Sekonic Ambient Light Meter

How to Put a Meter on Lighting

Whether youre using digital or film, light is the most important feature of any form of photography. Its what creates the image you see and transfers it both to the camera and to your eyes.

What Types of Meter are There?

Also known as exposure meters, there are two kinds of light meter: one that comes built into the camera, and the other which is a standalone unit. Both measure the ambient illumination so that you can set your aperture and exposure in order to get the right balance to ensure that your pictures are neither overexposed or underexposed, either of which can throw the colors off significantly.

• Reflective: Commonly built into the camera, these work with reflected illumination. They are simple to use, but because they work with an average reflectivity, they can wash out some pictures because they tend to give more weight to the background than the subject.
• Incident: These are standalone units that take their measurement from the location of the subject. The advantage of an incident light meter is that it gives you a direct rather than indirect measurement so that you can more accurately measure the light source.

What Affects Lighting?

There are four camera settings that you need to be concerned with when setting up a picture, and all of them can benefit from a Sekonic meter. The right meter can let you choose the right mode for all your shots so you get the picture you want rather than the one the camera wants to give you. Its all about putting you in charge of the pictures:

• Flash: Flash photography lets you add your own illumination to the scene, and a good flash can work wonders in dimly lit environments.
• Aperture: The further your camera opens, the more light that can get in. Setting the right aperture depends on knowing the local illumination.
• ISO: This describes the sensitivity of your film or sensor. Higher ISO can capture images faster, making it a good choice for action shots or low light conditions.
• Exposure: This refers to how long the shutter stays open and is the inverse of shutter speed.

Using a Meter

Using a Sekonic meter for incident metering is a great way to ensure that you get a good picture. With capabilities like measuring flash duration as well as flash power, these handheld meters can give you an exact sense of how your flash exposure is going to look before you start shooting a single frame. Its a great way to harness the power of your camera and really get the images you want from every shot.

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