[Largeformat] Photo 101 - Class 25 - Incident meters

[tigershark_001@hotmail.com]

I am a commercial photographer and because of that I am an "incident 
light" kinda of a guy too.  Incident metering is the daily routine, 
even for B&W.  It is fast, efficient and ...consistent. Anyone can 
click that Minolta IV, trigger strobe lights, and give me an 
aperture.... 

Now i am talking about a controlled system here, where we measure at 
Zone V (light meter reading, by definition). Then I use a few years
of 
experience to come up with the final exposure.... I just know what 
that highlight is going to look like on a Fujichrome RDP 100 type III 
in my Jobo processor with the chemicals I use, and I know where my 
shadow region is gonna hit bottom. I know in a large assembly hall I 
got to open up half a stop or more because of ambient darkness....

But that is in fast paced commercial/industrial photography, we are 
not talking about fine arts here, where it does make a large
diference 
how you previsualize a scene...and capture it on film.

If that is the case I switch modes....I get my 40 or 10 degree spot 
meter attachment out, and I start to measure refective light, 
accurately....and use the Zone system....to come up with exposure AND 
development (N, N+1, N-1 etc.) for that one shot....actually I will 
expose 2 sheets or more if I want some more freedom later when 
processing.  Also i make some notes right after the shot....just to 
jot memory later.

Use common sense and the right tools for that single moment you want 
to capture !

Tigershark