Hellp! Just one silly question..Ok

ok....one stupid question!!

Here is my problem as a newbie.
Proper Exposure is very hard and tricky.
If I see an article posted and the photographer states;

Light meter reading:
Main Light: f 8
Background: f 11.5
Back of Head: f 8
Background is 1.5 stops brighter than subject (main light).

My camera is a XT rebel. I could only set for one of the following: f 8, f 11.5, or f 8. Right?

Should I set my camera to f 9.5? :o

I really need your help on this. The background color is WHITE (seamless vinyl) the subject is about 6 to 9 feet away. I want to avoid the wrapping of the light from the background on the subject and vice versa….

Please help me to understand. I promise I would read the book on exposure (which I don’t understand).

Those are reading on the various lights, not the camera exposure.

So this is how I do it.

Guess and check.

With digital, there isnt any loss in popping off a few test shots that may be over or under exposed. By doing this, you eventually get an understanding of your lights, and in turn will eventually be spot on with your guesses.

Sure, learning exposure on everything is nice, but its something thats going to come easier if you practice it, rather than reading about it.

Camera should be set at f/8, same as your main light.

Hahahaha!
Thank you everyone....

Understood!

breathless wrote in post #7552356
Camera should be set at f/8, same as your main light.

That will sometimes work. If you have a separate fill light, you'll want to meter them both.

But a better general guide is to get all of your lights set, then turn them all on and take a reading at the subject position, and set your camera accordingly.

The idea that you set your strobe output to an f-stop was kind of ridiculous to me as well. After all, what do the number of photons have to do with an f-stop? Would it not have been better to have light meters that actually measure the light and tell you the number of lumens or photons?

But that's not the way the it has been historically, so units of f-stop it is. This unit then acts like a secret code word that only guild members can understand. It prevents the riff-raff from taking good photos and keeps the technique only in the hands of specially-trained people.

40Dude6aedyk wrote in post #7554560
The idea that you set your strobe output to an f-stop was kind of ridiculous to me as well.

No. It makes perfect sense.

The photographer knows what ISO (or film speed) he wants to use. He knows what aperture he wants to use. So it makes sense for a meter to measure output in those terms, so he can adjust the light to match his needs.

Exactly. It makes no sense. You made my point perfectly.

Curtis N wrote in post #7554310
That will sometimes work. If you have a separate fill light, you'll want to meter them both.

But a better general guide is to get all of your lights set, then turn them all on and take a reading at the subject position, and set your camera accordingly.

f/8 WILL result in proper exposure in this case, not merely sometimes