How to Use a Light Meter in Photography

For many years, there’s a chunk of drugs that I’ve all the time had in my digicam bag. This may be a handheld mild meter. I really feel I’m within the minority nowadays by nonetheless utilizing a handheld mild meter and that’s too dangerous that is so.

Whereas one can definitely shoot utilizing their in-camera meter, there are circumstances the place it’s not your best option and even possible to take action. On this information, we are going to cowl every little thing from what a light-weight meter is to learn how to correctly use one in your images.

Desk of Contents

What’s a Handheld Gentle Meter?

Earlier than I get into the whys of utilizing one, let’s check out what precisely a handheld mild meter is.

A handheld mild meter is a tool that measures mild with a view to decide the right publicity for photographing an object or scene. Gentle meters can be found in a wide range of sizes and shapes (Determine 1) and still have completely different capabilities. By definition, handheld meters will match within the hand very similar to a smartphone, however a few of them, like spot meters, could have a extra pistol-like grip to them.

Most early mild meters required no batteries — as an alternative, they used cells that have been light-sensitive to drive a needle to show the readings. You’ll be able to nonetheless discover the sort of meter right this moment, just like the L-398 from Sekonic for instance. Most trendy mild meters do require batteries and show info by way of digital shows.

Regardless of how the knowledge is displayed, most photographic mild meters will offer you the identical fundamental info. By measuring the obtainable mild, the meter will present the right aperture/f-stop mixture for a given scene.

Now at this level you may assume “My digicam’s built-in meter can inform me that”, and that’s true, however is it going to be probably the most correct and constant? And what about studio flash?

Let’s get into it.

Mirrored vs Incident Metering

Reflective metering is the kind employed by a digicam in addition to many handheld meters. Gentle coming into the lens or meter goal has mirrored off of the topic. Relying in your meter or digicam’s metering settings, this mild is evaluated and a “appropriate” publicity is set.

In cameras, this may be based mostly on judging primarily the middle space of the scene (center-weighted), a small spot within the picture (spot metering), or by evaluating all the scene and developing with an publicity worth. The primary two are fairly self-explanatory, however evaluative metering is extra complicated.

Most trendy cameras can divide a scene up into a number of zones and might examine the outcomes to an inventory of programmed scenes within the digicam processor. Way back to the Eighties, cameras began using multi-zone meters, utilizing as much as generally 5 zones. Present digital cameras can consider a scene utilizing dozens of (or extra) factors to supply what it determines to be the “appropriate” publicity for the scene. I put quotes round appropriate within the earlier language as a result of that may be subjective, and there are two components that have an effect on the studying one will get with reflective metering.

One is that mirrored mild will range in depth based mostly on the topic (Determine 2). As an example, somebody with darkish pores and skin goes to replicate much less mild than an individual that’s fair-skinned. The outcome could be that the digicam meter (or a handheld reflective meter) will over-expose the darkish pores and skin and can underexpose for the sunshine pores and skin.

The second issue is that evaluative, in-camera processing of the sunshine readings is making the most effective guess based mostly on the scene or topic. Collectively this introduces inconsistency, and you may see this when the objects in a scene change place or the sunshine supply (or photographer) strikes and the publicity is affected.

Notice: These components are related whether or not you’re taking pictures in full handbook or automated modes as a result of even in handbook mode, you might be nonetheless making setting adjustments based mostly on info supplied by the in-camera meter.

How constant your wants are will rely on the shoot. For some work, the variances in publicity are completely acceptable. For issues like vogue or product images, the outcomes want a excessive degree of consistency, and that’s the place incident-type metering shines. Many handheld meters have a reflective studying possibility. Within the case of spot meters, they need to learn reflective by the character of their design.

Incident metering works by measuring the sunshine that’s falling on the topic or scene. As an alternative of counting on the reflectance of objects, the measurement is predicated on how a lot mild is falling on the topic or scene, coming from the sunshine supply (or sources). By measuring the quantity of sunshine coming from the supply, the right publicity is now goal as an alternative of subjective like reflective readings.

To take an incident studying, you place the white meter diffuser proper on the topic (Determine 3) and have it pointing in direction of the digicam place. Within the case of metering for flash, it helps to have a distant set off you may have with you so you may fireplace the flash whereas on the topic place with the meter. Assistants are additionally very useful for this.

