[Leica] amazing...

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> 
> Likewise I find it baffling that someone has found a market for a pocket
> guide to overriding the matrix meter of a specific brand of camera based on
> color and image size of the subject (birds in this case).  I'd think that
> using a spot meter and knowing what it's telling you would be quicker and
> simpler - and would apply to many more situations than the pocket guide 
> can.
> 
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> 
> 

To me what this is with the spot meter... It's developing some sense of
"placing your tones", what your thresholds are in particular. (how far you
can go before you loose texture)
Most people have a (to me) a crude technique of searching around for a
middle grey zone V tone and just going with that.
Why they would not want develop a sense for a few other shades of grey as
well I don't know. .... for some odd reason it seems to require an oddly
high degree of commitment from the photo enthusiast. More than 99 percent of
them want to give. Despite their willingness to master any number of other
technical aspects, pixels, prices and dates.

Fear of zone system. Or coming up with your own system should you be Roman
Numeral Challenged. (RNC)

I'd put a blackbird in black and white at two under.
Which means you take a reading and stop down two.
Not open up like half the people would - making for very slight over
exposure. By 4 stops! Which is why their safer sticking with middle grey.

What the heck I'll admit to calling it zone III. To me it's no big deal.
Two under; zone III; shadow threshold for black and white.

But in color neg. or digital I'd only go one under maybe.
And slides I'd make it a half under.
Any more you loose it I'd say.

But maybe you really don't need to see texture on most of a blackbird.

I'm no bird photographer so I'm sure if my subject matter turned to that I'd
learn a few things as I go along and right off. If Jim begged to differ on
these placements I just mentioned on the blackbird I'd listen to his of
course.

Subject matter can change "photography" to an extent where you wonder why
the Scuba photographers are even in the same area as the Arial photographers
or glamour photographers or crime photographers in the yellow pages.
Their all under "P".
All they have in common are a few tools. If that.


Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/