Exposure-Mat, a free light meter (no batteries required!)

film, journal July 5th, 2009

I’m a big fan of the Sunny 16 Rule for determining exposure. Print film is forgiving enough that you don’t always have to get the exposure *exactly* right to get a good shot.

The”Sunny 16″ rule, paraphrased, says, “Set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the film speed, and set the aperture to f/4 for open shade, f/5.6 for overcast, f/8 for hazy sunlight, f/11 for sunlight and f/16 for snow, water, or bright surfaces in sunlight.

Here’s a great link to a do-it-yourself paper slider exposure meter. Use one of these and you won’t need a meter for 90% of your outdoor shots on print film.

Shooting an old retro camera without a meter and guesstimating exposure is a liberating experience. I recommend it.

[ http://expomat.tripod.com/ ]

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