Frontman
Well-known
To become a good photographer (in regards to getting well-exposed images) you are going to have to learn to read the light, whether you use a meter or not. Meters often lie, or at least misinform, and you are likely to get mediocre results by relying on a meter in many situations. And there will be situations where you may want to subtract or add a stop for whatever reason, to make an image darker and more "moody", or the opposite. A practiced eye is much better in such situations than a meter.
To get the most accurate expsoures you will need to use an incident meter, or get a spot meter and learn how to use the zone system, or at least be able to average out the readings from different parts of your subject.
Sunny 16 is a good place to start, but you are going to find that sunny 16 is not so good for objects in shadows, buildings or subjects with the sun behind them, or when shooting when there is no sun, such as on cloudy days or at night.
Get yourself a garden-variety incident meter, not a Leica MR meter or VC meter. When walking around in different lighting situations, take a reading of a particular subject by holding the meter in front of the subject, and directing the dome of the meter toward the source of the light, and make a note of it. Get readings on cloudy days, lightly overcast days, in the shade of buildings and trees. Shoot a lot of film, and take notes of what settings you used.
Read photo books and magazines, look at the settings used to make each image (many books contain this info), go out and try shooting with the same settings in the same situations.
My first "meter" was the back cover of an old Rolleiflex, which has a simple table telling you which settings to use in certain situations at different times of the year. Simply adding a stop or two (or three) to the recommended settings depending on the film you are using is all you need to do.
It doesn't take that much time to become proficient, and with practice you can learn to read the light accurately.
To get the most accurate expsoures you will need to use an incident meter, or get a spot meter and learn how to use the zone system, or at least be able to average out the readings from different parts of your subject.
Sunny 16 is a good place to start, but you are going to find that sunny 16 is not so good for objects in shadows, buildings or subjects with the sun behind them, or when shooting when there is no sun, such as on cloudy days or at night.
Get yourself a garden-variety incident meter, not a Leica MR meter or VC meter. When walking around in different lighting situations, take a reading of a particular subject by holding the meter in front of the subject, and directing the dome of the meter toward the source of the light, and make a note of it. Get readings on cloudy days, lightly overcast days, in the shade of buildings and trees. Shoot a lot of film, and take notes of what settings you used.
Read photo books and magazines, look at the settings used to make each image (many books contain this info), go out and try shooting with the same settings in the same situations.
My first "meter" was the back cover of an old Rolleiflex, which has a simple table telling you which settings to use in certain situations at different times of the year. Simply adding a stop or two (or three) to the recommended settings depending on the film you are using is all you need to do.
It doesn't take that much time to become proficient, and with practice you can learn to read the light accurately.
