Standardizing Procedures II- Update

Standardizing Procedures II– Update

 by William Lulow

TECHNIQUES TO EXPOSURE CONSISTENCY

Here is some more information based on the previous article:

On location:

First, I choose a MODE that I will use for shooting. Most of the time it is MANUAL. In my case, since I have plenty of experience with traditional forms of exposure control, I want to make sure that my new, digital equipment will perform similarly to my old, traditional film cameras. Also, I have become used to predicting an exposure based on my many years of practice. I will usually use the camera’s exposure graph visible in the viewfinder and on top of the camera itself.

I don’t use my light meter as much as I should because the technique of using the graph to determine exposure seems to work fairly well.  Also, because I use a 64GB card, I have more than enough room to make several exposures of a particular scene to determine which works best if my metering is slightly off.  

Second, I then adjust my exposure with the controls. I set an ISO (depending on available light), then I set the shutter speed (depending on subject matter). The only variable then is the aperture. I try to set it in between -1stop and the black arrow. I am trying to purposely underexpose the scene to add a little saturation to it. If I am still in doubt about what I’m seeing on the LCD, I will make a couple more exposures just to be sure I’ve got a workable file. This works pretty well on location. I usually wind up with some images that I can work with during post-production.

In the studio:

The way to achieve exposure consistency in the studio is to keep the mainlight-to-subject distance the same throughout the shoot. In the days of film and Polaroids, every time I changed the lighting or the settings on my flash packs, I would take a new test shot on Polaroid film just to be sure my exposures were consistent. There is no need to do this if your lamp-to-subject distance remains the same. You will have any number of exposures that are identical no matter what background or extra lights you use.

I go through this procedure with virtually all the settings on the camera and lens until I am satisfied that I can use all of them, shutter speeds, f/stops and ISO, effectively to produce the kinds of images I’m after. The other very convenient thing about shooting with a digital camera and lenses is that all the exposures are set in the camera itself, not on the lens. So, you can switch lenses easily keeping the same exposure settings. This is a tremendous help to achieving exposure consistency. If you are using film, the ISO is already set by the type of film you use, the shutter speed is controlled by the camera itself and the aperture is controlled by the lens.

Since we also import the results of our shoots to our computers, making minor changes in exposure, if needed, becomes relatively easy in Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom or Bridge. In the days of film, it was always the mark of a professional if there was consistency of exposure in a given shoot. In other words, the contact sheets should all look relatively the same. You knew then that your exposures throughout that roll were all consistent. Once you have arrived at the exposure settings you want, all images of the same type should all have the correct exposure. Only differences should be in the pose, expression, or composition. And, after you get used to setting up your standard exposure techniques, there really should be no wasted images due to bad exposures.

The same can be said for studio lighting. If you are making a portrait in the studio, the exposure is determined by the distance between your main light and the subject. You also need to control any extra light you may use as accents or fill-ins. But the mainlight-subject distance should remain the same. Once those settings are finalized, the camera can be anywhere (unless the light is on the camera itself), and any lens can be used to produce standard exposures of your subject. You can then change your lighting for different effects knowing that the main exposure will always be correct. Here are a couple of examples:

These images are from the same shoot. Notice how the exposures on the skin are the same. The only thing different about each is the background and accent lights.

Once you have standardized your procedures, this kind of exposure control will become easier and easier to achieve and you will be able to get amazing consistency in your results. This will actually free you to make changes in backgrounds, poses and expressions to really begin to challenge your creativity.