Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> back in the days of film I used to get the exposure right first
time, nine 
> times out of ten (often using a grey card).
> 
> Now, with digital, I must confess to having become rather sloppy. I
always end 
> up with the right exposure, but often after a test shot or two.

You can use a standard gray card and a reflected-light meter to
measure the average light intensity at your card, without regard to
the range of brightness in the subject lighted by (what you hope is)
the same light source.  You could instead use an incident-light meter
in place of the card, for equivalent results.

Or, you can use a digital camera to show you the actual light
intensity across your entire field of view.  That's the result of
taking "a test shot or two."  This way, you see any saturation in
bright areas or spots, or in dark areas or spots, even if they are so
small that they have little effect on the average exposure.

The gray card is a blunt instrument compared to the digital camera. 
You can consider the digital camera to be a comprehensive light meter
that also records photographs.

Dick Rawson