Measuring Light and Achieving the Correct Exposure

Get the measure of light with this simple class.

How do you measure the power of the light from your studio lighting to ensure perfect results? Do you apply visual, theoretical, histogram or light meter readings to achieve the best results?

Karl discusses the best ways to measure light and achieve the desired exposure as well as the limitations of the above methods and why it’s important to truly understand light if you want complete creative control.

In this class:

  • Different methods for measuring light
  • Light meters — what use are they in digital photography?
  • Assessing exposure visually
  • Combining aperture and shutter speed to achieve desired exposure
  • Reading histograms
  • Correctly exposing for different textures

Questions? Please post them below.

Comments

  1. This is the best investment I have ever made. Without a doubt. Thanks for the special offer. This is more addictive than any TV programme.

  2. I started watching this chapter as someone who uses a lightmeter in the studio, due to lack of confidence, and by the end of the video I wanted to stand up and applaud. I’m self (YouTube) taught prior to this course and thought I had some understanding of light, it’s incredible how many things I was getting wrong and I’m feeling much more confident about using my lights.

  3. Amazing! This is really useful course that teaching people the true things.
    Thanks a lot! And I want to learn more and further from you.

  4. Thanks! For me this was definitely one of those “aha!” moments and has made me rethink my own reliance on a light meter. I absolutely get the logic of this and can’t fathom why so many high-level professional trainers are still demonstrating using them. Can you please explain how you work this way when you’re not shooting tethered (experience, or using the LCD display?) – I noticed that the histogram for the first “correctly exposed” image of the dummy showed most of the tones were off to the left, so trying to gauge the exposure through interpretation of the camera’s histogram alone could be difficult, and personally I don’t find the LCD a particularly accurate guide to what the camera is recording.

    1. Hi Alistair, if it looks reasonable on the LCD screen and i’m shooting RAW then I know it’s in the ballpark enough that it will be OK, I keep an eye on the histogram just to be sure nothing is out of range.

  5. I thought myself how to use flash without a light meter and then bought a meter and my lighting was all screwed up . The only time i use the meter now is if someone ask me for a picture and there press for time,
    But totally agree with Karl. Your eyes are the best light meter.

  6. Outstanding video. I’ve never used a light meter yet myself and always felt like I was cheating somehow or breaking the rules, so to speak. I totally agree with the complexities of how light interacts with surfaces, especially with multi-light/reflector setups. The artist must have creative control over the image, not the gear. Technology cant replace individual judgement and knowledge. Thats why we learn to turn all auto features off in the camera and shoot manual in the first place.

  7. Karl,
    You just made me save around 600$ and change my mind to not to buy the light meter I was going to…

  8. Well two Sekonic light meters now for sale lol, well one, I’ll keep one for outdoors.
    Really found that informative I think as new photographers we may use a light meter as a “Comfort Blanket” believing it will give us all the answers when it is evident it won’t and will sometimes actually try and deceive us.

    Keep them coming Karl, I’m loving being part of this little clique.

    Richie

  9. Really good lesson Karl. It forces me to keep my creative juices flowing, and I love your explanation….it is the lighting that you wanted, not what you were told to do. Really simple but profound way of thinking. Thanks!!

  10. This is the most enlightening lesson I have seen on light meters and how they can ruin our own creative input. You are a great teacher, Karl!

  11. Having a calibrated monitor tethered into your camera in a studio is surely a great way to get the shot. A couple of points in favor of using a light meter could be in order I think. If we calibrate our meter to give us the look we want at f/11, then firing a couple of pops and adjusting the power using the remote is very easy and fast. The final verdict using a calibrated monitor is always right.

    1. Hi Chick, yes a light meter will always get you in the ballpark but calibrating it for one subject doesn’t mean it will be correct for the next as shown in the video based on each subjects individual qualities such as diffusion, reflection, colour etc. I’d say put the camera at f11 (if that’s the depth of field you wanted) and set the light to it’s mid power and then take a test and simply decide to go up or down based on what you are seeing.

  13. I mainly use my meter when I need to create repeatable results, like head shots for a team program, but this is a great point of view for creative portraiture.

  14. Love the way you explain…Your understanding of light is phenomenol..:)..I am glad I am here..:)..I made a right choice to improve my understanding..

  15. That is it, I am not going to use a light meter as often. After watching this video I took a photo of a flower in a cup where I decided an f-stop of 2.8 and adjusted the light power and created an awesome photo.
    You explain it in such a way that it was easy to understand.

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