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PSA: That old guy at the photo swap who told me to ditch my light meter
I was at a camera swap meet in Austin last spring and this retired photographer saw me messing with my handheld Sekonic. He just laughed and said toss that thing and learn to read the light with your eyes. Told me to shoot a whole roll of Tri-X without touching the meter. Honestly it was frustrating at first but after 3 tries I started guessing exposures within a stop. Has anyone else had some random stranger give them advice that actually worked?
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faithbaker24d ago
Oh I read this thing online about how old school National Geographic shooters used to set their exposure by looking at the palm of their hand lol. Apparently if you meter your palm in sunlight and open up one stop its pretty close to middle gray. I tried it with my DSLR and it actually works okay in a pinch. That old timer might have been onto something even if it sounds crazy at first.
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paul_webb4524d ago
Haha nah that's just an old wives' tale, you're way better off trusting your camera's meter than guessing with your hand. A palm isn't even close to 18% gray in most lighting conditions.
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