Making Sense of Manual Exposure - Chapter 2

Metering - Part 1

Every photograph starts with a decision about how much light to let reach the sensor. Metering is the process of measuring the light and using that measurement to make a decision as to what is “correct” exposure. Metering can take many forms. It can be the light meter inside your camera, it can be an external light meter, and you can even use test photos to “meter” the light.

Most photos are made using the internal light meter in your camera. With a variety of settings, the camera looks through the lens, decides how much light is coming from the scene, and gives you a reading to help you set the proper mix of aperture and shutter speed.

The challenge is how to interpret this reading in a way that gives you the best exposure. The approach is designed to make sure something is captured, but that does not always give you the results you want. Using a light meter to make very accurate measurements takes some work, knowledge, and strategies.

The goal is to let as much light as possible reach the sensor, but not too much. The more light that reaches your sensor, the better the detail will be in the shadows, the more shades of color and luminosity you’ll have to work with, and the better your chances of making the final photo look the way you want.

Simply put, the quality of your picture is improved when you let in as much light as possible, and is improved more when you use the lowest ISO you can get away with.

But you don’t want to let in too much light. If you do, parts of your photo become blank, without detail, and white. So, exposure becomes a challenge to determine what is too much, what is not enough, and what is just right. How do you do that?

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