![]() ![]() A fairly small aperture is also used (f/10-16 usually) to achieve a large depth of field within the scene. If trying for specific effects like the classic “dreamy water” look popular in waterfall photography, this is a fairly precise shutter speed, typically in the 1-second range. Water depth, different plants and whether the water is clear or murky, all can affect the reflected light values. A wet rock reflects light differently than a dry one. With the meter, we are measuring the light falling on the scene, before it has been affected by what is it falling on. Light coming through the tree canopy is falling on the wet rocks and water. It’s a subtle but important difference due to the way light interacts with different materials. The light meter built into your camera is measuring light reflected off your subject, not the light falling on your subject. But in a different and less controlled way. Should I bother if my camera has a light meter? The incident meter is accurately capturing the light in the scene, while the reflective meter is thrown off the reflectivity of the subject. The more the scene diverges from an average of middle gray, the more the calculated exposures will vary between your camera’s meter and the handheld incident meter. Conversely, the sunset scene will appear “washed out,” as the camera will allow in too much light to render as middle gray.īoth of these issues are the result of measuring reflected light from your subject instead of the actual light falling on your scene. With snow, the camera’s reflective meter will likely render an exposure that is too dark, making the snow look grayish or “muddy.” The meter will let in too little light as it assumes the scene should be darkened down to a middle gray average. The snow scene will reflect far more light, the sunset scene far less. Imagine a snow scene or a sunset - scenes with lots of highlights or shadows. Relying on the camera's meter would have produced a washed out shot overexposed by nearly 3 stops. However, most scenes are not perfectly neutral gray in brightness! So, an 18% gray scene will be metered identically by either an incident or a reflective meter. Mathtastic!) Why 18%?ġ8% gray is used as a standard because it is the only brightness where the tone reflects back as much light as it receives. (I know you are thinking, “Why not 50% gray?” Because this is based on an exponential curve, not a straight line. It is the average brightness between the deepest shadow and the brightest light. “18% gray” is exactly halfway between black and white. All the brightness values from black (shadows) through white (highlights) in a scene. Let’s say we remove the color from a scene and look at only the tones. The 18% gray (aka middle or neutral gray) standard is a constant that photographers and camera manufacturers base exposures on. However, in some instances that difference can be drastic, causing you to underexpose or overexpose your photos. Often incident metering will be more accurate than reflected metering, although, truth be told, sometimes the differences are not enough for us to notice. It isn’t being affected by what it is bouncing off of, such as shiny metal which reflects light, or a mossy log that absorbs light. While it may have passed through something like clouds, that effect is uniform across the scene. With incident metering, we measure the light falling on an area. ![]() While some materials will only do one of these, in most cases, there is a combination of all three. The light is absorbed by the surface (absorption), bounces off the surface (reflection) or transmitted through the surface (transmission). When light hits a surface, three things can happen. While they are sophisticated and often fairly accurate, this reflected light can be influenced by the surface material of your subject. They measure the light being reflected off of your subject. The light meter built into cameras that measures this, generally, are of the “reflective” type. How much there is, where it is coming from, its color, etc. Incident metering versus reflective meteringĮxposure in photography is all about light. In this article, I’ll explain the difference between the meter in your camera and a handheld light meter, why I have started using one again and why it should be a part of any photographer’s camera bag. So I did, however, at some point in my photo career the light meter ended up on a shelf instead of a photography backpack. The recommendations that I remember were to buy great lenses, a sturdy tripod and a light meter. Like many people, early in my photography career, I had many questions about what equipment to buy. ![]()
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