I fear for the future of photography

[cmontoya]

---

I hate it when 'photographers' teach photography incorrectly

Photography Manual Setting Explained - YouTube

Trial and error exposure? What bull$#!+ is this! Give yourself a break and Google "Zone System." Jeezus!

[merlwafu]

na unsa diay ni cya sir? heheh..

[cmontoya]

Basically, he's telling you that in order to obtain manual exposure, you first need to set your camera at aperture priority, then take note of the shutter speed. Switch to manual and set the shutter speed to the same one as in the aperture priority and play around with it.

That's not how to obtain an exposure manually. One needs to learn the Zone System to understand manual exposure. For example, if you were to follow his advice on a snowy day, your shots will be underexposed by -2 stops because all digital cameras automatically render a scene in gray (0 exposure). Snow should be at +2.

Here're are tables that will guide photographers how to expose properly.













I didn't invent this. Ansel Adams and his peers did.

[dolina]

Or better yet read your camera's instruction manual on how to use the auto exposure.

[cmontoya]

@dolina: I'm sure as time progresses, technology would allow cameras to expose properly but based on the seminar/workshop I ran with people using newer DSLRs than mine, that time hasn't come yet. Of course, light meters would come in handy but they're impractical in situations like shooting the sky, mountains.

After I learned the Zone System, I never went back to auto.

[merlwafu]

I see. Will look in to "Zone System" nya.. nindot ni imo sir da.. na koy bago na kat-onan..

[arisarnado]

yeah, gamit nang zone system for perfect exposures anytime

[kit_kat]

will try to read more about this nya.. thanks for posting!

[dolina]

@dolina: I'm sure as time progresses, technology would allow cameras to expose properly but based on the seminar/workshop I ran with people using newer DSLRs than mine, that time hasn't come yet. Of course, light meters would come in handy but they're impractical in situations like shooting the sky, mountains.

After I learned the Zone System, I never went back to auto.

People who take classes to learn how to use their cameras tend not to know how to use them at all. If they did then the focus of these classes would not be on how to use their cameras but more on creatives and framing. Each brand of camera and each model of camera have differing ways of measuring light so even if you are an expert in one model it may take time to adopt to a different camera's various meter modes.

There are instances where in it is better to not use auto exposure but these are becoming fewer each generation of gear that comes along.

Everyone who read this must understand that part of the exorbitant price we pay for our cameras goes towards research and development for improving future products to make them so called 'idiot proof'.

Looking at your slides props up some question to mind.

- If I wanted to expose for shadow detail then I should have the exposure meter pointing at -2?
- If that is the case then how do I avoid image noise associated with exposing the underexposed shadow in post? Do I still stick to -2 or should I try +2 and then fix the blown out areas in post?

Looking at the Zone System gets me thinking that its intent is to make sure shadows are detail-less and clouds are just white without bumps or texture. If that is the objective then it is successful in doing so.

As I understand it with film you can underexpose a bit as you can get details easily from dark areas in during film development but overexposing film will not allow for details to be drawn out from blown out highlights. This is reverse in digital where in trying to illuminate dark areas in a frame during post will result in noise as there is no information recorded by the sensor.

I am not saying the Zone System is worthless but it may be better serve the camera operator to understand how their tools work rather than treating their modern cameras like expensive antiquities.

Having said that I do compensate for the in-camera exposure meter. When I am shooting for silhouettes I tend to shoot between -2 and -4 as I intend to have no details but a black shape. When I want to draw out details in the shadowed area I send to expose +1 or +2. I sometimes do this in manual mode or through the Exposure Compensation of Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority.

Yes, my objective is for artistic purposes that is best done shooting in RAW and not JPEG. For JPEG it makes sense to do Zone System. After all shooting JPEG implies little to no post work.

All I am saying is there are easier ways and these should be pushed.

Having said that and reading your slides I understand your intent but just disagree with slide #20.

[yel.Imba]

zone system? not a big deal for me. hahahaha. bsta maka ila nakas imong camera. makahibaw naka unsay dapat na exposure why not trial and error? wa man cguro sayup ana. best way man cguro na para maka kat.on ka. shoot ng shoot maka hibaw ra gd ka xD newbie rko. mao ni akong ka agi.an. grabe ra ka exaggerated ang TS happy shooting guys... peace \m/