Observing a pro , I got questions.

Attending a wedding I saw the pro using a light meter,She would have her assistant take a reading and then tell her what f stop to use, I later asked her about it and she said I would not understand and walked away.....

I felt the need at that time to go to my car get my 5D with a 24-70L , 7D with the 70-200 2.8 IS , and shoot a few beside her and her d40,, OK i am a jerk I know, but I asked her nice way befor anyone that needed to be shot was there.

I just don't know why one would need a light meter, or am I a moron??

Maybe she was busy and didn't have the time to explain her procedures to someone....or maybe she was just rude. Either way, I think your response was also quite rude and out of line.....what exactly were you attempting to prove?

..... That he would have understood. I guess. Or deserved attention.

So, was she correct?

She was manually controlling exposure for the subject. In other words, she was making absolutely sure that her exposure was dead on.

Your on-board meter can't read non-ETTL flash so how else do you set your exposure?

I would say that what the OP did was "feel the need" to be a jerk. It doesn't sound like he acted on it. I would say that doesn't make him a jerk or rude.

That being said if FlyingPhotog is right. "my camera and my flash don't share info" takes as much time to say as "you wouldn't understand"

Photographers should always be careful how they act around the public (as with any service based business). The person she acted rude to could have been the wealthy cousin that was planning their daughters 2 million dollar wedding (or not).

All that being said, I would think non-ETTL flash makes sense. Also, "old habits die hard."

Probably was busy making sure everything was set up correctly.

MattPharmD wrote in post #12661254
I would say that what the OP did was "feel the need" to be a jerk. It doesn't sound like he acted on it. I would say that doesn't make him a jerk or rude.

That being said if FlyingPhotog is right. "my camera and my flash don't share info" takes as much time to say as "you wouldn't understand"

Photographers should always be careful how they act around the public (as with any service based business). The person she acted rude to could have been the wealthy cousin that was planning their daughters 2 million dollar wedding (or not).

All that being said, I would think non-ETTL flash makes sense. Also, "old habits die hard."

I think she needs to work on her customer service.... Frankly, she could have said something like "I just need to make sure I am getting the correct light reading...." The OP would be on his way and end of story. I am not sure what sort of photographer is she but being a photographer you need good PR and people skills, and has the ability to connect to people very quickly. Maybe she has weddings scheduled up to her neck...

shayneyasinski wrote in post #12661181
Attending a wedding I saw the pro using a light meter,She would have her assistant take a reading and then tell her what f stop to use, I later asked her about it and she said I would not understand and walked away.....

Just curious but how exactly did you word your question?

Did you give any indication that you enjoy photography yourself and that you're interested in learning or did you make some passing comment that was supposed to make you sound like you already know a thing or three?

I ask because there are times when I'll answer any question and then there are times where I can't or won't take the time to address every little thing that's tossed my way. There has to be some "meat on the bones" so I know that taking the time, right now, is actually worthwhile.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #12661691
Just curious but how exactly did you word your question?

Did you give any indication that you enjoy photography yourself and that you're interested in learning or did you make some passing comment that was supposed to make you sound like you already know a thing or three?

I ask because there are times when I'll answer any question and then there are times where I can't or won't take the time to address every little thing that's tossed my way. There has to be some "meat on the bones" so I know that taking the time, right now, is actually worthwhile.

Yup. Completely agreed. Also, just b/c she didn't look like she wasn't doing anything, it doesn't mean she wasn't actually busy. I'll sometimes stand at the venue not doing anything but in actuality I would be thinking and scoping things out, reviewing things to make sure every aspect is covered. So if someone approaches me when I am doing this, I might not be so accommodating. It of course also depends on the topic. If it's something simple I can answer in less than 10 seconds, then, yeah, no problem.

Nothing we own makes us nice people.

shayneyasinski wrote in post #12661181
Attending a wedding I saw the pro using a light meter,She would have her assistant take a reading and then tell her what f stop to use, I later asked her about it and she said I would not understand and walked away.....

I felt the need at that time to go to my car get my 5D with a 24-70L , 7D with the 70-200 2.8 IS , and shoot a few beside her and her d40,, OK i am a jerk I know, but I asked her nice way befor anyone that needed to be shot was there.

I just don't know why one would need a light meter, or am I a moron??

She was busy, your thinking that she would be impressed that you can afford a 5D and 70-200 is juvenile. There are plenty of well heeled and clueless photographers out there that she will doubless not be impressed by one more. Do you think owning that gear makes you better than her?

What she was doing was using her flashes remotely and manually. I would bet that she uses RF triggers that do not allow E-TTL (as E-TTL RF triggers are a pretty recent invention and they are not cheap at all). She sets the flashes to fire full power and controls the resulting exposure by changing the aperture of the camera. This is quick and easy and allows her to set the flashes once and control the light levels from the camera instead of having to walk back over to each flash to adjust the power level. Using a light meter is pretty much standard for this type of set-up.

I probably would have responded with something along the lines of "Nice attitude, biotch." and walked off myself. Insulting someone's intelligence like she did isn't cool, especially in a business that depends on networking and customer service. Why do so many photographers act like they're a member of some special priesthood that can't be seen mixing with the commoners? People ask me technical questions all the time and I really do know they won't understand the answer, but I at least try to respond with a few simple words.

JeffreyG wrote in post #12661761
She was busy, your thinking that she would be impressed that you can afford a 5D and 70-200 is juvenile. There are plenty of well heeled and clueless photographers out there that she will doubless not be impressed by one more. Do yout think owning that gear makes you better than her?

What she was doing was using her flashes remotely and manually. She sets the flashes to fire full power and controls the resulting exposure by changing the aperture of the camera. This is quick and easy and allows her to set the flashes once and control the light levels from the camera instead of having to walk back over to each flash to adjust the power level.

She had no flash or strobes, just a nikon d40 and a light meter.

shayneyasinski wrote in post #12661779
She had no flash or strobes, just a nikon d40 and a light meter.

Might be this then...

MattPharmD wrote in post #12661254
Also, "old habits die hard."

shayneyasinski wrote in post #12661779
She had no flash or strobes, just a nikon d40 and a light meter.

Then she was just measuring the correct exposure at the locations she expected to shoot. I have an incident light meter too, and it is certainly a better choice than the camera's reflective meter.

Usually you don't need to measure a bunch of different spots in one room, but perhaps this room was not lit very evenly.