Achieving Perfect Exposures in Digital and Film Photography 283
measures only the graycard area. The reading off the graycard is correct, regardless of the color
or brightness of the subject (see Figure 15-8). This may not be too practical on location, but it
can be an excellent approach for indoor work, close-up photography, and copying.
Whenever you take a refl ected meter reading, make certain that the reading is not affected by
large dark or bright areas such as a white sky or large white clouds.
LIGHTED AND SHADED AREAS
Many subjects have areas that are brightly lit and other areas that are in the shade. Regardless
of what metering approach and what type of meter is used, always decide whether to expose
for the lighted areas or the shaded areas or somewhere in between. There is no metering
system in the world that will do this automatically. Setting the lens between the two readings
works in some cases but usually does not provide the best exposure.
Exposing Negatives versus Transparencies
Negative and transparency fi lms need different exposures with subjects or scenes that have
important details in shaded and lighted areas. To produce high quality prints, black and white
and color negatives must be exposed for good shadow density. You want to base the lens set-
tings on the meter reading of the important shadow areas or close to it. You may also want to
check whether the shadow and the highlight areas are within the acceptable contrast range.
Transparencies, almost invariably, must be exposed for the lighted areas; otherwise, the
lighted areas look overexposed, become washed out, and lose color saturation Take the meter
reading of a lighted part of the scene or subject preferably with 18% refl ectance, or if not,
make the adjustment as described before. Since you cannot be too concerned about shadow
detail, you may want to avoid large shaded areas in the composition.
EXPOSING DIGITAL IMAGES
Exposing for an 18% refl ectance value also applies in digital imaging, perhaps even more so
as exposures are more critical. You must especially beware of overexposing digital images as
they are diffi cult to improve with computer manipulations. When working with lighted and
shaded subject areas, where the exposure must be based on one or the other, you are usually
more successful exposing for the lighted areas as would be done for transparencies.
Digital imaging also offers the possibility of covering contrast ranges that are impossible
to record with highlight and shadow details in fi lm photography. This is accomplished by pho-
tographing a subject or scene with two identical images with one exposed for highlight detail
and the other for details in the shaded areas and combining them afterwards in the computer.
Evaluating the Tonal Range and Exposure in Electronic Imaging
Digital imaging with Hasselblad H cameras offers a valuable advantage over fi lm photogra-
phy by giving you the opportunity to evaluate exposure on a histogram, which allows you to
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