subject: How to Achieve Accurate Light Exposures for Nude Photography [print this page] It is especially important when photographing a nude model that the photographer ensures perfect exposures through accurate light readings. Unwanted burned out highlights on skin, banding through the shadow transitions and indeed completely lost shadow detail can all result from incorrect exposures, while often leading to higher noise levels and poor overall image quality.
Although the metering systems found in modern digital cameras have improved greatly in recent years they can still be fooled in certain cases. Many photographers will claim that you can rely on the camera's built in histogram but this is not correct as I explained in far greater detail with my ebook "How To Photograph Nudes Like A Professional"
With some cameras you can use the built in spot metering to take precise readings of isolated areas but they still rely on a reflective light reading that assumes the subject is 18% grey, which is not the case with skin, whether light or dark. To use the spot metering reliably you will need a photographic grey card, which can be purchased from specialised camera stores. Although this method can be used to obtain accurate light readings it is often inconvenient in practice and cannot be used with studio flash.
The answer for obtaining consistently reliable exposures is to work with a hand held meter by taking an incident light reading through an invercone, otherwise known as a lumisphere, which is basically a small white dome that covers the reflective light sensor. Unlike the camera's built in meter an incident light reading is taken from the subject pointing back towards the camera and is not influenced by the subject's tonality or reflective qualities.
When taking a reading using a hand held light meter it is important that you switch your camera to manual mode, so that you override the camera's built in meter and then use the settings given by the incident light reading. It is generally worth measuring the light in various parts of the scene to understand the exposure variation and make any necessary adjustments to the lighting if required; such as increasing or decreasing the flash levels for example.
Some handheld light meters only work with flash or daylight but most of the better modern ones can read both and a few are capable of measuring multiple light sources at the same time, while displaying their relative respective outputs. This is especially useful when mixing light sources such as flash with tungsten or daylight, allowing the photographer to clearly analyse the situation without the need to make complex mental calculations.
The ability to obtain consistently accurate exposures is one of the key elements in improving the quality of your nude photography.
How to Achieve Accurate Light Exposures for Nude Photography
