Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Grey Card Results

Amy has been advising for months that I get a grey card. I have intended to do so, but it just never happened. I kept thinking I didn't want to spend $10.00 on shipping for a $5.00 item. I finally found myself at a local camera shop and purchased 1 (actually 3 because they come in a pack). I was floored by the results.

I used two props. The grey card was undeniably the best exposure in each situation. And I did each in Program Mode, Manual Mode and Manual Mode using a grey card.

(click to enlarge)





On the inside settings when using the grey card, my metered measured +1.5 for the correct exposure. When outside in the shade/overcast day, my metered measured +2 for the correct exposure. Does that mean in those situations I should meter + 1.5 or +2 respectively all of the time?

3 comments:

Amy N. said...

Great shots! To answer your question-not really, unless your light is consistent (like with a studio lighting) your lighing will always vary. Remember that your camera meter is not really metering the skin or the toy it is metering the LIGHT that is falling on the skin or the toy. Make sense?

Dana said...

It does make sense...thank you. I keep looking at the doll in amazement because I think it is such a great exposure. That grey card is a miracle. :)

Amy N. said...

I love the grey card-but am actually glad that you learned to meter without it first-it is a lot harder to learn on the grey card and then try and learn to do it on your own. Hey were you out camping this past week? I was showing my sis in law your blog and she thought you guys might have been camping right next to them-said your kids and husband looked like their camping neighbors