Brain meter

Ange f/11 @ 1/100 sec iso 125

That exposure is my anchor point for the lights Ange is in. bright shade, no shadows, just one stop down from Sunny sixteen. I don't normally go beyond F/11 (diffraction). Had it been a stop brighter I'd have just used an exposure of f/11 @ 1/250 of sec which is my anchor point for bright sunshine (harsh shadows)

The real beauty is that there is only 5 stops between any situation you'll find out in the daytime. You don't need spot metering, evaluative metering or any other kind of metering. Your peepers are incident light meters which are far superior than a cameras reflective metering. Your experience of shooting in that light and your inbuilt light meter is far more reliable than any camera you'll ever own

Next time you're out in bright sunlight set you camera to f/16 @ 1/100 sec iso 100 and you'll have nailed the exposure. That's your anchor for that light. You can than change it to f/11 @ 1/250th f/8 @ 1/500th f/5.6 at 1/1000 sec and on and on. It's it's the same exposure for the same scene you just control how you get there based on what you need.

Bright midday sun to the darkest shade is just 5 stops. F/16 to f/4 @ 1/100 sec iso 100, covers everything that daylight's going to throw at you.

Just 5 stops... aint that a comfort?


A must read even for us city dwellers