ross e lea Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 hypothetical scene: 2 pool balls are sitting on a table. room is completely black. there is one par can spotting from one side on one ball. shooting @ 24fps with lets say.....250Tungsten fuji film. meter readings: f16 on table in brightest point of spotlight f8 on well lit pool ball f4 on second pool ball not lit so well OK...the objective here is to get the nicest, evened out shoot possible where the well lit ball is the focal point. I would think you light for f8 because thats what your best light to be representing, right? or because of the DARK context here....would you push the f-stop closer to f5.6? any opinions on dark stuff like this, because whenever I light for dark things with my 16mm camera, it seems to always turn out a little greyish or overexposed maybe. REALLY, IN A NUTSHELL....I'M JUST LOOKING FOR LIGHTING TECHNIQUES. YOUR USUAL RITUAL FOR FINDING THE PERFECT EXPOSURE!? thnks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario C. Jackson Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Ross It all depends on what you are exposing for. Remember when you are trying to get a low level of light it isn't necessarily how dark something is but rather how much difference between the brightest and darkest point in the frame. For example if you expose one ball at T8 and the table itself at T2.8 the ball will definetley stand out because it is several stops brighter than the table. In theory your eyes go to the brightest part or thing in the frame first. Hoper this helps Mario Concepcion Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 If that par can is blasting in at an f/16, you're gonna get quite a bit of spill, depending on the surface it's shining onto. So be aware of how much spill you're effectively creating by having a light that hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross e lea Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 helpful. :) still seems like my shooting is always slightly hazy or overexposed or something. maybe I should be lighting my scenes brighter in general to get all areas up to where I can just pull down the exposure in post. should I have chose 250T for the poolball context? as long as I light properly for the stock....shouldnt I get less grain by choosing the 250? or is the 500stocks really meant for those dark scenes? keep it comin yall very helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 (edited) It also depends on the color timing. It could be that your timer is bringing up the blacks and timing the print for your underexposed portions instead, so you have more detail in the shadows, hence the grayer image. Are you shooting an 18% grey card at the head of the reel so the timer knows what your key is at? It also helps to over expose a bit, perhaps by 2/3 a stop, so you have a denser negative in general and less grain. For example, if you're shooting 500T stock, you'd set your meter for 320 ASA to get a healthy general over exposure. Edited August 14, 2007 by Jonathan Bowerbank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross e lea Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 It also depends on the color timing. It could be that your timer is bringing up the blacks and timing the print for your underexposed portions instead, so you have more detail in the shadows, hence the grayer image. Are you shooting an 18% grey card at the head of the reel so the timer knows what your key is at? It also helps to over expose a bit, perhaps by 2/3 a stop, so you have a denser negative in general and less grain. For example, if you're shooting 500T stock, you'd set your meter for 320 ASA to get a healthy general over exposure. helpful, thanks. :) I just tell them best-light. shouldnt they realize whats best for the exposure made? isnt an exposed negative an exposed negative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Michael Nash Posted August 14, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 14, 2007 helpful, thanks. :) I just tell them best-light. shouldnt they realize whats best for the exposure made? isnt an exposed negative an exposed negative? Not if you tell them "best light" -- that means that they determine the proper transfer or printer light levels for the image. They could be brightening up the image to compensate for the darker content, like Jonathan suggests. Ask for a "one light" print or transfer if you want to see the exposures on your negative "warts and all." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 I just tell them best-light. shouldnt they realize whats best for the exposure made? This is something color timers hate to hear, incidentally. They don't know what you want, so you can't expect to be happy with what they give you. Like I said, unless you have a grey card at the head, they're not going to know exactly what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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