Let’s say, for instance, you must shoot headshots for twenty individuals and there’s a wide range of mild and darkish pores and skin tones inside this group of individuals. Metering based mostly on reflective measurements will lead to diversified “appropriate” publicity values (Determine 4). Then you definitely’ll both want to regulate as you shoot or repair them in put up after the very fact to get all the pictures persistently uncovered.

Through the use of an incident studying, you’ll know precisely how a lot mild is coming out of your mild supply. Through the use of this publicity worth for all of the headshots, everybody shall be correctly uncovered even when the themes have extensive variations in pores and skin tones from one another (Determine 5). The identical applies to any scenario the place you might be utilizing lights which are set to a set output and the topic is positioned the identical distance from the sunshine supply from shot to shot. This can make your life a lot simpler and might save numerous time in put up.

It’s not simply the topic that advantages from utilizing a meter. In case you are needing to have your background lit evenly, you need to use a meter to take readings from numerous spots on the background. This can present you areas which may be lighter or darker than others, after which you may regulate your lighting accordingly.

Easy methods to Use an Reflective Gentle Meter

Utilizing a reflective mild meter is extra acquainted to photographers as that is the precept utilized by the sunshine meters constructed into cameras.

1. Select Your Digicam Settings. First, set your digicam to handbook mode and select your required ISO (and aperture or shutter velocity if you want to manage both of these).
2. Match the Settings on the Meter. Set your mild meter to the identical setting(s) as your digicam.
3. Take One or Extra Gentle Readings. Maintain the spot meter viewfinder as much as your eye and use the indicator on the middle of the body to decide on the place to take a measurement within the scene. Use the metering button to take a studying. Whilst you can base your publicity on a single spot studying, you’ll sometimes need to do a number of readings on an important areas of the scene (e.g. the darkest shadows, the brightest highlights, and the important thing midtones), save them within the meter’s reminiscence, after which have the meter calculate the common for the ultimate publicity worth.
4. Use the Calculated Settings. The sunshine meter will return an optimum aperture and/or shutter velocity calculated via doing the sunshine studying. Set your digicam to those settings.

Easy methods to Use an Incident Gentle Meter

Listed here are the essential steps to utilizing an incident mild meter to determine the shutter velocity it is best to use.

1. Select Your Digicam Settings. First, set your digicam to handbook mode and select your required ISO (and aperture or shutter velocity if you want to manage both of these).
2. Match the Settings on the Meter. Set your mild meter to the identical setting(s) as your digicam.
3. Get the Meter Prepared for a Studying. It’s possible you’ll must “activate” your mild meter to get it able to make a light-weight studying. For instance, you might must twist the knob across the white dome (referred to as the lumisphere) of the meter.
4. Set the Right Mode. As most mild meters may have one mode for studying ambient mild and one other for metering flash, it would be best to be certain your meter is about to the right mode.
5. Take a Gentle Studying. Subsequent, maintain the meter in entrance of the topic and with the lumisphere going through the digicam. Press the metering button to take a measurement of the ambient mild. In case you are metering for a flash, set off the flash whereas the meter is taking the studying.
6. Use the Calculated Settings. The sunshine meter will return an optimum aperture and/or shutter velocity calculated via doing the sunshine studying. Set your digicam to those settings.

Metering Flash

Among the finest circumstances for having a handheld meter is for utilizing studio flash. When utilizing handbook studio flash, your in-camera meter is just not solely ineffective, it may well really be deceptive. For the reason that digicam meter has no thought how a lot mild shall be current when the flash fires, utilizing settings based mostly on solely the ambient mild will undoubtedly lead to very overexposed photographs (Determine 6). Whereas many readers may know it is a given, I’ve seen different photographers battle with this challenge so much through the years.

This case is the explanation I first determined I wanted a handheld meter again within the late Eighties. Particularly, I wanted one that would learn flash to be used with studio strobes. And not using a meter, I’d be compelled to guess the right f-stop when utilizing my studio lights.

Whilst you can experiment and discover the right publicity on a digital digicam right this moment by reviewing your take a look at pictures, that was not an possibility utilizing movie. Even with cameras that would use Polaroids for testing, it usually value about $1.00 per shot for the movie, so not a really low-cost or efficient method of figuring out publicity.

