To RVP45
From rts2568

Ahh Huh. Thanks from all of us learner UHHers out here RVP45, but what sort of meter?

Please, don't hold your breath here, open up and inform us from your experienced practices of why, in backlit sunsets, why do you use a separate meter over the cameras meter; is your camera meter broken?

This incident meter you talk about too, is that another meter in addition to the off camera meter and the flash meter? How many light meters do we UHHers need to carry with us when we are on the beach at sunset? Isn’t there something simpler, like a ‘sunset meter’ perhaps? My eyes are boggling at the vision of a bag full of meters here.

You mention that my camera should be able to use a grey card - "...or with the camera using a grey card..."? I've asked my camera how it would use a grey card but it just shrugged its shoulders. How does your model/make of camera manage, could you fill us in please? What model/make of camera do you have anyway and do I need to change mine for the same as yours to get its grey card? Maybe mine isn’t intelligent enough because of its age, or needs to be updated?

Ah, somebody has just whispered in my ear again; apparently we have to point one of the meters at the grey card and take the reading of the sunset off that? Wouldn’t doing that block the light from the sunset? Ah, whispers in my ear again, we have to face the grey card in the other direction, but the whisper in my ear isn’t sure which direction. Please, can you give us an example maybe, on one of the many photos of such a scene that you must have and, draw an instructive illustration on that submission to explain, how your camera’s grey card is positioned? That’d be just great!

You clearly know what you're about so what about that "strobe", what's a strobe. I can only use a flashgun. Oh, someone has just whispered in my ear again, it's something to do with studio lighting. Is that it?

Ah, I get it, we need to carry a set of scales with us also so that we can “…balance the fill light with your available light…”? Well I never, not heard that one before! Can I assume then that the “…your available light…” means the strobe and I put that on one side of the scales and I fill the other side with some “…fill light…” to get everything balanced? Well that makes sense, doesn’t it! Got to have things balanced after all. Where do I get that fill light from though, do I have to bring a bottle of that too? Wow, I’m going to need a horse and buggy soon with all these extras, my poor mind can’t keep up.

Ok, I’m glancing through the next paragraph with all it’s maths to do but at least I can go to the “…seconic site …” and get that all sorted like? If my computer can find it, maybe you’re suggesting now that this site will be clearer to understand? Well, I’m sure everyone will be rushing there to learn. Thanks for that, very useful.

This learning thing is very time consuming, isn’t it and I’m wasting so much of your time. Please forgive my ignorance but I must ask about the last sentence of yours; “…Also if subject color is important, a grey card or whibal card in the first photo will give proper white balance….”

My subjects colour is important to me, very important indeed so I have to ask how I put the “…grey card…” into the first photo, do I copy it in somehow. Or does the camera do that somehow, all on its own and is that why I haven’t yet seen my cameras’ one? Does it have to be done on site or can I wait until I get back home when doing some post processing? My camera has automatic settings, so can I assume it can do this by itself? And you haven’t told us about this other card, the “…whibal..” card yet. Maybe other, better informed UHHers than me will know what this is but I’ve no idea. I’ve looked it up on the web but can’t find it; can you help further with this, after all, the camera has its grey card, maybe we can have a whibal card to ourselves? Maybe I’m just greedy! All this modern technology stuff, one just can't keep up.

Anyway, if you can just tell us how we get either or both of those cards into the first photograph, and when they are in place, can we be assured that the rest of the photos will give us “…proper white balance...”, even though we really want the best colour? You have to understand here, the great depth of our ignorance and I know I’m worried that if I don’t put the grey or the whibal card into the first photograph correctly and at the right time, my photos won’t colour balance for me and I do so want the “subjects” colour to be right. I’d hate to have to go back to the beach and do it all again, the nearest is over fifty kilometers away.

Sorry to be taking up so much of your time but I for one have learned a lot – I think?

I do so hope you understand my questions?


Best regards,

rts2568