Reply To: Shots from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

[cameraclicker]

In any tricky lighting situation like this maybe it’s a good idea to bracket a bit?

Bagga_Txips, unless you are planning on HDR, bracketing is a waste of time.  Frequently the object is to capture the critical moment.  That’s difficult to do if you have to take multiple photos to get exposure correct.  If you are shooting people and employing bracketing, it is a sign you don’t know what you are doing.  With a digital camera, shoot to raw files and you can push exposure 3 or 4 stops either way for most shots, and if you are that far out, you need help!

I don’t think brighter would be better.  I looked at the histogram for Closing Argument and the chrome on his suspenders is clipping.  True, you could brighten the shot half a stop, but I don’t like it as much when it is that bright.  I think the photos work very well as presented.  Remember too, a scene like Scout Stops the Mob takes place in the middle of the night, illuminated by street lamps and a light Atticus strung with a long extension cord with a bulb at the end, hung over the jail’s door so he could read.  There is not a lot of light.   Other scenes are supposed to be indoors, in the late 1930’s, depression era, south.  The interior courthouse lights came on when the sun had gone from all the windows but the trial was continuing.

If I were to take exception to any of the scenes, it would be Atticus Takes Aim.  He shot the rabid dog in the middle of the day, from the middle of the street, but look at the lighting in the scene.  On the other hand, in a small theatre, daytime bright overhead light might be a little much for the audience.  Either way, the photographer has to deal with the lighting provided in a situation like that (I doubt flash would be allowed and if you used flash, it would wash out the dramatic theatre lighting), and I think Andy did an excellent job.