Sunny 16 Saves Lives

Well... At least it saved mine several times.

The sunny 16 rule is the go to rule for when you are out and your light meter dies or breaks at one of the most inopportune times. The type of exposure you get from using this method is the same as if you were to use an incident light meter, one that measures the light falling on the subject as opposed to being reflected and bounced off of your subject. If you have a light meter, the incident meter is when you put the white semi-circle attachment over the light sensor.

How does the sunny 16 rule work?

On a completely sunny day, you set your aperture to f/16 and your shutter speed to the same speed as your ISO or the closest speed up. For example, I use ISO 400 film so my camera would be set to f/16 with a 1/500 shutter speed. For ISO 100 you would do f/16 at 1/125 and ISO 200 would be f/16 at 1/250. That's it.

Easy right?

There are some variations of this that you can take advantage of. You can keep the same exposure value but you need to change your aperture because your subject is closer and you need less depth of field. You can do that for example, with ISO 400 instead of f/16 you can do f/11 at 1/1000 shutter speed. You're opening up your aperture one stop while speeding up the shutter by one stop as well to keep the same value as sunny 16. To go one more than that, you can do f/8 with a 1/2000 shutter speed. As long as your camera has the faster shutter speeds, it's all possible.

What if it's not such a sunny day? Well, you can still use the sunny 16 rule with some slight modifications. Is the day just kind of cloudy or is it straight overcast? if its overcast, you would want to keep your shutter speed the same, set to the shutter speed closest to the ISO number, but you would want to open your aperature one or two stops to f/11 or f/8 and shoot away. For sunset, you might want to go three or maybe four stops up to f/5.6 or f/4.

Here are a couple examples of shots I took while using the sunny 16 rule:

For more information on the sunny 16 rule or a very similar looney 11 rule (for taking pictures of the moon)

Wikipedia Page for Sunny 16

Wikipedia Page for Looney 11

Little Devils

Alpine Village January 2012 - Shot with Canon Rebel XT, Canon 50mm f1.8,  Fujicolor Superia 400

I'm not sure what is the point of these guys but they look like they would make some interesting decorations. I wouldn't want to wake up to one of these guys on the table next to my bed though. Talk about Nightmares!!

Walking the Line

Shot with a roll of generic Fujifilm 100 ISO

Today's photo takes us into enemy territory. My cat Kyookii is walking on the edge of the neutral zone while taunting all of the enemy combatants (feral cats). My cat only would patrol the back yard and kept it pretty damn empty of the feral cats during the day. I remember one night leaving the door open and she saw a feral cat coming up close to the door and my cat zoomed off and chased the other one right outta there.

Bit the Dust

I might have posted this shot before, but oh well. I took this picture mid repair. Well, it was more like no repair because I had just found out that the shutter was permanently frozen and wouldn't go anymore. These old Yashica Mat cameras are some of the most inexpensive and easiest cameras to learn with. I love how the viewfinder shows everything flipped backwards.

Around the Bend

San Gabriel River Trail, Azusa January 2012 - Shot with Canon Rebel XT, Canon 50mm f1.8,  Fujicolor Superia 400

These mountain roads are very fun to drive. Just watch your speed around the corners. There are a couple of interesting dams up here as well as the bridge to nowhere.

In Time for the Matinee

Pantages, West Hollywood, January 2012, YashicaMat EM, 80mm f3.5, Fujifilm Neopan ISO 100

Thick as Pea Soup

Down the street from Disneyland, New Years Eve 2011 - Shot with Canon Rebel XT, Canon 50mm f1.8,  Fujicolor Superia 400

Lets go to the Movies

Historic Fox Theater, Downtown Fullerton, January 2012, YashicaMat 124G, 80mm f3.5, Fujifilm Neopan ISO 100

This local theater is in the process of being restored. I shot this around the time construction was underway. Unfortunately, these two murals of iconic movie posters have since been removed. I hope they hire a local artist to recreate them. Such a tragedy.

