Amateur Cine World (February 1936)

Kodachrome with would not include the same amount of sky. So that the larger the acceptance angle of the meter the nearer we must get to the subject to obtain accurate readings. Whenever possible, .we should approach to within a few feet of our subject and when the sun is shining from the side take two readings —one on an average sunlit portion and the other on a shadow portion. Care must be taken that we include in the field of the meter only that particular portion of the scene on which we wish to take the reading. If the two readings do not vary by more than 14 stops, and quite a large : An excellent subject number of scenes will be found to for colour—and ideal come under this range, we should oa ‘3 ye expose for the reading we obtained for STG 7 sn! the sunlit portion. If the difference between the two readings is greatly in excess of 14 stops, we should endeavour to alter the viewpoint to allow the shadows to occupy such a relatively small area in the picture that they become unimportant. Again we should expose for the sunlit reading. Finally, if the difference between the readings is only just outside 14 stops, say 2 stops, we must make up our minds which end of the scale we are going to sacrifice. If the shadows are more important we must open up + stop on the sunlit reading, while if the sunlit portion is more essential give the sunlit reading. When there is no sun the position is simpler, as the illumination will be so evened up that the variation in different parts of the scene will seldom be more than } stop. In this case give the brightest reading we can get. The High-Light Method When using the Avo-Smethurst High-Light meter we can measure the contrast range just as effectively— if not more so—by simply pointing the meter at the brightest light which is falling on the scene for the high-light reading and then holding the meter in the shadow portion and pointing it back towards the light which is illuminating the shadows. On the whole, this is by far the most satisfactory method, as we are measuring the actual intensities of the light and are independent of variations in the colours of the scenes. There is one other factor that will influence the results with Kodachrome and that is the actual colour of the light prevailing at the time the film is taken. We all know that on a sunny day in summer sunlight around the mid-day hours is comparatively white and that towards evening and in the early morning it tends towards the yellow and red end of the spectrum. The change, however, is so gradual that we are apt to overlook it, and yet, if it were possible to view a scene at mid-day and immediately afterwards see the same scene half an hour before sunset, we should notice at once the change in the colour of the light. The colour of every object in the scene would be altered by the yellowish red glow from the setting sun. An object which appeared white to mid-day sun would now have a distinct orange cast, but since the change is so gradual, the average person would say that the white object is still white and the change to an orange cast would only be apparent to a person such as an artist who had been trained to see colours in their true light. Sky and Shadows There is yet another factor present at sunset time and that is the intense blue of the remainder of the sky. This, naturally, will make itself felt in the shadows of the scene. It is an interesting experiment to duplicate these conditions with a couple of photofloods in reflectors, illuminating from opposite sides a small table on which are set out a number of different coloured objects. The photoflood lamps will not provide, strictly speaking, a white light, but will be sufficiently near for our purpose. One lamp should be placed two feet away and the other six feet. Now slip a piece of orange coloured celluloid in front of the nearer lamp and a piece of blue in front of the farther one and notice the change in the actual colours of the different objects. This will indicate, in an exaggerated way, the effect of the light conditions at sunset time on. the colours of different objects in a scene. Kodachrome is balanced for the mid-day hours, 1.e., IO a.m. to 4 p.m. during the summer months, so that if we take a scene outside of these hours we must be prepared for high-lights which show a tendency towards the yellow and red end of the spectrum and shadows which are distinctly blue. No amount of juggling with the exposure will alter this. This does not mean that we must confine all our filming to the (Continued on page 94)