Built-in Light Meter
An incident-light meter is a handheld meter that measures the amount of light falling on the subject (illuminance). It is covered by a white glass dome that diffuses the light towards the camera. A reflected-light meter is a meter that is built into the camera and measures the brightness (luminance) of a subject. A DLSR camera uses a reflected-light meter.
Built-in meters in the camera measure the light given off by a subject and come up with an exposure setting. A center-weighted meter gives emphasis to the light in the center of the photograph. Less emphasis is given to the areas outside the meter.
Trying to photograph an area where everything is very light (such as a snow scene) may cause the camera to calculate a wrong exposure, resulting in a dark picture.
In order to overcome a misleading reading, you can move toward the subject, make the reading, change the shutter speed and F-stop, the move back to your original spot to shoot the picture. With a hand held meter, you can move closer to your subject in order to capture more light.
The reflected-light meter will recommend a middle grey tone.
To make a white object appear white, add two stops more exposure.
To make a dark object appear dark, give two stops less exposure.
Built-in meters in the camera measure the light given off by a subject and come up with an exposure setting. A center-weighted meter gives emphasis to the light in the center of the photograph. Less emphasis is given to the areas outside the meter.
Trying to photograph an area where everything is very light (such as a snow scene) may cause the camera to calculate a wrong exposure, resulting in a dark picture.
In order to overcome a misleading reading, you can move toward the subject, make the reading, change the shutter speed and F-stop, the move back to your original spot to shoot the picture. With a hand held meter, you can move closer to your subject in order to capture more light.
The reflected-light meter will recommend a middle grey tone.
To make a white object appear white, add two stops more exposure.
To make a dark object appear dark, give two stops less exposure.