Photography tips-How to use a light meter

[Mark622111]

This is for you experts....lets say I have my F stop correct for my main subject. If I take the shot my subject should have the correct aperature per my meter reading. Why can't I break the rules and play around with the background / secondary light for affect? I've been told photography is an art. I'm trying to learn so if my approach is just stupied I'd like to know / learn. I'm no expert on using light fixtures & meters as I'm a newby so I don't want to come across as argumentative (sp?)

[Mark622111]

Funny watching you experts pick the video apart...but for us new to photography and wanting to learn the basics I thought it was pretty good. I'd rather learn from those that can make it simple vs those that want to make it so full of math it scares me off. Once I/we learn the basics I'm sure we can move up to the advanced math just like you guys/girls. You had to start somewhere too...unless you were just born experts.

[CetteBelleChevelure]

This video is great! I learned more from the goofs than I would have learned from reading an entire manual on the subject. Thanks guys!!

[mblackmagico]

a 3:1 ratio means that your main light is 3 times brighter than your fill light. If your main light is reading f/8 and your fill is reading f/4 then your main light is actually 4 times brighter than your fill light and so your ratio is 4:1.

[equinedesigns]

love the backdrop. what is it called and where can I find it. thanks.

the best meter vid I have seen.explained clearly. thank you so much!!!

[charlie0742001]

Thanks for the great video!

[bretlucas]

A point about edge transfer. If you move your main light source away from your subject the shadow edge transfer becomes harder as the relative size of your light source becomes smaller. I'm sure that's what you meant to say. Great tip on pointing your meter at the primary light source. Many don't get the reasons behind this. Thanks for the tut.

[markymark240682]

alright! what's up with these guys. a two stop difference between f/8 and f/2.8. 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8. am i getting something wrong here. it's three stops.

[nobsphotosuccess]

obvioulsy they failed math! bad drugs and beer....:)

[markymark240682]

Actually it's exactly the other way around! The closer you put your light the softer the gradient between highlight and shadows will become. I guess he mixed that up.

[nobsphotosuccess]

ok smarty pants, your right, technically speaking. But he's also right.Sorta. He shoulda used dif words to explain what he was saying. He means the darkness of the shadow, and is calling that the 'transfer'. In a sense, it works.

But, as you explained, transfer is the gradation from any one of the three tones (shadow, true or specular being the only three tones their are in a general lighting sense) to the other. To get technical. Rob

[phirepix]

Love NOBS videos. Can anyone tell me who makes the 4 rod diffuser? Use to using round spring fill-diffusers. This looks very compact.

[BuzzFisher]

Thanks a TON! Seems most folks doing tutorials are so much more interested in proving they know big words and theories as opposed to teaching something in a way that people can understand. Great job!

[ghostcrab3]

Great video!

thanks for uploading it!

Keep up the good work.

[davis911228]

Thanks... exactly the skinny light meters I was looking for

[craig5365]

Really helpful vid, thanks a lot.

[yumagetbullet]

great Video. helped A LOT ^^

[MACCaroniproductions]

Thank You! So Much!!!

[daveawebber]

Cut of in your prime at the end ......glad to see that you get gremlins as well great vid as said before keep up the good work with out guys like you we would all be in the dark ..pun there somewhere

[seth0923]

best videos on the web keep them coming awesome job guys

[KenInSeattle]

You guys do such an awesome job of explaining without confusing the crap out of us. Thank you for that! Which Sekonic meter were you using in the video?

[PartTimePhotography]

Good stuff - I'll pass this along to all my newsletter subscribers.

[nobsphotosuccess]

Take that soft box and walk 2oo feet away, and it becomes much smaller, therefor more pointed and creating harder edges on the shadows or wherever the three tones meet.

Cool? Not too confusing is it......and very simple when you think of light as three tones. By the way, there are three ways light is affected:

*distance

*source

*angle

That's it!

[phcphcphc]

I agree, but John (who explains it in the vid) syas the exact oppitite...right??

[nobsphotosuccess]

Same thing happens in the studio. Large softabox vs small spot light or small metal reflector. Different effects on the shadows.

This effects is being affected by the light source. Another way we can affect the egde transfer is by the distance the light is from the subject. Take a softbox, bring it in very, very close to the subject. It becomes like a large sky, oui non??

[nobsphotosuccess]

The line where ANY of those tones meet, is what is called edge transfer. Edge transfer can be soft or hard (fine) and varied degrees thereof. Thinks about it this way. Noon day sun. Light source: sun. Very small point in the sky, sorta like a flashlight. The lines it produces can be seen on your shadow as you are walking along the sidewalk: very fine and hard...right?

Same scenario, huge cloud covers the sun. What just happened to the shadow? It becomes softer and more 'blended', right?

[nobsphotosuccess]

John meant to say that as you bring the light back, the edge transfer becomes harder, not softer. What is edge transfer and how does it work?

Light has three tones, very simple: highlight, shadow, and true tones. The shadow is anything darker than the true tone, highlight is anything lighter, and the true, well, the true tone. Follow?

[Rchie5678]

the stop reading says 8.0 does that mean 80 candles?

[cvt01]

I mean the apparent size of the sun is really small and the transition zone open sunlight produces is really harsh. I would expect my falshes working the same way.

[cvt01]

Could you explain why the highlight to shadow transition will be smoother when you move the light more far from the subject? I thought the closer the light is to the subject the bigger the apparent size of the light source is. The bigger the light source is the softer the quality of the light (more wrap). Wouldn't the softer light give smoother transition zone? What am I missing here?

[aaron2luc]

this is awesome vid guys..tnx so much

[kendoc003]

I would have to say that this was the best vid for a "how to" on light meters. You should make a lot of these types of vids.

[kingskid96]

i liked this video because it was simple w/o being so "look at me i'm a fabulous photographer" type feel. You guys really taught me a lot in this almost 8 min video. Thanks!

[cfhasib]

Sometimes being too smart backfires... This video is a proof

[madabouttravel]

Great video - can't beat the K.I.S.S. method,

Cheers guys.

[chucklebe]

Good shit guys. Great work.

[musicmattersmost]

Good video. Thanks guys.

[maiamie0305]

Hey guys, thank you very much for the helpful lesson and I appreciated.

[d1eynon]

helpful, and funny too.

[505Hoops]

Informative and entertaining to boot. Good job.

[OzzyCoop]

Thanks so much. What about using the cameras built in meter. I have an Olympus E500 and dont fully understand how to use the info in the view finder for metering.

[mjkaraoke]

Very nice. Thanks!

[michellegunton]

great video