:
I think incident light measurement is not very good for landscape as most landscape scenes have areas that are in shadows and areas that are in bright light. Reflected spot measurement is better.

Well, no.
As long as that landscape is illuminated by one, single light source (and it usally is ), incident light reading is perfect.
Reflected light metering does not provide better results, but is more work, providing more chances to get things wrong too.

John Koehrer · Feb 3, 2009

Q.G. said:
Well, no.
As long as that landscape is illuminated by one, single light source (and it usally is ), incident light reading is perfect.
Reflected light metering does not provide better results, but is more work, providing more chances to get things wrong too.

+1

cherryrig · Feb 3, 2009

I have been looking at maybe getting 1 degree spot attachment, but it's like another £120 just for that.

Thats why I was seeing if there was a method just using what I have. Spot metering does sound the better way to do it though as when I tried to meter the scene the other for the sunset, I only got a reading like 4sec f/4 (could only shoot at f/4 cos of the lens)

Just have to wait and see what they come out like I guess

Baxter Bradford · Feb 3, 2009

You are right, Spot metering is really the only flexible solution to handle metering in the frequently demanding and transient conditions of light on the landscape. Walking across sand without leaving footprints to meter light under the cliff, shadow in trees, sky behind the tree etc all lend themselves well to Spot metering.

Spot meters are great for determining correct ND grad filter and whether scene brightness is within dynamic range of the film being used.

cherryrig · Feb 3, 2009

So it is worth it if I'm thinking of doing more landscape stuff you guys are saying?

hmmmm

rpsawin · Feb 3, 2009

cherryrig said:
So it is worth it if I'm thinking of doing more landscape stuff you guys are saying?

hmmmm

Yep....I always use a spot meter when shooting landscapes/seascapes. Most landscape photographers I know use one as well.

Best regards,

Bob

cherryrig · Feb 3, 2009

So it's best to go for a 1degree spot over say a 5degree one?

Ian Grant · Feb 3, 2009

Not necessarily. I have a couple of Spotmeters & a Gossen Luna Pro + Tele attachment (Lunasix in Europe) both types give me the correct exposure readings used carefully and thats without the Tele attachment on the Gossen.

Yes a Spotmeter (or spot attachment), is a good fairly foolproof way of working, but if you understand what your doing with a meter like the OP's Sekonic, a Gossen, a Weston etc there's no reason at all for not consistently getting the correct exposures, and still not walking over the sands

Cherryrig you posted as I was writing, yes a 1° Spot is the best.

Ian

Ulrich Drolshagen · Feb 3, 2009

Q.G. said:
Well, no.
As long as that landscape is illuminated by one, single light source (and it usally is ), incident light reading is perfect.
Reflected light metering does not provide better results, but is more work, providing more chances to get things wrong too.

For me, as living in the North German Plain, this usually works well. Since I had the chance to photograph in Norwegian fjords with mountainsides in my back I know that this does not always give reliable results.

Ulrich

Chan Tran · Feb 3, 2009

I have the Minolta View Meter 9 which is an old 9 degree spotmeter. I got it for like $3. What amazes me was that it's quite accurate, within 1/3 stop of my Minolta Flashmeter VI. The circuitry inside is also suprisingly simple.

rpsawin · Feb 3, 2009

Cherryrig,

I agree with Ian that the 1 degree is the best choice for landscape work.

Best,

Bob

2F/2F · Feb 3, 2009

First of all, the standard, boring, obvious, but necessary to state response: There is no correct exposure. You are aiming for the exposure that lets you get the print you want. For a given composition, there will be variation in the way you, I, or anyone else want the print to look, thus each of our ideal exposures will be different.

Next, incident light readings are just fine for landscapes or anything else, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. When I have the time, I always use both my incident meter and my spot meter. But either one will work fine alone, as will no meter whatsoever; your head and experience, an exposure chart, or both.

Finally, your instruction booklet, or a book from the library (!?!?!), should answer your question. The one for my nearly 60-year-old Brockway incident meter does. It sez to point the dome at the sun in a sunset situation. What I would probably do would be to do that, then add 4x the recommended exposure, and pull my film by two grades. This would raise the tone of the ground while keeping the tone of the sun the same. If it ended up being too much of a pull, I could just print using a harder paper/filter.

Actually, I would stand develop the neg, but that is a whole other discussion. The simple answer is that to plop the dynamic range of the scene onto the dynamic range of your print, without taking steps to make the two ranges better match each other, just point your dome at the sun and develop normally.

Windscale · Feb 4, 2009

I have had the little Sekonic L308 for years and have used the incident mode most of the time. Although I am also very comfortable with the reflected mode in situations where it is not possible to use the incident mode, say, standing in the shade. I do mainly landscape and buildings. I think it is most important to really get to know your meter first. It is not just as simple as taking a reading and follow it. Experience says that there are times when a few readings are necessary and some mental arithmatics may follow. But as long as you regard your meter as a servant and not a master, you will hopefully be doing fine.

Best Way to Expose for Landscapes

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