Light Metering

making your aperture & shutter speed work

together to get a well exposed photo

4 Categories of LIGHT METERS:

1. Goldilocks

thesetoo
settings
much have
light (overexposed)
TOO MUCH light!
these
toosettings
little light
have
(underexposed)
TOO LITTLE light!
these
justsettings
right (well
are JUST
exposed)
RIGHT!

Goldilocks PRO too much/little... by exactly THIS MUCH

2. Aperture Priority
3. Shutter Speed Priority

YOU select aperture, then:

camera suggests a good shutter
speed
YOU select shutter speed, then:
camera suggests a good aperture

the camera gives you a

choice
(see
above
4. Multiple options/combination
options)in how it light
meters

drawings or numbers in
here represent what
you actually would see
in the viewfinder
drawings or numbers out here represent what
settings you have chosen on the camera

1. Goldilocks

GOLDILOCKS

Correctly exposed

GOLDILOCKS

Over exposed

GOLDILOCKS

Under exposed

GOLDILOCKS

Correctly exposed

GOLDILOCKS

Over exposed

GOLDILOCKS

Under exposed

Needle Indicator Light Meter

over exposed
8
125

8
500
properly exposed

Correct exposure when needle is in the middle

LED Indicator Light Meter

8
125
8
250
8
500

too much light

correct exposure

- too little light

Correct exposure when green light is on

Lollipop Light Meter

not exposed
correctly
8
125

4
60
properly exposed
Correct exposure when needles are lined up

1-A. Goldilocks PRO

GOLDILOCKS PRO

Correctly exposed

-2 1 0 1 2 +

GOLDILOCKS PRO

Over exposed

-2 1 0 1 2 +

GOLDILOCKS PRO

-2 1 0 1 2 +

Under exposed

Manual Metering

Two stops underexposed

Properly
One stop
exposed
overexposed

-2 1 0 1 2 +
816 125
60

Correct exposure when in middle

2. Aperture Priority

hey you.

Aperture Priority Metering

YOU select aperture, then:
camera suggests a good shutter speed
M

5.6

1000
500
250
125
60
30
15
8
4
2
1

too much
light
properly
exposed

not enough
light

Correct exposure when light stays lit

Aperture Priority Metering

(you choose the f-stop it tells you the shutter speed)

Correctly exposed

Aperture Priority Metering

(you choose the f-stop it tells you the shutter speed)

Over exposed

Aperture Priority Metering

(you choose the f-stop it tells you the shutter speed)

Under exposed

3. Shutter Speed Priority

hey you.

Shutter Speed Priority Metering

YOU select shutter speed, then:
camera suggests a good aperture
M
22
16
11
8
5.6
4
2.8
1.4

Too much
light
Correct
Exposure
Not enough
light

1000
Correct exposure when light stays lit

Shutter Speed Priority Metering

(you choose the shutter speed it tells you the aperture)

Correctly exposed

Shutter Speed Priority Metering

(you choose the shutter speed it tells you the aperture)

Over/Under exposed

4. Multiple options / combination

hey you. listen.

you are a total
photo rock star.
everything is going
to be GREAT.