MajorNikon wrote:
A light aimed from the same axis as the key is not a fill light in the sense of filling in shadows as seen from the camera’s position.
By axis, I'm referring to the camera's axis. And naturally all shadows referenced in photography are in relation to what the camera sees. That is a given, but that doesn't have to mean that all fill has to be cross lit. You can have 20 fill lights if you want, all coming from different directions, or you can even have just one, and yes it can come from the same direction as the key. What makes it a fill is the purpose it's accomplishing, not its direction.
Since we are not using a common definition relating to fill light, I really have no idea what you are talking about in that paragraph.
A fill light is a light that reduces contrast. I'm not sure how else you would define it.
But earlier you said:
Set up your ambient first, then your fill, then your key, then your accent light(s). It works extremely well and you can do it all with the histogram.
So I still haven't had it explained how exactly one can "do it all with a histogram." even if you don't always do it now. How can it be used to set up a main light/ fill light portrait, let alone all the other lights and ambient in the scene. I know I can get a \workable\ exposure. Workable in post afterward that is.
Can doesn't mean always. I use tools that I have at my disposal as time permits. I used a light meter for many years. I still have one that cost me quite a bit at the time I bought it. It sits in an old camera bag unused. A light meter is certainly no guarantee you're not going to have to fix something in PP if you don't check your work as you go along.
So you would set up a wi-fi network connection to your iPAD or you hook up your laptop to your camera. To me that appears to involve at least as much, if not more effort than to grab a flashmeter and take a couple measurements. My meter is calibrated in 1/3 stops to match the camera. My strobes adjust by stops as well. There is no guesstimating while looking a a 1/2 wide histogram what I am measuring and which way up/down and by how many stops to adjust.
Except that once the wi-fi connection is established, I never have to set up the same one again.
Now is your iPAD or laptop calibrated and profiled to accurately display tones that will match the printer’s output? Pay a visit to the PC or Printing forums and note how many frustrated owners can’t get their laptop to display to show what their printer produces. Many have learned that adjusting the exposure based on a camera’s LCD is only good enough to get you into the ballpark. It will show gross over/under exposure but not necessarily correct exposure - except by chance. Examining the image for proper shadow placement and expression is another thing but that can also be done on the camera’s LCD.
All of this is tangential to the discussion of exposure. As I alluded to, I'd do that regardless of what method I used to set my exposure. Most importantly it shows me what effect my lights really have and if I'm getting what I'm after, which rarely has anything to do with color. Besides, light meters tell you next to nothing about color. Does your light meter tell you the gel you just put on your strobe really matches the environmental lighting?
We are of course speaking about incident light meters. If the exposure is based on incident light, then skin tones and everything else will fall into place as long as the same intensity of light being metered is hitting the subject. In the studio example, this would be the case.
Rarely do I have everything else fall into place simply because skin tones
might be right based on an incident reading. Your experience may be different.
If the exposure is based on an incident flashmeter reading of the same light falling on the face and shirt, the shirt most definitely would not be overexposed. It will reflect back more light and appear brighter – because it is lighter. That is not due to incorrect exposure. It is due to the choice of wardrobe!
The in camera reflectance light meter could lead to such a result. It is also the meter upon which the exposure leading to the histograms are based. So that should tell you something about how reliable histograms can be.
Not at all. I can add dimension to any black surface by adding highlights which I can see on a histogram and by checking my work. If all I had is a light meter, I'd just be saying, "Oh well, that's what they get for wearing black." I can also add dimension to a white surface with shadows.
It would be clearer to use the proper terminology here as most portrait photographers would not refer to a second key light as a fill light. As explained earlier, the fill light is used to fill in the shadows that an off axis (to the lens) key light produces across your subject.
I've never heard that definition, and I wouldn't agree with it. A fill light is a light that reduces contrast in the exposure. It's that simple. Are you saying you
can't have a key that's on axis? If that's not what you're saying are you saying you
can't have a fill light if your key is on axis? Besides, no light ever produces a shadow. Only the absence of light produces a shadow. Your definition leaves a lot to be desired. I think I'll stick with mine.
Well that's good. We can blame David then for the poor choice of words and misinformation about incident light metering and exposure.
I haven't heard him say much of anything about incident light metering, other than to say he might use his light meter once per year and he might not. You can also blame at least one of my professors in college from 30 years ago as I distinctly remember them defining fill in just that way. As far as David goes, he also seems to have a pretty wide and diverse audience for his "misinformation", and his work speaks for itself.
I have for your viewing pleasure, a Photo of Hosnah taken 10/10/10 with a Photogenic PL600a strobe as key and two Photogenic PLR1250DR as rims on camera left and right. Key light was diffused with medium softbox. No light meters were used or harmed during the making of this SOC photo;