A light meter. An 18 percent gray card and why middle gray is important?

In this blog I am taking a quick trip back to 1975, the year I first attended the Nikon traveling School of Photography. A time in the early days of my photographic journey when the use and importance of the 18% gray card was first brought to my attention. Not only the gray card itself but real life practical examples of using the camera's light meter. The importance of middle gray and learning to pre-visualize the scene you want to capture on film. A lesson that was paramount to me and my fellow students of the day. An understanding that opened up a whole new vision of what a light meter does and how to use it. A lesson that has stayed with me all these years and I still use today, especially that I am now shooting film again and using a fully manual camera with a basic thru the lens light meter and or small hand held meter.  Two types of light meters which both lack the advance technologies of the more modern multi pattern metering systems that started to show up in a lot of film cameras by the mid 80's that carried on into the digital camera revolution. Therefore it may require one to revisit or get a better undersatnding of what a light meter is actually calibrated to measure and how to use it when taking a reading of any given scene.

For myself the gray card and understanding the importance of middle gray has always been a key component in obtaining a proper exposure. As more and more people start experimenting with film photography for the first time or are retuning after a long hiatus, and are attracted to all the wonderful 35mm and 120 film cameras from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Cameras types and styles that in most cases incorporate a very basic light meter at best or require the use of a handheld meter, which in either case makes understanding or re-aquainting oneself with middle gray is a huge help.

You may be taking photos exclusively with a phone to this point and have just recently decide to jump into using a film camera for the first time or you have been using a digital camera and have never ventured from the auto or program modes. As for myself and many photographers that started before the advance of modern multi pattern metering technologies, which are now commonplace, we all had to start by learning some kind of foundation to properly expose our film and understanding middle gray is a solid place to start.

Below is a link to my latest video in which I explain the practical use of a gray card and how it affects a light meter as well as the importance of pre-visualizing how middle gray will affect the outcome of the final scene. At the same time I am finaly getting a chance to check out Kentmere 200 black and white film. So if you would like more information about why middle gray is important and see some of my result shooting Kentmere 200, please click on the link below and once again thanks for viewing my blog (-: 

The basics of middle gray and exposure.