Shooting Without A Meter

BillP said:
The Force is weak in this one...🙄

http://lightmancer.blogspot.com/2009/08/unplugged.html

Regards,

Bill
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Not even close:

When you press the shutter release on the DSLR, you send a command to the CPU that in turn starts a process that...
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When I press the shutter release on my dSLR, it does what I've told it to do. I set the focus, I set the aperture, I set the shutter speed, and the photograph I get is the one I want. How is it that yours does not?

Again with the baseless assertions that if one choose digital, one must accept whatever choices the camera's CPU makes, ignoring the fact that most dSLR cameras have the full range of manual controls, plus some that film cameras do not.

There is no purity in pretending one does not have creative control over complex technical devices. And a meter isn't even that complex, it's just a light measuring device. Refusing to use one is like removing the fuel meter and odometer from your car and filling up whenever you feel the time is right. Might work, might not, but it has nothing to do with with the purity of driving.

People agonize over the sharpest lens, refuse to use filters that might degrade the photo quality by a smidge, tear their hair out over which film emulsion has the tightest grain and which developer has the highest accutance, and then refuse to meter, as if exposure was the last thing on their mind. Ridiculous.
 
Never mind, Bill. Some get it, some don't. Some go with the flow, some spend their lives in a state of self-imposed frustration because they want to convince everyone else that their way is the best - indeed the only - way.

Me, I'm happy not to be frustrated. You are free to choose your own path. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my equipment, my photography and myself.

😉

Regards,

Bill
 
Bill, I think you are definitely a closet sunny-16 shooter. Come-on, you know you want to! Let go of the microchip...feel the zen...experience bare-back riding...live the light.
 
I cant wait for the day I am smart enough to tell people right from wrong.
I am so smart. S-M-R-T. doh!
Anyways, I think shooting without a meter is fun. It's quite a challenge to go through the numbers in your head then be able to snap off a pic in a quick situation. I love it. Sometimes it will bite you in the ass but what the heck. Live and learn.
 
You are joking, right ?

bmattock said:
I do not think any of us would advocate not composing a scene, but just randomly waving their camera about and pressing the shutter. None of us would focus by turning the focus ring randomly and guessing at what might be right without actually confirming through the viewfinder. None of us would pick a shutter speed or aperture at random, without caring what the result would be.
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If the light is good, predictable, i don't need a meter, if it's bad, unpredictable, I do.

I too have 40 years experience, and I couldn't afford a meter for the first 2-3 years (so I learned the hard way)

I don't understand why we need this periodic argument.
 
sometimes it's just fun not to use a meter . just like it's can be fun to use expired film and old lenses .

take a picture directly into the sun and walk around with your zipper down .
relax and have a good time .
 
If I absolutely need to get the shot, I have three DSLRs, a tripod and studio lights to make it happen. And if the subject is less than perfect, I make it perfect in postproduction. Otherwise, I enjoy my M4 sans metering. Between the forgotten lens cap, improperly loaded film, no film, no DOF preview, approximate framing, approximate focus, I find that incorrect exposure is hardly the dominant concern. Shooting without a safety net is part of the fun - sort of like rock climbing (without the falling-to-your-death scenario).
 
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