Get Your Goat On

Mountain Goat Enclosure, LA Zoo Fall 2011. Canon Rebel XT, 50mm f1.8 lens, Ilford HP5+ ISO 400

It feels pretty weird when I look at some of my older pictures, such as this one. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I made this picture. I feel like it was just last fall! Is that what getting older is supposed to feel like?

Now That's a Bridge!

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Dec 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO + yellow Holga Filter

HTC One V Cellphone Camera via Instagram

Today's post is the only digital/analog comparison I've attempted thus far. I wasn't really trying to do it, but I just happened to shoot the same scene with both cameras. While I do like the coloring in the bottom one, I'll only be framing the one on top. It'll be in a REALLY big frame too.

Which one do you like out of the two?

Awards Sold Here!

Dolby Theater (formerly the Kodak Theater), Hollywood, Feb 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

I Found the Real Farmville

Farmland adjecent to Mission Soledad - Soledad, CA, December 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO, Yellow Filter

Mission Soledad is smack dab in the middle of a huge farming area. I took this shot using a yellow filter to darken the sky and to make the clouds stand out a bit. Unfortunately, it looks like my thumb was trying to make itself seen in the bottom right corner. It's not too fun going to a place that has a dirt and rock parking lot just after a good rain. At the entrance there was a big mud pit that looked like I would get stuck unless I sped through it fast. Thankfully, I didn't get stuck.

A Pleasant Afternoon at the Theater

Sebastiani Theater, Sonoma, July 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

This was at the very end of the historic El Camino Real. This was about a block away from the last mission which was off to the left here. I love seeing these old towns that have the look of being around before the 50's. Very cool area to check out if you visit the town.

Gizmo

Gizmo, August 2011 - Pentax K1000 w/ SMC Pentax-m 50mm f1.7, CVS Film - aka Repackaged Kodak 200 ISO

This is a friends dog. His name is Gizmo. The friend doesn't treat him like a dog so he is a bit on the bad mannered side unless I am playing with him. He is very protective and uneasy when the owners are around. I've been bit several times because of bad timing on my behalf. I would love a dog like this for sure.

Waiting....

Norwalk Metrolink Station, Norwalk CA Fall 2011. Pentax K1000, 50mm f1.7 lens, Ilford HP5+ ISO 400

This is one of my favorite looking train stations I've been to yet. Hopefully I will rectify that in a few weeks as I pass through at least 20 more on my trek back east. I took this one for my first photo class while I was waiting for the train to pick me up so I could get home. Unfortunately, I had no idea as to what I liked in an image back then and it lacks strong contrast.

Blurring Your Bridges

El Dorado Nature Trail, Long Beach, Fall 2012, Holga 120N 60mm Plastic Lens, f11, 1/Bulb, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

I think I've posted this one before. This was a happy accident where I forgot to change the setting from Bulb back to the normal shutter speed.. That sounds like a cool photo project to have a series of 12 shots like this.

Let's Get Stone'd

Stone World Bistro, Escondido CA February 2012. Canon Rebel XT, 50mm f1.8 lens, Ilford HP5+ ISO 400

My defacto brochure photo. If you are a fan of Stone Brewing, this place is Mecca! Their restaurant is a bit on the pricey side, but there is a great deal of variety with their taps. This place also doubles as a distributor for many popular beers in So Cal, including Pliney the Elder.

Thunder Rapids

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disneyland 2011 - Shot with Canon Rebel XT, Canon 50mm f1.8,  Fujicolor Superia 400


This area is right underneath one of the big turns. Not too far from the beginning of the ride. This ride is rich in vista points. I'm going to be going back fairly soon so maybe I can showcase other areas.

Boat On

Cabrillo Marina / Hurricane Gulch, San Pedro, July 2012, Lubitel 2, 75mm f4.5, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

I Walk the Path

Yorba Regional Park, Anaheim, August 2012
Holga 120N 60mm Plastic Lens, f8, 1/125, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO

This was the first time I used my Holga. Unfortunately the back plate of it fell off during a hike a couple months ago and has been retired.