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I heard about a photography rule called ‘Sunny f16′. It has something to do with light. What exactly is it? - Jenny, Seoul

The sunny f16 rule is a very useful guide for photographers. It’s useful because it can help you shoot without the assistance of light meters. All modern cameras have a light meter. The function of the light meter is to measure the ambient light that enters your camera. Using that light, the camera guesses the desired settings for your photo.

The light meter inside a camera isn’t perfect though. They can make mistakes when gauging the ambient light. Professional photographers and studio photographers also use hand held light meters, which are bigger and more accurate. Light meters are indispensable these days and most photographers can’t shoot without them. All ‘point and shoot’ cameras rely heavily on the light meter, because there’s no way to set the camera manually.

So, what do you do if you want to shoot without a light meter? Many older cameras don’t have light meters. Or, if the light meter is broken, then the camera is un-usable. Not exactly …

This is where sunny f16 comes in. Sunny f16 is a general guide for shooting conditions without a light meter. You can use the guide to develop good estimates for light conditions when you shoot. To set your camera using sunny f16, you need to know 3 things:

1. Your camera’s ISO (or ASA for film cameras)
2. Shutter speed
3. Aperture

Sunny f16 is an aperture of f16 with a shutter speed that is the same, or slightly higher, than your ISO. For example, if your camera’s ISO (or film ASA) is set to 200, then your shutter speed should be 1/200 or 1/250. If your ISO is 800, then your shutter speed should be 1/800 or slightly higher.

On a bright sunny day, using a low ISO combined with sunny f16 will produce very good results. There are also some useful variations on sunny f16. Try using:

f11 for slightly overcast conditions.
f8 for moderately overcast conditions.
f5.6 for heavily overcast conditions.
f4 for sunrise and sunset (or in low ambient light).

All of those aperture settings work when the ISO and shutter speed are set to the same number.

The sunny f16 rule also has a few extra advantages. Most lenses have a ’sweet spot’ between f8 and f16 where the colour and sharpness of the lens is at its best. Most lenses, even expensive ones, tend to be softer at extreme apertures.

Sunny f16 is also useful if the shooting conditions are fooling your camera’s light meter. If there’s light bouncing off glass, lots of snow, or you’re on the water, the camera will think it’s too bright and overcompensate. You can learn when the camera’s light meter has been fooled and apply sunny f16 to get a better shot.

Finally, using an aperture of f16 will give your shots a nice depth of field, which is perfect for landscape photography or shots where you want as much in focus as possible.

So get out there and learn to estimate the light settings without relying on your camera. It’ll make you a much better photographer.

Happy Shooting!

Send David a message at davidsmeaton [at] gmail [dot] com or visit his website at www.davidsmeaton.com. If you want to be a part of the weekly Photo Challenge, join the “Seoul Photo Club” group at flickr (flickr.com/groups/seoulphotoclub).

i’m not sure where exactly this is (the source didn’t reveal the location or author) but i’m sure it’s somewhere in the far north or far south … where the sun doesn’t set. this is a 12 hour time lapse photograph of the sun moving across the horizon. it’s pretty damn impressive.