[5-31] "Super bright day light"

Earlier this week, I was on top of a large building in Las Vegas. It was as sunny as probably any other sunny of the summer.

I decided to calculate the exposure value (the intensity of light), right here, where the light was at its brightness, completely unobstructed by clouds.

To get a decent exposure, the numbers reveal:

f/2.8
1/3200
ISO 100

EV => 18

This is quite bright. But this is a great place because this is a natural maximum, the brightest we can expect from sun light.

Equivalences @ ISO100:
f/4 + 1/1600
f/5.6 + 1/800
f/8 + 1/400
f/11 + 1/200
f/16 + 1/100

Even at f16, the shutter will produce a very still image (1/100). And this is the slowest film sensitivity too. Bright condition likes this force photographers in the past to use slower films and purchase cameras with faster shutter speeds.

Compare this to dusk, an EV of 6.5.

2^(16-6.5) = 2^9.5 (~724 times brighter in the day than at dusk, same spot)

The camera can adjust aperture, shutter speed, and sensitivity to match such a wide range of ambient conditions.