One of the very special places to visit in New Zealand is Rotorua, an active geothermal area full of amazing geysers. I took this picture just after I purchased my first medium format Mamiya camera -- an RB 67 -- in 1981. I used Ektachrome 64 film at the time. This was before Fuji came out with slide film with such great colors. The camera didn’t have a built in meter, so I had to determine the exposure the old fashioned way . . . by knowing how to read light with my brain. I learned how to do that from the first editor of Petersen’s Photographic Magazine, Paul Farber. Using the “Sunny f/16 Rule” as the basis for daylight exposures, I attuned my eyes to be able to assess light within 1/2 f/stop without a meter. This rule was first devised by Kodak, I believe, and it says that on a bright sunny day, the shutter speed to produce a correct exposure at f/16 is the reciprocal of the ISO. So, if the ISO (ASA back then) is 100, then the shutter speed should be 1/100th of a second, and along with f/16 and front lighting by direct sunlight, the exposure will be correct.
0 Comments