LIGHT AND DARK

 

LIGHT AND DARK

We have yet to devise and kind of technology that can

perform the type of sophisticated color adaptation that your

eyes pull off.

Think about how fast your eyes focus on something near

or far away.

Now think about how long it can take for your camera to

focus on an object near or far away.

BIG DIFFERENCE

LIGHT AND DARK

Understanding the difference

between what your eyes can see and

what your camera can capture, is an

essential step for taking better

pictures.

LIGHT AND DARK

Most significant difference is the range of

brightness that your eye can perceive.

Your eye does this by opening and closing it’s iris,

or pupil to limit the amount of light that strikes the

retina.

DYNAMIC RANGE

DEFENITION: The measure of the darkest to

lightest tones that can be captured by a device.

Your eye can see dark moonless nights, to harsh

glaring suns.

If you put it into a ratio, the brightest thing you

can perceive is about a BILLION times brighter than

the darkest thing.

MEASURING LIGHT

Different ways to measure light.

Every time an amount of light in a scene doubles,

photographers say that the scene has brightened by one

stop, or f-stop.

If you cut the amount of light in the scene in half, it has

darkened by one f-stop.

EVERY DOUBLING OR HALVING OF LIGHT IS

MEASURED AS ONE STOP.

F - STOP

The human eye can perceive a total dynamic range

of about 30 stops.

While looking at a single scene, the eye can

discern a dynamic range of about 15 f stops, the

darkest thing and the brightest thing can be about

15 f stops apart.

A camera has a range of 10 – 12 f stops, you

expect to capture a range of 5 – 9 f stops.