Reading Light

I had someone the other day come up to me and ask, how do I know my images are correctly exposed? Well, this is not difficult. One just has to put in the time and understand light, your light meter, your camera settings (Aperture and Shutter, ISO)….

Now for me….I always shoot 400 speed film as I work mainly in street photography. So given that, my ISO is always 400, right? That is one leg out of the way and now I just have aperture and shutter as variables.

First….trust yourself…. learn to shed those inhibitions or worries of taking the ‘perfect photo’ for yes, we all have our photos which come out a bit under-over exposed. So what? …. It isn’t the end of the world. So get away from the fear factor of imperfect photo’s.

Second…. learn the Sunny 16 rule. As mentioned, I shoot with 400 film so I know part of the tri-leg is ISO. Using the Sunny 16 rule I then try to keep my shutter at 500 since I am using 400 film, so I set my shutter at or near that ISO speed. From that, I look at the weather, the sun, the light…. If a hot day and the sun has sharp shadows, then I go for F16. If a sunny day on somewhat blurred shadows, I go with F11. If a partial cloudy day with shadows someone and going, I shoot F8. If cloudy, I shoot 5.6.

Now…it also depends on what you are attempting to expose. Are you in the open or in the shadows? you have to adjust for that.

Third….practice the Sunny 16 rule. Get a portable light meter and just walk around with it all day. Anytime you see a potential shot, take a reading. But before you take that reading, attempt to guess at what you feel might be the proper settings? Do you want F8 at 500 or perhaps F11 at 200? They are the same. Do you want F5.6 at 500 or F8 at 200? …. The wider or closer you are might vary depending on what you want in focus? More….or less?

Practice….Practice….practice….. just take the meter with you the way to the grocery store, or running an errand and sitting in a car. Eventually it will become second nature to you. Whenever I go outside,….my brain naturally thinks of ‘metering’ the scene. Am I metering under a tree, or in the open?

So it is not a mystery….photographers have been reading the light for over a century and a half…. it isn’t rocket science. But you do need to practice. Today with digital photography and “P” mode’ and automate or AP priority etc…. people really are not ‘thinking’ when they do photography, they merely take a snapshot; knowing the camera will do the rest. Digital has forced laziness upon folks. The light meter inside their camera tells them which way to turn the F-stop. To the left, to the right….stand up, sit down, fight fight fight. But hey, you get it…… I am essentially connecting the dots and waiting for the red dot to light up in the middle to know I have exposure correct, or…..I don’t even do that and just have everyone on “P” mode, the ultimate lazy man’s way. To boot…look at ISO as modern cameras go up to 50,000 or more in ISO compared to my 400 (film speed). Gees….

So…challenge yourself. Find a manual camera film, or even a digital camera that allows you to shoot manually….. Learn photography.

Always be Ready, always

This morning as I did my ‘am’ walk-about here in Philadelphia….I walked out the door and immediately ran into a nice photo op, but…alas, guess who wasn’t ready? My camera was ensconced in my bag with settings that were simply ‘left-overs’ from yesterday’s jaunt. That combo meant I missed the photo……

What was the photo? ….it was cold and and icy rain falling so these two women were walking by with a dog. The dog was outfitted with homemade boots on all four paws, and the ladies had these funky boots as well. Would have made a nice shot of two booted ladies and one booted dog in between. All told…8 boots. So, always be ready and this implies both digital and film.

My camera is a Leica MA….a pretty pure camera to the bones as it is totally manual everything and yet, while not overly difficult to do quickly, it does help to have the camera at least out of the bag. While the ‘photo’ walked on by, I pulled the Leica from the bag, took a light read on my Weston, and settled on F8 @ 125 ….film is 400. Then, I walked on…all prepared and ready for the next photo which I wasn’t going to miss.

But after walked about 10 meters I decided on returning to that photo opp….why not? They were not far away and with a bit of power walking could catch up. So I pivoted and started the chase. All of a sudden they were gone, turned a corner. I picked up the pace. After I turned the corner I found my photo, minus one lady so now I am down to only 6 boots.

I approached the ‘now lone lady’….spoke to her….requested I take a photo of the dog and yes, of course….she loved it. Most doggers (people who like dogs) love to have their pet shot. So I knelt….took in the entire scene of just her feet from knees down and captured her feet with the dogs four boots. Nice shot….. But again….prepare yourself and be ready before you get out the door. Don’t allow that shot to escape.

Candid or Posed?

Recently on a forum of distinguished photographers …..I have been having this debate about why street photographers should clarify if a particular image was shot ‘candid’ or ‘posed’….. Most on the forum do not agree with me that we should distinguish the two, but wait….think about it.

I will go to a photo that someone took and ask; how did you get that shot….. their immediate reply is that they had someone (model or whatever) pose for the shot. Sure, the shot looks great but is that really street photography or is that just street portraits or posed street or street modeled …etc etc ? It makes a huge difference.

When I shoot candid photography and I ‘nail my shot’……it is because I have taken the time to analyze the scene and then wait for the shot, if it comes at all. Shooting ‘candid’ implies that I shoot without the subject being aware, although admittedly, like yesterday, awareness might come ‘after the shot’. …When shooting I need to determine based upon the scene, the light….patterns and colors etc…what or who might best fit in a photograph.. One can argue that the same applies to a posed shot but when shooting candid, all of this is done ‘now’…. not pre-planned. A quick decision is needed. If I shoot film, and I do so 100% manual or even digital shots I shoot manual focus… but camera settings change as I passively sit and wait. The sun moves, people or things come into the scene etc. Again, those changes require split thinking too accommodate.

The point is, that shooting candid and getting a good shot is more difficult in ‘it’s own way’ than a posed shot which also requires ‘it’s own way’. But those ways are different. While the end result might look the same (if both are great shots), the process of getting from A-L varies.

That ‘aspect of ‘what varies’, is what needs to be distinguished. There are certain things that simply can’t be captured in the same manner between the two and to pass them all off as ‘street photography’ is not right. Photographers should state their process.

A good example is where I recently saw a photographer take posed shots and represent them as candid shots, or ….implied by the subject matter and the end result. His work was published and everyone stated how great of a photographer he was as he captured the scene. Perhaps…..but if capturing a scene means you bring people into your studio and place them against a ‘green board’ and tel them how to stand and hold their arms and instructs them on their expressions; well…..that is not and should not be considered street work.

Just my two cents…..