[Leica] Highlights and bracketing....

["BIRKEY, DUANE" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>]

As a generalization, metering for the highlights is correct....  and I 
understand the rational.....  It's that generalizations are not always 
right for every situation.....
  
In Ecuador.... due to the equatorial sun......there is normally at least 
a  3 stop difference between the highlight exposure and the correct 
one.....   slide film just can't handle that difference..    If you want 
to photograph the snow capped volcanoes on a sunny day......you have to 
use graduated neutral density filters or you end up with blank snow and 
or dark foregrounds.....  

You have to know when to bracket and when not to......   how to use a 
incident and or a reflective meter correctly.....  I understand Donal's 
point about the lab factor in exposure..... Ecuadorian labs vary by more 
than 1/2 stop and worse yet is the color shift.... Hence I use a Jobo for 
E-6.....

There are good reasons for bracketing..... And I do a fair amount of it 
myself if the situation requires it and allows it. 

But if you bracket in 1/3 stops over a two stop range for every shot and 
you take 5 or 6 shots at every exposure...... you are going to waste a 
lot of film.     In Donal's case (and other commercial shooters) this is 
not a problem .....  film is the "cheapest" part of the shoot...

But if you are photographing candid subjects or wildlife that aren't paid 
models and other objects that move and you bracket in whole stops over a 
2 stop range you increase your odds that the best image is going to be on 
a bad exposure......    

Duane Birkey

HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador