Term 1 - Weekend Stills Exercise

Briefing:

The weekend stills exercise will give you the opportunity to put exposure theory into practice. This
will be your first working session as a unit this term, an important aspect of the exercise. Working
as a team is a very important part of the learning curve so it is essential that each unit member
participates fully.

The Photographic Guidance below outlines the requirements, and the Shot List details the 23
exposures you will be asked to make. You may also add test shots related to your film if you
have the time to do so however these can only be discussed in the Stills Analysis if time
permits.

The purpose of this exercise is to:

A. Create photographic images in available light

B. Practice the use of the light meter and setting exposure

If you are unsure about any of the terminology used in this document please take a moment to
look it up online, ask fellow students and/or a member of staff. It is very important that these
tests are conducted in a controlled and logical manner, that you use the light meter provided to
guide your exposure and that you keep a detailed record of EVERYTHING you do in order to aid
the analysis later on.
Stills Photographic Guidance:

COMPOSITION
• All stills must be framed for landscape [horizontal] format
• Pay attention to the direction of light in your compositions
• Use frame devices: for example, a bench to sit on, a tree, doorway etc.
• Find a frame: look and see what is in it
• Use depth of the frame: foreground, middle ground, background
• Set an eye line for the actor [not to camera]
• Choose appropriate head room for shot size
• If necessary, change it to make it work!
• While photographing you are expected to use the greyscale [when requested] to indicate
mid-tones
• Keep accurate records of what you do, on the mag card: Lens, T-stop, filter and focus
• In the analysis, discuss your compositions, exposure and contrast ratios and exposing for
grayscale

EXPOSURE
• Read the light values for each area with the incident light meter
• Take general readings with the cone forward
• Find where to place your greyscale exposure for a 'correct' exposure
• Remember: to obtain 'correct' exposure, the 18% grayscale is exposed at the same stop you
have decided to place on the lens and therefore appears the same tone

QUALITY
• Look at the quality [hard or soft] and how it fall on the subject

CONTRAST RANGE
• The contrast is the difference between the brightest [lit] and darkest [shadow] areas [e.g. f8
to f2 = 4 stops]
• As a guide [or rule of thumb] 3 stops brighter [over] will begin to burn out and 4 stops darker
[under] will go to black
• The creative use of contrast is covered in more detail in Term 2

USE OF REFLECTOR
• As you will see by eye, contrast will differ between hard light and soft light situations
• Use your reflector to control the contrast by eye
Stills equipment and specifications
CAMERA AND SETTINGS

 You are required to use a digital SLR stills camera on a tripod

 The school's camera and/or tripod is available
 You can use your own camera, but you must be able to set the aperture of the lens manually
[M]

FILES

 The ‘quality’ level in the camera menu should be set to ‘high quality JPEG’ or equivalent
 It must not be set to ‘RAW’
 The camera ISO setting should normally be set at ISO 200
 The ISO setting on the lightmeter must be the same as on the camera

LIGHTMETER SETTINGS

 ISO 200
 25fps
 Lock [press 'Mode' + 'ISO 1']

CAMERA SETTINGS

 ISO 200
 1/50th sec if not available use a 1/60th
 JPEG HQ or equivalent, not TIFF or RAW
 BW or monochrome

COLOUR TEMPERATURE [WB OR K]

 The camera’s white balance must be set to daylight [sun often indicates the setting]
 If there is a ‘fine tuning’ control it should be set to ‘0’
 If your camera allows you to set the white balance according to a Kelvin colour temperature, set
it at 5600K

PICTURE

 All stills must be framed for landscape [horizontal] format

MAG CARDS

 Each shot must have a visual ID corresponding to its shot number on the shot list
Please note: it is not necessary to shoot in the order listed
 Use your mag cards to keep careful notes of following information
 T-stop - aperture
 Filtration
 Contrast ratio when and if applicable [key: to fill and key: to main background]
 Direction and quality of light
 Mag cards for film shoots - you can adapt for stills exercise

Shot List:

Every shot must contain an ‘Ident ’- a sheet of paper with the following information clearly visible:
ISO, lens focal length (e.g. 50mm), f-stop as measured on the light meter, f-stop on the lens, filter
if any, Shot # as per the Shot list below.

