Denise Ms Goulet |
Main and fill HI I have to shot students in a class room in september and I would like to understand the following thing: If my main is 11 and my fill is 8,2, how I calculate the avaerage in the aim to set my F stop? I don't understand the principle. Somebody told me that at the total is suppose to be 18,,, thanks
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Oliver Anderson |
Sorry Denise I can't understand what you're saying but follow this. Camera set for Manual (M) mode ISO 100 f/11. Main light f/11 fill at f/8 or 11. Enough said...now I'll grab a beer!
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Denise, I hope I can help with your question regarding exposure settings using main and fill illumination. First a note about fractional f/stops. Light shines on the subject from multiple sources. We need to take all into account when be set our camera. The main is usually set high and off to the side. The fill is placed near the camera lens (we are filling shadows from the camera’s prospective). The main and fill are accumulative. Say the main contributes 1000 watts and the fill 500 watts. Now both shine on the frontal areas of the subject. Thus the light energy will be 1500 watts where both commingle. The main does not reach everywhere. The nose and hollows of the face are in shadow (from the main). The fill on the other hand does reach into these shadows where the main can’t reach. Thus the shadows receive only 500 watts. The lighting can be view as a proportion. The value is 1500 frontal and 500 shadows. This is written as a ratio thus 1500:500. It is weird to express a ratio without reducing it. We look for a common denominator and reduce it to 3:1. This is the best lighting ratio to use for a portrait rendering. How to set your camera: If using an incident light meter, measure from the subject’s position, pointing the meter at the camera. Set the camera as indicated. If using the subjects skin as a target meter with both main and fill on. This technique often results in too dark a skin tone on the final rendering. Best add 1 f/stop more exposure. If the lighting ratio is 3:1, turn off the main and meter the face with only the fill on. Set camera as indicated. Turn on main, compose and shoot. This technique grant the necessary 1 f/stop increase. In all cases final skin tone is determined by exposure. Bracket for best results. Alan Marcus (dispenses marginal technical advice)
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Mark Feldstein |
I don't know if Denise is ever coming back, but if I understand her question correctly, the answer is to set the camera at the main light level, f11.0 and let the fill fall in at 1 stop (or even more) less than f11 at say f8.0. Piece-o-cake. :>) Maybe this is a trick question?
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