middle grey

[Jim Nelson]

What is considered to be middle grey?

 

Is a cloudy day, shade, or a very late afternoon middle grey or is it highlight?

 

thanks

[Joshua Jackson]

"Medium" grey is what your eyes perceive as medium grey. In the linear world, it is 18% reflectance. You need an accurately printed Grey Card to get an exact readout (and even then, it could be +/- 5%).

In what context are you needing a medium grey?

[Tom Jensen]

What is considered to be middle grey?

 

Is a cloudy day, shade, or a very late afternoon middle grey or is it highlight?

 

thanks

 

I would suggest you read the Asnel Adams book, the Negative.

[David Mullen ASC]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_system

[Jim Nelson]

"In what context are you needing a medium grey?"

 

I just know that highlight is when there's a lot of light (for example a sunny day) and that low light is when there's not a lot of light. But what about cloudy days or shade or late afternoon? Are those mid tones, or high lights?

 

And is mid tone the same thing as middle grey?

[David Mullen ASC]

"In what context are you needing a medium grey?"

 

I just know that highlight is when there's a lot of light (for example a sunny day) and that low light is when there's not a lot of light. But what about cloudy days or shade or late afternoon? Are those mid tones, or high lights?

 

And is mid tone the same thing as middle grey?

 

Midtones are exactly what the name suggests, the tones in the middle. Middle grey would be a midtone, but some solid colors can be midtone in value. There are no scientific values, no measurements, associated with the term midtone. It's a general word.

 

In overcast weather, you can still have bright highlights, midtones, shadows, blacks, etc. You just tend to have more midtones because of the flatter light.

 

"Low light" is not exactly the opposite of a "highlight" -- a shadow is more the opposite of a highlight, though again, these are vague non-scientific terms. "Low Light" tends to mean lower light levels overall, which can still mean you'll have highlights, shadows, blacks, etc. Though some people will use that term now and then to mean the dark areas in the frame.

 

18% grey is something specific though. But terms like midtones, highlights, bright highlights, dark shadows, etc. are all a bit generalized.

[Tom Jensen]

Or if you took a gray card or a gray scale and took your spot meter and pointed it at the gray card, took a reading and photographed the card at that stop, it would appear gray. The blacks would appear black and the whites would appear white. As you over expose the stock, the gray on the gray card becomes whiter, the blacks start to turn gray and the whites blow out. When a negative is exposed to light, it becomes darker until it becomes black and light can no longer pass through it.