16 | The Golden Rule

Inspired again by my friend and teacher, Bryan Peterson; his new Book on Street Photography is fantastic.

I have learnt so much from studying his Books. My biggest learning has been understanding the full range of creative exposure.

What was once a complex issue, has now become as effortless as performing sleight of hand.

In his new Book, he talks about The Sunny 16 Rule🌞.

I have heard of this Rule and understood the significance of it, but never tried it.

Well, London right now is ablaze with beautiful sunshine.

I have been out practicing.

Oh my goodness, it works perfectly.

Front and Side Lit subjects will now be prime moments for F16 @1/200ss ISO200 on bright Sunny Days with no Clouds.

I have been thinking why I never tried this before?

Well, Sunny Days in London can be a special treat right now - not the norm. Also, I normaly shoot at F22 when doing storytelling compositions. It never occurred to me to use F16 with say a 50mm or at 70mm.

The image above was created on my D700 using the Nikkor 28-70mm.

Look at this image.

This was created at 28mm, F16, 1/250 at ISO 250

You can see the relationship between the Shutter Speed and ISO - they match each other. When I set the exposure for the image above I set 3rd of a stop under expose. On the D700, I like this, it gives nice contrast. I set the ISO to match and created the image.

Perfect exposure.

This technique is a very important addition to my creative exposure tool box.

Thanks for reading. 🌞