In a message dated 1/13/05 12:38:25 PM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
> For digital, just snap and then look at the display on the screen.
> If the exposure is off, re-adjust and take another one.
>
> I use Nikons which have a viewing mode that shows a graph (called a
> "histogram") that shows the distribution of dark/light areas in the
> image. This is a great way to fine tune exposure settings, if your
> camera features this function.
>
Great advice Sheldon! A few precautions tho:
Using the display for feedback is great if you are in subdued light, but otherwise the LCD is not going to give you a fair representation of what the image looks like. And even under the best of circumstances you will not be able to check important details like highlights (unlike shooting with film, where lack of shadow detail is the major pitfall, a digital exposure with blown-out highlights is beyond salvaging no matter how good you are with Photoshop... for this reason, people who have some film experience are usually advised to meter digital scenes more like they would when shooting slide film than negative film). If you are going to use your LCD to verify your image it is absolutely essential that you move into an area of subdued light (shading the screen with your hand is seldom good enough) and also be sure that you are viewing the LCD straight on (even 10 degrees off-axis will distort the colors and values of the display). For the best feedback, get a camera with an electronic viewfinder... they are usually more detailed than LCDs and the viewfinder blocks out stray light. Or you can buy a 'snoot' that shades your LCD.
The histogram's a great feature (nothing like it for checking for blown-out highlights, seen as a tall spike on the right side of the graph). But one should not rely upon it as an indication of proper exposure since there are no way of knnowing which parts of the graph make up the most important parts of your image. Consider that a what your camera views as a perfectly metered shot of a piece of white paper and a pperfectly metered shot of a piece of black paper would both be a neutral gray and would have identical histograms.
When I'm shooting bikes at a show, I've gotten best results with a long focal length and the macro setting. Extreme closeups always seem to generate the most interest anyway, especially amongst us lug-lickers. But without fail, the toughest shot to get at a show is always that drive side beauty shot. Cluttered backgrounds and bikes parked too close to each other really makes this shot difficult if not impossible. With the owner's permission you can move a bike out into the aisle for a shot, but that doesn't solve the cluttered background problem. Wouldn't it be nice if bike shows had a walk-around in a large open area (kind of like they do at dog shows) where you could meet each owner and get a nice flattering full-on shot of the bike (and proud owner).
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA