Light Meter

[Nikki2291]

How is a light meter generally used and where can you get one? Another thing too, I have two pieces of bristol board, white and black. I need some guidance about reflectors. Thanks in advance.

[tirediron]

It depends on which type of light meter you are talking about. There are a number of different types, but for the most part, two major categories that you're likely to be concerned with. The most common type is the "Reflective" meter; this is used in exactly the same way as the meter in your camera: Set the intended ISO, point it at the subject and it will display a range of appropriate shutter speeds and apetures.

The other "main" type is the incident meter. This type can be recognized by the white bubble it will have and is used in exactly the opposistte manner of a reflected meter; that is you stand where the subject is and meter the light coming toward the subject, rather than the light reflected away from it.

An incident meter is primarily used in studio and portraiture work, a reflected/reflective meter primarily for landscapes, architecture, and general outdoor work. Where can you one? Depends on how much you want to spend; new ones can run north of $500 for a top-end digital meter at a camera store, but the venerable old Gossen Luna series (many of which are both reflective and incident meters combined) can be had for $50-100 on eBay.


Edited to add: Forgot to address your question of the reflectors. The black card will likely not be a great deal of use, but the white one will. Pose your subjects, and look at them carefully; see where the shadows fall, where the dark areas are, etc, and then move the white card around until you get a more even (or more to your liking) dynamic range. This may be tricky if you're shooting on your own, but spare tripods, rocks, sticks, broom-handles and a few spring clamps from the workshop can be very useful!

[Nikki2291]

Thank-you, that was very helpful. I will look for some light meters this weekend, and I will definitly experiment with the white bristol board.

[tirediron]

Why do you want/think you need an external light meter?

[Marko]

Why do you want/think you need an external light meter?

This is actually a good question in this digital age where you can see the results in camera and with the help of your camera's histogram.
Lately the only time I'm really using a light meter is to balance the ratio of light when I use studio flashheads.

[tirediron]

This is actually a good question in this digital age where you can see the results in camera and with the help of your camera's histogram.
Lately the only time I'm really using a light meter is to balance the ratio of light when I use studio flashheads.

A sidebar to that is the fact that not every camera maker embraces the 18% grey standard; for instance Nikon's meters are actually looking for something closer to 23% grey (I believe, I'd have to double-check the value) so using the classic Luna'Brick' and a grey card is not necessarily going to get you what you want.

I've got a couple of old selenium meters that I use the odd time for averaging big areas of very high dynamic range, but for the most part, I just flick the camera to 'spot' and do it that way.

[Marko]

If people are interested there is another podcast that covers this
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=13

I hope people don't mind that I refer to these podcasts...It's just that some questions require 10-20 minutes of typing to explain an answer in any detail...and since these questions are already answered in a podcast...it makes life easier for me to refer to them

Marko

[Nikki2291]

I was just wondering what light meters would do with my pictures and stuff, just curious. I'll check out that podcast. Thanks Marko.