Understanding Exposure - Clarification on "Mr Green Jeans"

Cork Boy

In the book when he meters off trees or grass he says he always sets the exposure to -2/3 stops.

What I'm asking is, is that 2 or 3 stops or two-thirds of a stop?

Oh and while I have your attention... am I right in saying with metering (in the case of Mr Green Jeans) that I point the camera at the grass and align myself for a correct exposure (-2/3 stop/s), keep that setting and recompose my shot then?

Cheers

magicbastarder

two thirds.

DaireQuinlan

Cork Boy wrote: »

In the book when he meters off trees or grass he says he always sets the exposure to -2/3 stops.

What I'm asking is, is that 2 or 3 stops or two-thirds of a stop?

Oh and while I have your attention... am I right in saying with metering (in the case of Mr Green Jeans) that I point the camera at the grass and align myself for a correct exposure (-2/3 stop/s), keep that setting and recompose my shot then?

Cheers

What has Captain Kangaroo got to do with anything ?

PopeBuckfastXVI

Cork Boy wrote: »

am I right in saying with metering (in the case of Mr Green Jeans) that I point the camera at the grass and align myself for a correct exposure (-2/3 stop/s), keep that setting and recompose my shot then?

Yes, fill the frame (or the metering spot) with the green, adjust iso/aperture/speed for correct exposure -2/3 of a stop, then recompose and shoot.

magicbastarder

grass is darker than 18% grey - so pointing your camera at grass would prompt your camera to use a longer shutter speed/wider aperture than the light would require. underexposing by two thirds of a stop counteracts this.

Cork Boy

Thanks for all the replies, everything has been cleared up now so much appreciated!

I know this has been said to death but Understanding Exposure should be sold with everyone's first SLR. To my eternal shame I bought my first (second-hand D80) one over a year ago and only really got to take it out of the case recently due to a hectic schedule and fear of the unknown but after reading that book I'm very eager to get out and start snapping!

PopeBuckfastXVI

Cork Boy wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, everything has been cleared up now so much appreciated!

I know this has been said to death but Understanding Exposure should be sold with everyone's first SLR. To my eternal shame I bought my first (second-hand D80) one over a year ago and only really got to take it out of the case recently due to a hectic schedule and fear of the unknown but after reading that book I'm very eager to get out and start snapping!

Great camera, also my first dSLR - enjoy your new hobby, fair warning though, your bank manager is going to hate you!

kelly1

Cork Boy wrote: »

In the book when he meters off trees or grass he says he always sets the exposure to -2/3 stops.

In my experience, it's more like 1 stop under for grass. I can only see this working in manual mode though.

Cork Boy

Ha ha I'm a demon for gadgets and accessories so will have to try & stay disciplined.

Sorry now but last question on the subject...

In one particular example where shooting a waterfall he meters off the green trees to the right and says he readjusted the aperture until (from f32) f19 indicated a -2/3 exposure, then recomposed and took his shot.

Q1. I assume he adjusted with aperture as shutter speed was critical to catching a sharp picture of the falling water?

Q2. Am i right in saying the exposure indicator in my viewfinder is what he used? Mine goes from -3 to +3 but when i drop the F-numbers the exposure indicates i'm over-exposing. Do you think there was an error on the book and what he actually meant to say was that he increased the f-stops from F19 to F32 to get the -2/3 exposure?

Thanks a mill

Cork Boy

kelly1 wrote: »

In my experience, it's more like 1 stop under for grass. I can only see this working in manual mode though.

This book does everything in manual mode. Also, full manual is why i got an slr in the first place, i want to have complete control over the shot from my end so happy out!

Cheers for the tip on going a full stop down for grass too btw!

kelly1

Cork Boy wrote: »

Ha ha I'm a demon for gadgets and accessories so will have to try & stay disciplined.

Sorry now but last question on the subject...
.
.
.

The short answer is that you do what you need to do to achieve the effect you're trying to achieve. You just need to understand the exposure triangle (aperture/shutter speed/ISO)

Ideally you want to keep the ISO as low as possible but of course when light is low, you may need the assistance of a tripod or higher ISO.

Decide whether you want shallow or deep depth of field. This will determine your aperture.

Do you need fast shutter speed to stop action? Faster shutter speed very often requires high ISO and/or wide aperture.

Basically you have 4 extremes:

- wide aperture (shallow dof, least problematic)
- narrow aperture (deep dof, may need tripod/high ISO)
- fast shutter (may need high ISO and/or wide aperture)
- slow shutter (may need a neutral density filter)

Hope that helps somewhat

CabanSail

Cork Boy wrote: »

Am i right in saying the exposure indicator in my viewfinder is what he used? Mine goes from -3 to +3 but when i drop the F-numbers the exposure indicates i'm over-exposing. Do you think there was an error on the book and what he actually meant to say was that he increased the f-stops from F19 to F32 to get the -2/3 exposure?

Aperture Numbers are a Ratio. The LARGER the F# the SMALLER the Aperture.

So going from F19 to F32 is a decrease in F Stops.

denismc

The D80 has an aperture preview button that allows you to see the affect each aperture has on an exposure. It is an unmarked button underneath the lens on the right hand side. Press this while looking through the viewfinder. You can actually see the aperture close while looking into the lens from the front and pressing this button.
Sometimes seeing the actual aperture close will help you make sense of the various f-numbers.

Cork Boy

denismc wrote: »

The D80 has an aperture preview button that allows you to see the affect each aperture has on an exposure. It is an unmarked button underneath the lens on the right hand side. Press this while looking through the viewfinder. You can actually see the aperture close while looking into the lens from the front and pressing this button.
Sometimes seeing the actual aperture close will help you make sense of the various f-numbers.

Wow that gets pretty dark but it really does work as a great depth of field preview once you get the hang of it.

Thanks to all for all the responses. I was just wondering if I could get clarification on one more if possible?

The slide scale going from +3 to -3 in the viewfinder... are those +3 to -3 exposure stops?

CabanSail

If it's #14 above then it's +/- EV or F Stops