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Project 4.1 parts 1 and 2.

I followed the brief and soon had three shots of gray??? I was confused they didn’t look like the Black, Gray and White sheets I had taken shots of Why??  I used black slate, a white backing cloth and grey card and expected to see these colors.

All three histograms are to the left of the centre so are dark or incorrectly exposed. The three shots are flattened and dull and all look the same very grey even the black cloth is very grey. The worst photos I have ever taken.

This was as near as I could get to centre as I had little control of the outcome. In fact I had to move the subject to alter the histogram. Okay with a card but if it was a mountain I would struggle.

I read an interesting page on the internet which covered how light meters are calibrated to see 18% Gray. If they are confused they average to 18% Gray so the image will be Gray and the virtually the same on the histogram. (1). This explains why all the shots were gray. The photographer has to use their skills to correct this. Using an 18% card we can correct this and override the camera. Take Hair for example if you were shooting brown hair you would stop down the exposure by 1 stop. If you were shooting blond hair you would open up by one stop. (2).

Exercise 4.2 Light.

In the second part of this exercise I used the same materials but used manual settings.This gave me much more control over the output of the histogram. I retook the shots and produced the following three pictures and histograms.

You can see that using manual settings and looking at the histograms gave me tight control over the outcome. I didn’t understand what this exercise would give me when I read it but after doing it I have learned a valuable lesson.

In automatic mode the camera controls me the photographer. In manual mode I control the camera making it a more artistic instrument.

I will use the histogram more in the upcoming exercises and assignments. It can will help me achieve my aim of getting the photo right In camera and spending less time on post processing.

 These pages in “Langford`s basic photography”(3)  invaluable plus the following two webpages. They took my thoughts to light meters etc.

References

(1) Digital Photography School. (2012). Why Your Camera’s Meter gets Exposure Wrong. [online] Available at: http://digital-photography-school.com/why-your-cameras-meter-gets-exposure-wrong/ [Accessed 11 Jul. 2016].

(2) Scantips.com (2016). EV-Exposure Value, chart, Calculator and definition. [Online] available at: http://www.scantips.coum/lights/evchart.html%5BAccessed 11 Jul. 2016].

(3) Langford, M., Fox, A., Smith, R., Bruce, A. and Agossou, M. (n.d.). Langford’s basic photography. 10th ed. New York and London: Focal Press, pp.Pages 137 Through to 150 Measuring Exposure for Continuous Light.

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