DAY EXTERIOR: GREYSCALE Alongside SUBJECT

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these five shots:

1. Mid-shot with subject front lit, holding greyscale, at correct exposure

2. Same Frame as shot 1, but now deliberately set the aperture to overexpose by +1 stop
3. Same Frame as shot 1, but now deliberately set the aperture to overexpose by +2 stops
4. Same Frame as shot 1, but now deliberately set the aperture to underexpose by -1 stop
5. Same Frame as shot 1, but now deliberately set the aperture to underexpose by -2 stops

DAY EXTERIOR: TWO SUBJECTS IN DIFFERENT LIGHTING CONDITIONS

• The Subjects and the photographer should remain the same for these two shots:
• Find a location that has a darker background, try to aim for a 2 stop difference
• Take a note of the exposure readings in both the foreground and background

6. Day exterior wider mid-shot with subject front lit holding greyscale at correct exposure and
2nd person in the background in a darker area
7. Same frame as shot 6 but person in background holds greyscale, now adjust your aperture
appropriately for correct exposure on background person

NO GREYSCALE AND WITH ATTENTION TO COMPOSITION

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these three shots:

8. Day exterior mid shot with subject front lit and correct exposure
9. Day exterior mid shot with subject side lit and correct key-light exposure
10. Day exterior with subject against light [i.e., backlit] with no sky and with correct exposure for
skin-tone [face]

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these two shots:

11. Day exterior with subject against sky, no fill - incident meter reading for skin-tone [face]
12. Same frame as Shot 11, fill with reflector, incident meter reading for skin-tone [face]

LANDSCAPE WITH ATTENTION TO COMPOSITION

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these three shots

13. Day exterior landscape shot, including trees, bushes, grass, etc. Medium close-up of person
on one side of frame and not backlit. NB: Use a medium focal length lens e.g. 50mm
14. Same frame as Shot 13, but now add the ND3 filter. NB: compensate for filter factor
15. Same frame as Shot 13, but now add the ND6 filter. NB: compensate for filter factor

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these two shots
• Find a location that has a reflection, i.e., a window, glasses, car windscreen

16. Day exterior medium close up, light direction your choice, no filter
17. Same frame as Shot 16, but now try the Pola Filter to bring in or lose the reflection NB:
compensate for filter factor

DAY INTERIOR: SUBJECT SIDE LIT TO ALTER CONTRAST

• The Subject and the photographer should remain the same for these three shots

18. Subject [person] side lit by window or with light falling on one side of face, no fill or
additional light
19. Same frame, now use the reflector to achieve a 1-stop difference between key and fill
20. Same frame, now use the reflector to achieve a 2-stop difference between key and fill

FREESTYLE - YOUR CHOICE: (Any Subject and Photographer)

21. You may shoot three shots which work on the creative sense of light and composition.
22. This could be portraiture or figure in a landscape or architectural structure.
23. Be bold with your choice of Lens and Framing and please make sure to note the lens used
along with the exposure in the key areas of your frames.
FILTERS

Neutral Density: ND3 (0.3) - ND6 (0.6) - ND9 (0.9)

Polarizer

SIZE: 3"x 3"

FILTER TRAY OF MATTE BOX

1. Filters should be as close to the lens as possible

2. Care [in particular on wider angle lenses] should be taken to ensure the edges of the
filter cover the 4:3 aspect ratio
3. Care should be taken that light cannot leak through behind the filter

FILTER FACTOR

1. Each one of your camera filters is manufactured to absorb a specific, regulated

amount of light
2. The amount of light absorbed, known as the "filter factor", must be taken into
account when calculating the exposure, or aperture setting, on the lens
3. Any combination of filters can be used - just add the filter factors together
4. The table below gives the filter factor, expressed in f-stops, for your camera filters

NEUTRAL DENSITY

1. The density of 0.3 halves the amount of light entering the lens
2. Therefore ‘open up’ one-stop for every 0.3 of density you add in front of the lens

ND3 1 stop
ND6 2 stops
ND9 3 stops
POLARIZER
Polarizer 2 stops

1. A polarizer can simply be used in place of an ND6 and/or in conjunction with another
ND
2. As a polarizer it can be used to darken blue skies or to reduce unwanted glare or
reflections
3. In order to achieve these effects the filter most be rotated to its optimum position
(judged by eye).
4. The effect is visible by eye
5. If the subject, the direction of light and/or the camera move in relation to each
other, this will alter the effect. For example, panning across the sky or a moving car
6. Polarising filters
OPTICAL FLAT

1. This is a clear glass filter

2. It can be used to protect the lens [from water, oil, etc]
3. Add Vaseline for a visual effect

Analysis Preparation:
Once you have completed your shoot and any additional exposures you wish to make please be
sure to consult the Moodle page ‘Analysis Preparation’ which details how your stills ‘rushes’
should be uploaded to the school’s servers for analysis.