Even right this moment, with the power to immediately overview your take a look at pictures, it is smart to have an correct start line. More often than not, your meter’s studying shall be all you want, however in fact, you may nonetheless need to make publicity changes to suit your imaginative and prescient. Having a very good start line nonetheless saves time and when on a working set, time is cash.

Some flash meters may show the distinction between flash publicity and ambient mild. The Sekonic L-478D-U as an illustration will show a share of flash to ambient mild (Determine 8) which could be very helpful for daylight fill conditions. It can be helpful for figuring out how lengthy to pull the shutter with a view to steadiness low-intensity indoor lighting with flash publicity.

Many cameras can be utilized with flashes that measure by way of TTL that may permit you to regulate this steadiness as effectively, however the nature of TTL signifies that any adjustments to the scene or topic placement might change the ultimate publicity. Utilizing a meter can present a “supply of reality” that can be utilized to get the right publicity.

Gentle Meter Equipment

Whereas most handheld incident meters come normal with a hemispherical diffuser over the sunshine sensor, in some circumstances the producer gives different choices relying on the mannequin of meter. Some meters have interchangeable diffusers whereas others permit for all the higher part (generally known as the pinnacle) to be eliminated and changed and even placed on an extension cable.

I’m not going to enter all of the obtainable choices as that might be a complete article itself, however I do need to level out one possibility I really feel may be very helpful. Accessible for a lot of meters is a “lumidisc” that replaces the domed diffuser. These are used to measure mild on a flat aircraft and are sometimes included with many, however not all, handheld meters.

For portrait images, the flat diffuser is helpful for checking the sunshine on either side of the face individually. Whilst you can take these measurements with a dome diffuser, the flat diffuser disc is extra directional and higher fitted to the sort of measurement (Determine 9a). Some meters have a retractable dome that may recess into the metering head. This produces related outcomes to the flat diffuser with out having to take away something.

Is Utilizing an Incident Meter At all times Finest?

The quick reply is “No”. For studio work, I stand quick on the concept a handheld incident meter is finest, and that applies to each flash and fixed lights. I really feel the identical method about conditions the place I can get into place the place the topic shall be and measure the sunshine on the level. Taking pictures obtainable mild portraits indoors on location, movie manufacturing stills, and different indoor occasions the place the lighting must be constant are occasions when getting a studying from the topic location is perhaps doable.

Whereas I discover utilizing my handheld incident meter to be the best choice for lots of the sorts of images I shoot, there are many conditions the place one isn’t needed and even possible to make use of. Panorama images is an ideal instance of the place it isn’t sensible. Generally, the topic (scene) may be very distant. In circumstances like this, a spot meter or in-camera meter is smart and are actually the one choices.

Remember there are some methods to measure mirrored flash with some meters. This consists of sure spot meters in addition to different flash meters that may use reflective attachments. Whereas I don’t see many conditions the place this could supply a bonus, I’d be remiss if I didn’t level out these choices exist.

Different Handheld Meters

The above describes the fundamentals of utilizing a handheld meter for nonetheless images. There are additionally meters designed for studying shade temperature (Colour Meters) and there are additionally meters designed particularly for video and cinema use. Many photographic meters supply a point of metering settings for video/movie use. Nonetheless, devoted ones will supply a wider vary of settings and studying sorts wanted for movement picture seize.

There are additionally industrial mild meters used for environmental companies that may measure mild in a number of methods for checking on work setting settings, signage, and a variety of different makes use of. Gossen specifically affords all kinds of sunshine measuring units for images and industrial use.

Conclusion

Whereas one can definitely achieve success of their images work with out ever utilizing a handheld meter, they’re very helpful instruments. They will prevent time in getting your lighting set accurately, which leaves you extra time to focus on the topic and composition.

Handheld meters may assist establish problematic gear. I found one in all my studio strobes was placing out inconsistent quantities of sunshine at decrease settings by testing it with my meter. This helped me kind out why my headshot periods have been giving me barely brighter and darker photographs regardless that the sunshine was set manually.

There are a number of producers making handheld incident/mirrored meters, with pricing beginning across the $130 mark for a fundamental one. If funds is a priority there’s a extensive collection of used meters on the market and sometimes if they’re in fine condition, they need to nonetheless be correct and dependable. Simply take a look at them while you get them after which get out and shoot!

Picture credit: Header photograph from Depositphotos