{"id":6202,"date":"2016-11-14T13:56:38","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T13:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/?p=6202"},"modified":"2019-02-08T05:55:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T05:55:08","slug":"what-does-a-light-meter-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does A Light Meter Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>When shopping for all the high quality gear that you\u2019re going to need on your photo excursions or studio sessions, you\u2019ve probably asked yourself the question – \u00a0What does a light meter do<\/strong>? You’ve probably come across this piece of equipment that you\u2019ve seen the pro’s use, but have little knowledge about yourself.<\/p>\n

\"what-does-a-light-meter-do\"<\/a>
image source- https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve seen a light meter used in all the instructional videos….you\u2019ve watched and definitely seen it used by photographers in movies, but when it comes time to lay down the money on your very own, you\u2019ve probably found yourself wondering exactly how to use a light meter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Essentially Light Meters Measure Light<\/h3>\n

Very simply put, a light meter is used to tell you how much light is hitting a subject at any given point. Once you take your measurement and get your value, you can use it to determine your shutter speed, f\/stop and film speed.<\/p>\n

This kind of information is obviously some of the most important stuff that you can know about your image, but as you\u2019ve no doubt already noticed; your camera can give you the exact same numbers right in your viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Obviously, you\u2019re not the first person to realize this, yet you still see the professionals using meters. So again, you\u2019re probably asking yourself, \u201cWhat does a light meter do and how is it different from what I already have?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"commons-wikimedia-org\"<\/a>
image source- commons.wikimedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Incident vs reflected light<\/h3>\n

The most common use for a light meter is to read incidental light that\u2019s hitting a subject. When you\u2019re using an incident meter, it means that you\u2019re measuring the light that is hitting something, rather than the light that is bouncing off of it. Essentially, you\u2019re giving yourself a lot more control over your subject without relying on the light that\u2019s already been to the subject and back to you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re using your in-camera meter, measuring incident light is completely impossible.<\/p>\n

You can only get a sense of the reflected light, and even that is for the overall image as a whole. You can\u2019t accurately judge specific points of the subject or the difference between your key and fill lights.<\/p>\n

When relying on your in-camera meter, you\u2019re running the risk of having your images turn out flatter and less dynamic than being backed up with the information from a light meter.<\/p>\n

\"light-meter\"<\/a>
flickr.com\/photos\/seandavis\/7394062492<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting depth in the studio<\/h3>\n

The most efficient use that you can get out of a light meter is in the studio environment. A photographer\u2019s main job in a completely controlled space is to really become a painter with his or her light. When you have to power to manually adjust your lighting placement, intensity and even temperature, you want everything to be perfect.<\/p>\n

Much like a chef giving each and every ingredient the utmost attention for a simple dish, you can make sure that your images come out precisely as you imagine them.<\/p>\n

This is where the light meter comes in. This device will you give you an accurate and individual readout for you key, fill, kicker, back and background lights with the push of a button. It\u2019s very important to remember that the contrast sensitivity of the human eye is much higher than that of any camera. As such, although thing may look spectacular to you, they may not read on camera.<\/p>\n

What Does A Light Meter Do For Me?<\/h3>\n

So, now that you\u2019ve answered \u201cWhat does a light meter do?\u201d it\u2019s time to decide whether or not you should use one. The answer is yes. Using a light meter will add depth to your images and give you a greater understanding or what you\u2019re capturing. While you can get away with not using one, if you want to produce the very best, then a light meter is for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When shopping for all the high quality gear that you\u2019re going to need on your photo excursions or studio sessions, you\u2019ve probably asked yourself the question – \u00a0What does a [read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,18],"tags":[287],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Does A Light Meter Do? - Apogee Photo Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Does A Light Meter Do? - Apogee Photo Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When shopping for all the high quality gear that you\u2019re going to need on your photo excursions or studio sessions, you\u2019ve probably asked yourself the question – \u00a0What does a [read more]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Apogee Photo Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ApogeePhotoMagazine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-14T13:56:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-08T05:55:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/commons.wikimedia.org_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ApogeePhotoAdmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Apogee_Photo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Apogee_Photo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ApogeePhotoAdmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ApogeePhotoAdmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/#\/schema\/person\/69a5e0f5a887d801d897680713aae3aa\"},\"headline\":\"What Does A Light Meter Do?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-14T13:56:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-08T05:55:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\"},\"wordCount\":691,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"what does a light meter do\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Beginners\",\"Equipment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/what-does-a-light-meter-do\/\",\"name\":\"What Does A Light Meter Do? 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