Lesson Info
25. The Bucket Test
Lessons
Buttons, Dials and Switches: What This Course is All About
03:37 2Setting Up Your Camera
05:25 3JPEG or RAW
03:11 4Compression
01:38 5Menu Settings for JPEG Shooting
05:19 6Module 1 Summary
01:42 7Applying White Balance
03:41 8Using White Balance Creatively
01:19Auto White Balance
03:07 10Module 2 Summary
01:31 11Controlling Exposure
01:23 12F Numbers
03:06 13Lens, Aperture, and Shutter Speed
03:32 14Exposure Modes
01:48 15Too Little or Too Much Light
02:34 16Manual Exposure Mode
01:37 17Aperture Priority Exposure Mode
02:23 18Module 3 Summary
01:40 19ISO in Practice
01:16 20ISO and Noise
05:03 21An Acceptable ISO
01:23 22Module 4 Summary
01:29 23Metering Modes
03:06 24The Light Meter
02:11 25The Bucket Test
02:12 26How To Read Tonality
02:32 27Being Creative With Tone
01:14 28Exposure Compensation
01:35 29High Contrast Lighting
03:39 30Histogram
02:06 31Highlights Alert
01:32 32Never Underexpose
04:16 33Digital Exposure Mantra
01:25 34Module 5 Summary
02:57 35Focus Modes
01:23 36Autofocus
02:59 37Point of Focus
02:35 38Depth of Field
02:41 39Hyper-Focal Distance Focusing
02:51 40Focus Tracking
04:19 41Manual Focus
01:57 42Predictive Focus
01:03 43Summary
02:32 44Buying Lenses
05:00 45Summary
01:45 46Quality of Light
01:32 47Direction of Light
01:52 48No Such Thing as Good Light
02:00 49Final Word
02:52 50BONUS - In Conversation with Art Wolfe
07:11 51BONUS - The Source of Creativity
06:34Lesson Info
The Bucket Test
visualize what a camera light meter is doing and how you can get around it. I'm going to use five buckets on my right is a black bucket, and on my left, I have a white bucket in between, like gray, medium gray and dark. Right now, I want you to imagine that each bucket is one stop lighter or darker than the bucket next to it. So, like gray is one stop light of the medium grey on one stop darker than white. Now, for this trick, I'm going to get a white rabbit. Probably not a real white rabbit, because, well, I'm a wildlife photographer and there are ethics involved because the rabbit is white, toe it correctly expose it. You would praise it in the white bucket, but the camera doesn't see. It is white, the camera thinks is mid grey and so puts it into the mid grade bucket instead. Ondas, if by magic turns, are white rabbit gray. Now, to make the rabbit white again, you have to reverse the magic to get from white to mid grey, the camera has under exposed by two stops 12 so you have to do ...
the opposite you set plus two exposure compensation plus one plus two and hey, presto. In our white bucket, we find a white rabbit. Now a similar thing happens with a black rabbit. To correctly expose a black rabbit, you would place it in the black bucket, but again, the camera doesn't see black as black. It sees it doesn't medium grey, and so it puts it into the medium grey bucket on wall are. Once again we get a medium gray rabbit. Turn the rabbit back to black. Once again, you have to reverse the magic they get from black to mid grey, the camera has over exposed by two stops 12 So again, you have to do the opposite. This time you set minus two exposure compensation miners one minus two. And in our black bucket, we find a black rabbit by thinking in these terms, using exposure compensation to tell the camera which bucket the subject should be in is easy to get a technically accurate exposure in any lighting on whatever the subject,
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
mark jacobson
What a marvelous course! What a marvelous teacher! When I went to college, my father would always ask me about my professors, more than the courses themselves. He was passionate about learning and although too busy with earning an income to go beyond an undergrad degree, continued to read 50 books a year. I still remember how he'd get almost visibly excited when I'd tell him about some special professor who taught with such enthusiasm and, more than just passion, evident delight and joy in the subject. 'Ah they're the best, son. How wonderful you have such a teacher." Well, he passed away decades ago but if he were still around I'd get a kick out of telling him about Chris Weston, the 'Prof' of this course. He's one of the very special ones: a teacher who's loved and lived his vocation--his avocation--since he was a boy--and still is as excited about it now as he was then. The result: a course that seems to be more a labor of love--of pouring far more energy and thought into the details then one typically finds in these courses--than anything else. Bravo Chris! I'm already on to your next one.
user-6402bf
Chris is an amazing instructor who dissects theory giving amazing analogies that bring concepts to life. I have rarely been able to sit through most video course for more than a half-hour but watched this one from beginning to end. A good refresher course if you've been away from the camera for awhile or there are some concepts that still illude you. I highly recommend this course and look forward to watching his others. Thank you for the clarity and great explanations.
Sky Bergman
This was an amazing class. I have looked at a number of basic photography classes. This one was by far the best I have seen. Chris is an exceptional teacher. He breaks things down into digestible information and then inspires you to be creative. Thank you!