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This video is from the online course “Master Manual Metering for Film Photography.” It’s one of 50 video lessons on the course comprising over 7 hours of instruction on light metering for analog photography.

You’re watching: “Video 6.4 - Compensating for Bellows Extension”

Shooting large format film is unlike anything else. It’s methodical, it’s slow, it’s tangible, and if you ask me, it’s a hell of a good time. But anyone who’s ventured into the world of 4x5 or 8x10 photography knows that the opportunity for mistakes is boundless. There’s a lot that can go wrong.

One of the things that’s easy to overlook is the effect that bellows extension has on your metering.

When focusing on closer-than-infinity distances on a large format camera, you’ll have to extend the bellows to get the lens to focus properly on the ground glass. By pulling the lens further from the film standard, you can obtain a sharp image on a subject that’s perhaps only a few feet away. But you’ll also dim the light coming from that lens.

Due to the inverse square law, light gets dimmer as it traverses a greater distance. Your camera is not immune to this law, which is why extending the bellows to achieve closer focus will cause the image on your ground glass to dim. And because of this, exposure must be added to your metered settings in order to maintain proper brightness.

In this video I’ll cover how to factor in bellows extension to your metering process. This video is part of a larger course covering my techniques for light metering with analog film and, particularly, a metering process I call “The Precision Method” for manual metering. If you’d like to learn more about this course, you can use the link at top to review the course outline and read testimonials from previous students.

If you don’t think the course would be a good fit for you, but you feel you’ve benefited from this video, please consider making a small contribution to help keep these kinds of videos coming: https://www.nickcarverphoto.com/contr...

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