What should MARKER read on your darkest darks?

[astrozombie]

Don't have a light meter or the knowledge to use one yet, and wondering about how to use the MARKER function to check how dark my darks are . I get the idea of how to use the 80 percent zebras the get faces properly exposed (and 100 zebras to avoid clipping), but how low should my darks get in a low key scene? Someone mentioned that 20-30 is a noisy area and should be avoided, but if I want a 4:1 or thereabouts contrast ratio does that mean if faces exposed at around 70-80 my shadows would be around 20 (one quarter of 80)? Where should most of the image be, in a dark scene?

Thanks in advance- I owe you all sandwiches.

 

[starcentral]

I recommend lighting between 15-20 for dark areas, 60-70 for skin/face, and 95-100 for clipping light sources. Of course this is subject to personal preference and what not, but this should give you some idea.

What do I mean by clipping light sources? Remember that some light is okay to clip, for example if in fact it's an actual light source like a light bulb for example. Also, if you're shooting indoors some people purposely clip the outdoor view through a window to create some separation and also not to distract the viewer. In photography usually we see the opposite sometimes where there is a subject in front of a window and we also expose what we see outside of the window - maybe a beautiful garden. My point is that clipping is okay, so long as it makes sense to what you are shooting.

The biggest mistakes I've made in the past and what you should try and avoid is not exposing the face properly. Most viewers can forgive a blown out background, or grainy blacks but having a blown out face because you were trying to expose for the background too is not a good idea. You will need to deal with the difference in background exposure and your subject one way or another, is this is why so much time (and lots of money) goes into setting up and lighting a scene.

As for a light meter, I have one and it can be good for checking your ratios when setting up your lights, but once that is done for overall image exposure being recorded, it's best to go by your marker, zebra stripes, or waveform monitor if you have one. You need to learn to get comfortable with making decisions based on what your equipment tells you. Sometimes the pressure on a set or during a shoot will make you want to just shoot and "fix it later" despite what your equipment tells you, but that can have real disappointing results later... do it right the first time! Just go practice.

I want pickles in my sandwich please.