Amateur Cine World (June 1936)

SHOOTING on 8mm. (Continued from previous page) To all intents and purposes there is no latitude in reversal film on the side of over-exposure, with the result that if you over-expose the whole of a scene or a part of ascene, you will wipe out some if not all of the detail of the whole or part, as the case may be. If you are wishing to obtain a reasonably good picture of an average type of scene—as distinct from a special effect aa you must gauge the exposure by the highlights, making only such allowances as the special nature of the subject seems to demand. A month or two back Mr. P. C, Smethurst dealt with the whole subject systematically and his articles should be read by all who missed them. However, the basic principle of exposing for the highlights has been in use among serious amateurs for quite a few years now. Exceptions to the Rule This rule should be applied, with slight variations according to circumstances, to all subjects, but there are exceptions. For instance, assume that you are taking a distance shot of a waterfall in a valley, with only one comparatively small highlight—-the sun just catching the water. Here, if you are to get a reasonable reproduction of the whole scene, you must forego some of the detail in the highlight and must take two readings with your meter, one of the fall and one of the general lighting and then pick an — aperture somewhere between the two. In this case the aperture should be nearer the general lighting reading than that of the waterfall. Naturally, special effects require special treatment and cannot be dealt with in general terms. To show you how the basic principle operates, imagine that you are in a covered court which is open at one end to the street and that you and all the foreground and the other parts of the court which are within the field of view of your lens, are in shadow with the reflected light from the street as the sole illumination. If you are including part of the street scene in your shot this will be your highlight and you should expose only for the street scene. Elevated viewpoint tends to give poignancy to shots of old people, solitary in a@ scene, isolating them as it were, in their helplessness. 130 Should you expose according to a reading from your meter of the whole scene, including the shaded portions, you will find that since the meter takes a mere average of the whole lighting the highlight will be more or less obliterated—depending on the strength of the sun. You must expose for the fully illuminated portion of the scene only, taking no notice at all of the other parts. Over-Exposure Obliterates It is impossible to tell you how to deal with every scene that may occur but it is far more important that you should remember that over-exposure obliterates and if those words are always in your mind you will not go far wrong. From this you will see that an exposure meter is not an infallible guide and must always be used with a sensibility to the prevailing conditions. All the 8mm. cameras are provided with fairly deep lens hoods, but sometimes where it may be feared that the direct rays of the sun may just creep into the lens, it is simple and convenient to cup one of the hands so as to act as a shield by casting a shadow over the lens. Of course, care should be taken that the hand does not encroach upon the field of view. In this connection, too, it should be observed that a telephoto lens should always be employed only in conjunction with a hood as deep as is permissible. On the more expensive types a hood is standard equipment but with the cheaper models it is some times omitted on grounds of expense. In this latter case you should always make or purchase a hood or you will not get the best from the lens. In summer, when small apertures are the rule, should your lens be of the focussing type, you will do well to remember that by setting the focussing jacket at 25 feet you can use it as a fixed focus lens provided that the aperture is not greater than f/5.6. Hence, after taking a shot it is always as well to set the focus to 25 feet and the aperture to f/5.6 (or smaller, if circumstances permit), as this will sometimes enable you to catch an unexpected shot which would otherwise be lost in setting the lens adjustments. (Continued on page 144)