I have recentlygot a Canon GL1 and have been trying to shot surfing. Can't figure out the best way of setting the exposure so the whiteness of the waves doesn't send the camerta into 'whiteout' john

-- john mills (johnlaststraw@yahoo.com), February 05, 2001

Answers

A few things I have learned shooting the GL-1. I prefer a full manual setup, but have learned to compromise in A Box mode.

I always use a nuetral density filter AND the ND on the camera. In full sun I throw on the ND .9 and camera ND. It shoots around the 5.6 mark.

The camera ND is not enough alone. In heavy light situation the camera will crunch down to f11, just before closing. If it needs to reduce light further is kicks up the shutter speed, which will give a that strange, high contrast look. Being at f5.6 and 1/60 shutter gives me a lot of range to play with.

The other filter I use is a cirrcular polarizer. It does well to cut down glare on glass, water and bright clouds. That may do the trick for you and your situation.

Make sure to do a manual white balance, and do it often, especially if shooting throughout a whole day. I white balnce every 10 minutes in the morning and evening shots due the dramatic light changes, and skip to every half hour in mid morning, afternoon, and late afternoon. The auto white mode does awful things to the colors at times.

Sorry no specific answers. I would suggest the cirrcualr polarizer to reduce glare as a starting point. Email if you want to rap a bit.

Regards, Michael Rosenberger Arizona Sportsman's Journal Azuho Productions www.azuho.com

-- Michael Rosenberger (michael@azuho.com), February 15, 2001.