Weather and Lighting

Outside metering chapter and Lighting and weather chapters.

Outside Metering in my experience uses a lot of outside metering because I shoot in manuel exposure mode nearly exclusively, no matter which route i take to get to a specific shutter or aperture or iso combination…I get the exact same exposure no matter what metering mode was used.

When I meter Im constantly checking the cameras meter, checking each photos histogram to make sure my graph is right where it should be and if its not I adjust accordingly to what it should be. Unless Im shooting in changing conditions I check the LCD for the image once in a while because sometimes the LCD isn't an accurate exposure. I know when I meter my camera is set to Matrix which allows me to appropriately expose the whole area as compared to spot metering where Im exposing an single area properly and you want a specific tonality. When metering you want to make sure that the subject is lit well but you also have to make sure with a single camera exposure we cant always expose for shadow and light areas which bring HDR into the picture because its exposing correctly all the areas tones in multiple pictures then layering them so that the final picture as a whole is expose in shadow and in lit areas. I want to highlight this important point again – you can’t simply point your camera at a scene and zero your needle to one of the multiple exposures. You first need to decide what you want to expose correctly for, even if it is just a general area. 

This Image above was not exposed correctly because the photography only exposed for the view in the distance and not the rock they were framing through causing the black ring.

This Image was shot at the correct exposure because there is a good ratio of tonality between lights and darks in the image were the sky is exposed but you can also still see detail in the shadowed portion of the image.

Weather and Lighting 

In this reading I did know alot of what the chapter was talking about but I wanted to elaborate on some things that I want to the surface when it comes to shooting weather photography. 

1.) A TRIPOD IS YOUR BEST FRIEND… Reason Im saying this is because weather is always changing and some shots require precision accuracy when it comes to getting the shot you want. For example…LIGHTNING! It is very hard to shoot lighting because it is such a quick second shot…You need a tripod for this kind of shot because there is no way to possibly hand hold this because even if you think you are being still due to your heart beat your body actually shakes enough to cause a problem for the shot.

2.) BE PATIENT… A lot of the time it will take a while for your camera to get the correct shot you want because again the conditions are always changing and you will never get the same shot twice. It is always also helpful to use a camera release remote because even touching the shutter button with a finger can mess up causing a vibration in the camera. 

3.) Plan on getting dirty or wet. In my experience not being an outside person I tend to fall a lot outside because Im not paying attention to what Im doing and where Im stepping because Im focused on what photography I want to take.

4.) Have fun. Nature Photography can be influenced by nature where you can take the same image 100 different times with different conditions and always have a different effect on the image. Wind, Snow, Dry Days with no Wind, Rainy days… It all can affect how your image looks.

Lighting 

With lighting there is a lot of types you can play with. Full, midday sunlight versus early-morning or late-afternoon, Open shade, Overcast skies,Sunrise or sunset, The deep blues of twilight, Moonlight, Starlight, Window light, Reflected sunlight, both soft and hard, Daylight illumination from a frosted skylight or Other natural sources not from the sun include firelight and lightning. 

All of these kinda of lighting refer as natural lighting where at different times of the day you can achieve different colors of light. For example in the morning you could have a nice blue / orange tone depending on the day. mid day you could have something neutral and yellow and at night about and hour before the sun goes down is called magic hour… Its the point of the day where the sun is least harsh and is the most favored lighting of the day because it is very easy to work with and many movie makers only shoot during magic hour. 

The other kinds of light are as followed because they aren't natural sources of light but sometimes are the best source of light when shooting photography for different results.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT Artificial light is any light that is not natural and depends on an external source of power. This could be your on-camera flash, external flash units or studio strobes, tungsten photo floods, an overhead light fixture, fluorescent lights in an office environment, streetlights, stadium lights, stage lighting for a concert, the twinkling glow from Christmas-tree lights, neon, and so forth. Like natural light, artificial light can fall under the larger category of existing or available light 

TUNGSTEN LIGHTS These are also referred to as incandescent lights. They are most often found in homes, and they are among the cheapest bulbs to purchase.  Light from tungsten bulbs can vary quite a bit in terms of brightness but this light is generally softer and warmer than fluorescent light.

HALOGEN LIGHT This type of incandescent light is more energy-efficient and produces a brighter, whiter light. It is used in projectors, household lamps, some streetlights, car headlights, and continuous studio lighting.

NEON LIGHT Neon light will have an orange-red color and is filled with neon gas, through which a small current is passed, causing it to glow. What we know as neon signs, which may be a number of different colors, rely on other types of gases for their color. Though neon lights don’t really provide enough illumination to be a light source for a broader scene, they themselves can make for interesting subjects or background material

STREETLIGHT  Like neon lights, sodium-vapor lights use pressurized gas to produce light. You can identify sodium-vapor lights by their yellow illumination. If you take a long night exposure using street lamps as your light source, you’ll notice this same, somewhat eerie yellow-orange glow pervade your image.

OFF-CAMERA FLASH An off-camera flash is more useful and offers many possibilities for positioning the flash, as well as for using accessories such as a mini flash-softbox or bounce cards to modify the quality of the light. In order to use an off-camera flash, your camera needs to have either a hot shoe or flash sync connection.