The Light Meter
There are two types of light meters. The
hand held kind and the
internal type that is inside your camera. I am going to talk about the
internal light meter. In Tutorials 3-5 we discussed
ISO,
Aperture, and
Shutter Speed. Now that you know what each of these components are and what they do, it is time to start applying what you have learned.
© Corrie M Avila
On my camera I have my screen set so that I can see my settings there. Some may choose to have a live view of their lens, but I choose to keep it locked to showing my settings. The arrow is pointing to the light meter.
I also have a view of my settings when I look through my viewfinder as pictured below. The number 320 is my shutter speed and 3.5 is my aperture. The middle is the light meter. The number 400 is my ISO setting.
© Corrie M Avila
If you look through your viewfinder and don't see anything, you may need to halfway press your shutter to make them appear. This is convenient so that if you are taking photos, you can keep your camera to your eye and adjust settings at the same time.
Your goal is to put your hashmark right dead center on the "0." There are situations and circumstances where you will purposefully want to have your hash +1 or -1 (for example), but for right now we will assume that keeping it on "0" is the sweet spot.
In this example, you can see the hash mark is just to the right of the "2"...
© Corrie M Avila
I will increase my shutter speed from 1/6 to 1/30. And now my light meter hash mark is at "0"~ right where I want it.
© Corrie M Avila
Homework for Tutorial 6
Put your camera in P mode and see what your settings are. Write them down. Now put your camera in M mode and replicate those settings. Watch your hashmark and have your goal be to get right under the zero. Now write those settings down. Are they the same? They may possibly be slightly different and that is okay, but they should be close. Everything affects your light meter ~ from the direction you are pointing your camera, to a shadow passing, to the sun going behind a cloud. Try to keep your external light situation the same while you are practicing this.
How is everyone feeling with this so far? If there is an area you still need help with, please feel free to reread the tutorials,
email,
facebook, or comment below. I am here on this journey with you <3
Capturing the Moment,
Corrie <3
If you are just now joining us, make sure to start at the beginning with Tutorial 1!
