Incident Meter & Snow

[Prime]

I've never used my incident meter (Sekonic L-508) in the snow. I used this meter on a sunny beach, and found that I needed to block the bottom of the dome with the back of my hand to prevent the bright sand from leading to underexposure. Snow is even brighter, though, and may be above me (on trees, houses, cars). Anything I should know about metering in snow (it rhymes!)? Thanks!

 

[Jorge]

Why dont you just use the spot meter? this way you will be able to see the SBR.

 

[b.e.wilson]

SBR? Shadow-brightness ratio?

Metering snow is tough, especially for us E6 shooters. In South Dakota I got a knack for it, but generally with sunlit snow is two stops brighter than middle gray, though I've seen it 1.5 stops on either side of that (snow darkens but has more specular highlights as it ages).

I must confess that I've often given up in the field (especially when the wind chill is -30 or below) and pointed the dome (retracted) at the sky 90 degrees from the sun (about a 45 degree angle up) and used what it said. The shots usually came out okay.

 

[Jorge]

SBR, Subject brightness range. IOW the difference in stops, EV or whatever you use from the dark shadow with detail to high value with detail.
If I was metering with the L 508 I would use the spot mode and meter the shadow and the highlight, if they fall outside the values capable for slide film then you have to make a desicion, keep the highlights or not...etc, etc...
Typically in B&W the range is 6 stops, I have not used color in many years but I think color neg is 5 stops and slide is 4 stops, but I could be wrong.

 

[Prime]

Thanks for the ideas. I think I'll just go to Bora Bora.

 

[steve]

Very difficult to do accurately with an incident meter. I'm not familiar with the meter you're using, but my advice would be to take the incident integrating sphere off and read reflected light from the snow if that is possible with that meter.

Then, depending upon what type of film you're using (B&W, color neg, transparency), you make your exposure calculation so that the snow is 2 to 2-1/2 stops more exposure than what is shown on the meter. In Zone system talk you place the exposure on Zone VII to VII-1/2. You'll get white with detail. Now, the problem is - what's going on in luminance values in the rest of the photo?

 

[George]

When I used the L-508 (which I first needed to calibrate, because it was underexposing by 2/3 of a stop) I measured in the reflective mode and then opened up 1 stop. That was strictly for transparency films. I had always the correct exposure even in a difficult light. I think the trick is in where on the scene you measure...

 

[c6h6o3]

One thing which may help you is to shoot E6 tungsten balanced film rather than daylight film. You have to filter it with an 85B outside, but Kodak EPY (64T) has a beautifully long, gentle scale which responds well to Zone System controls. Rate it at 40 outside with the filter, and then use your incident reading. I think you'll be pleased with the results.

 

[Prime]

Thanks, all. I've heard about using a polarizer when photographing snow. Has anybody done this? If so, what kind of a difference does it make?

 

[RobC]

why is snow special to look at? Because it is a myriad of specular reflections.
What does a polarizer do? It kills reflections. What does killing the reflections on snow do? Makes it look dull. Why do you want to use a polarizer on snow?

 

[Peterpan]

I would say take a reflective reading and open up 2 stops and bracket.

 

[goros]

I don't have the book right here now, but in the book "The Perfect Exposure" by Roger Hicks and Frances Schulz, they recommend to underexpose by 1 stop the reading of an incident meter. The reason is to get some detail in the snow. What I don't remember is how they point the meter, but almost certain to the camera.

Cheers

 

[Mike Kennedy]

What effect would a ND filter have on snow shooting?Reason I'm asking is because yesterday when I left the house it was overcast but when I got to my destination the sun broke out and I was forced to shoot wide open.

 

[toadhall]

The Kodak Professional Photoguide says that with an incident meter, used in the usual manner (held at the subject, aimed at the camera, held horizontally) and with a subject that is 'very light', reduce the meter reading by one stop.

John

 

[Tomchy]

If it's sunny just follow the sunny 16. f-16 at 1/film iso. Using iso 100 film, you would shoot f-16 at 1/125. This has worked everytime for me with Provia 100F.

 

[Paul Howell]

If you are shooting 35mm, or for that matter MF, take a reading with a gray card and bracket, meter reading then 1 1/2 up and 1 1/2 down. As Jorde has noted most E6 and Kodachrome has about 4 stops of latatude, if your subject is more than 4 stops you need to chose between highlight or shadows, cant have both.

 

[John Koehrer]

What effect would a ND filter have on snow shooting?Reason I'm asking is because yesterday when I left the house it was overcast but when I got to my destination the sun broke out and I was forced to shoot wide open.

Do you mean fully stopped down in bright sun?
An ND filter would cut your exposure by it's factor ie:4X=2 stops less exposure needed. Install filter & open the aperture by two stops or reduce the shutter speed by two increments.

 

[JBrunner]

What effect would a ND filter have on snow shooting?Reason I'm asking is because yesterday when I left the house it was overcast but when I got to my destination the sun broke out and I was forced to shoot wide open.

It will, of course, will reduce your stop. An ND filter would cause you to need to shoot a larger aperture, or slower shutter speed. If you had to shoot wide open with the sun out, an ND would force even slower shutter speeds. The statement "Reason I'm asking is because yesterday when I left the house it was overcast but when I got to my destination the sun broke out and I was forced to shoot wide open." is kind of an oxymoron, I assume you meant to say "stopped all the way down"

Since a standard ND filter affects all exposure range in an equal way, it would have no different effect on a snow scene than it would on any other kind of scene, affecting only overall exposure, with all values remaining relative. However, a graduated ND could be a useful tool for snow scenes in some compositions.

Regarding the OP, my standard practice would be to use a spot meter to determine individual values. If I had to use an incident meter, I would use the meter to obtain a reading consistent with the light on the subject of interest, meaning I would use the meter differently for a person (metering for the light on the face) than a landscape (metering in a bright area and a shadow area, and determining my exposure by those readings, the conditions, and overall composition considering how much detail I wish in the highlights, or low values. If the scene exceeds the range of the stock, you gotta choose what you want to keep and what you let go, on one end or the other.)