| Ever get caught without a light meter? Stuck on an | | | | was fine for the middle of the day.Being winter, the |
| important photoghrapic expedition without a way of | | | | angle of the sun was low all day so I was |
| determining your exposure settings? Well I have, and | | | | photographing for most of the time except for a |
| it worked out ok, thanks to the Sunny 16 Rule and | | | | while around noon when I went back to my camp |
| careful consideration of years of experience. Here's | | | | for a feed.The above film exposure wouldn't do for |
| the story surrounding this event and how it worked | | | | the early and late shots as the light level was |
| out.High Investment Trip | | | | decreased. For the first and last half hour of the day |
| For over 12 months I'd planned and prepared for this | | | | I added another two stops making the exposure 1/15 |
| wilderness landscape photography trip to outback | | | | @ f16. Then for the two hours on the noon side of |
| South Australia. I'd driven about a third of the way | | | | that, I added one stop to the middle of the day |
| across the continent to get to my home base at | | | | reading, making the exposure 1/30 @ f16 for that |
| Roxby Downs, a mining town in the arid desert. I'd | | | | time period.Of course, when I used the polarizing |
| driven on pastoral station roads for 82 km to | | | | filter I added another two stops. When using 400 |
| Bosworth Station Homestead where I left the car | | | | ISO black and white film I made a new set of figures |
| and trailer. I'd ridden on my ATV (that's a four wheel | | | | adding three stops for the red filter.In order to |
| motorbike) for two hours over the roughest and | | | | manipulate depth of field I changed the exposure |
| rockiest ground you could imagine and set up a base | | | | settings around, 1/8 @ f16 becoming 1/4 @ f22, |
| camp on Andamooka Island.Light Meter Lost | | | | using the polarizing filter in the early morning.Checking |
| I camped the first night and went photographing | | | | the Figures |
| just on daylight. At the start of my afternoon photo | | | | Well, a fair bit of looking at the light and checking |
| session my light meter was missing. It must have | | | | the figures went on for the next five days. When I |
| fallen out of my coat pocket while I was riding. If | | | | got back to Roxby Downs I used another meter to |
| you could see the million, trillion rocks strewn over | | | | check my exposure calculations at various times of |
| the desert and where I'd been on the bike, you'd | | | | the day and began to feel more at ease.Great |
| understand that it just wasn't worth looking for the | | | | Negatives |
| meter. Five days of photographing in front of me and | | | | When I got home and processed the black and |
| no way of getting accurate light readings.Applying the | | | | white film and in due corse got the colour negatives |
| Sunny 16 Rule | | | | and CD back from the lab, I was relieved and |
| The Sunny 16 Rule says that on a sunny day the | | | | delighted to find that my exposures were pretty |
| exposure is the reciprocal of the film speed at f16. | | | | close to correct with good detail through the full tonal |
| That's 1/ISO @ f16 Here's how I applied the rule, | | | | range from shadows to highlights.Memorize the Sunny |
| making notes and an exposure table in my | | | | 16 Rule |
| notebook:First of all, please understand that there are | | | | When I get a new meter I'll keep it on a cord |
| a number of things in life where too much is better | | | | around my neck in such situations. I'll also keep the |
| than not enough. Among them are your breakfast, | | | | Sunny 16 Rule in the back of my head in case I need |
| your pay and film exposure. I was using 160 ISO film | | | | it again one day. Remember: f16 @ 1/ISO.Laurie |
| and the nearest shutter speed was 1/125 so I added | | | | McArthur is a wilderness landscape photographer |
| 1/3 stop to line up with the available shutter speeds. | | | | based on the New South Wales Far South Coast, |
| That gave me 1/125 @ f16.Next, it was winter so I | | | | Australia. |
| added another stop. That made it 1/60 @ f16. That | | | | |