michael rossi

Thank you for the help. I'm just curious if this method could work to. I'll give an example. Say I'm shooting a wide shot on a bright day, my subject is backlight and I have a building behind that I want to have detail, I also want the sky to be hot but not blown out, could I first read the light hitting there face, then also get a reading of the sun hitting there back and split the difference or figure out (like you said) if I want more detail in the shadow or light? Also if this method works would it be easier to take a reading of the face and then the sun directly? (instead of the sun hitting the persons shoulders and top of their head) Though this may make a large ratio difference and it be more realistic to have the background a little hot. I plan on shooting some tests when I get the chance to see what method works the best, but for now I'd like to know as much as I can before hand. Thanks

Hey I'm a newbie and I have a question about the sun outdoors. I've taken a few film classes (I plan on attending film school) which have primarly been focused on digital movie making. A few weeks ago I went to a workshop on film and learned a bit about lighting and metering. I've also read up on filming outdoors. What confuses me is that if you use the sun as a backlight and meter the light hitting the subject wont the background be overexposed? I guess to try and better explain what I mean say you have a wide shot with a person standing in the middle of a park. The sun is behind them acting as there backlight, you meter the light hitting them with the incident, set your stop and shoot. But since you metered for the light in front wont the back (with the sun) blow out? I'm a bit confused on this process.