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My Light Meter Pro User Manual

 

It is imperative that this operating manual be read and observed when using the product. In particular, the safety instruct ions, as well as the information for the use and operation of the product, must be carefully read and observed. Furthermore, the national regulations applicabl e in the user's country must be taken into account for a safe use. UserManuals.tech is the biggest database of product manuals and user’s guides. We offer 1,762,469 manuals and guides from 52,491 brands for you to view or download. When you are having trouble with your appliance and it’s hard to find the paper original manual, you find all the responses to your questions on UserManuals.tech.

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Usb 2.0 ethernet adapter driver for mac os sierra. This is the sixth part of the 10 part series: 10 Steps to Manual Mode.

You can access the series here—> 10 Steps to Manual Mode Series.

In this sixth part of the series, we are talk about light metering.

What is light metering?

Light metering is choosing how to measure the light that comes into your camera for a better overall exposure. Light is the most important part of taking a photo. Bad lighting will ruin a photo, no matter how great everything else is. Although you can fix some things in Photoshop, it can only take you so far. So you want to get it right in camera if you can.

What types of light metering are available?

Center Metering- This type of metering looks at the light in the center spot of the photo. That is great if your subject is in the center, but if you are following the rule of thirds it probably won’t be.

Matrix Metering- This type of metering looks at the entire photo and calculates the average light to meter. This only works if there is even light. If you have kids playing in the snow, the snow will be too bright or the kids will be too dark with this kind of metering.

Spot Metering- This type of metering looks only at the focus spot you choose to test the light. This is the type of metering I use most of the time. I want my subject to be lit correctly, and the background can be corrected later if needed.

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How do we use it to take better photos?

When you get the right reading on the light in your photo, it can help you get the best exposure for the shot you are wanting to take.

How do you know when the reading is right? When you look in your viewfinder (or on the LCD screen) you will see little tick marks at the bottom with a + sign on one end, a 0 in the middle and a – sign on the other end. This is your light metering.

Under those line of symbols, there will be little tick marks to show you how bright the photo is. If the only tick mark is under the 0, the camera thinks your photo is lit correctly.

If the tick marks increase towards the left with an arrow, you photo is underexposed by that much.

If the tick marks increase towards the right with an arrow, your photo is overexposed by that much.

With the proper metering type selected for your photo, you want the tick mark to be right under the 0 for the perfect photo.

What is exposure compensation?

Want to have a little wiggle room when finding the right exposure?

You can use exposure compensation to help the camera read the meter differently.

Exposure compensation allows you to take photos that are a little over or under exposed depending on what you need.

Choosing the exposure compensation setting on your camera:

You can choose from +5 to -5, depending on how much you want the reading to change.

If you are shooting a snow scene, and you want the meter to read darker than it would normally, you can set the exposure compensation to negative to get a darker reading.

If you are shooting an indoor scene, and you want the meter to read lighter than it would normally, you can set the exposure compensation to positive to get a lighter reading.

I prefer my photos a tad over exposed just to make sure that I get enough light in my photo. If I need to, I can bring the exposure down in Lightroom without much harm. download nlite for windows 10

But if your photo is underexposed, you introduce noise into it in Lightroom when you bring up the exposure. Not what you want!

3 Tricks to Choose The Right Metering:

  1. Evaluate the scene- Look at your overall scene. Are there any really bright or really dark spots you need to consider? Is your subject in good light. Can you adjust your subject to make things better?
  2. Exposure Compensation- Is your overall scene too bright or too dark? Should you add exposure compensation to make the photo better?
  3. Change when needed- Light constantly changes, especially if you are outside. Keep these changes in mind and reevaluate often to get the best light for your photo.

Action Steps:

  1. Choose the metering that is right for your photo.
  2. Add exposure compensation if necessary.
  3. Readjust as the light changes.

My Light Meter Pro Manual

This is the sixth lesson of ten that will be coming in the next few weeks.

Next week we will talk about white balance and how to use it properly for great photos. Click here to go to the next lesson —> 10 Steps to Manual Mode: White Balance.

Light metering is something that can take a while to get the hang of, but will drastically change your straight out of camera photo quality. Light is everything in photography, so you need to learn to harness and meter it to the best of your ability.

What light metering mode do you use the most on your camera? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

​Mastering Manual Mode Cheatsheet PDF

Sign up for this cheatsheet and keep it in your camera bag as a reference as you learn how to shoot with your camera on Manual. This cheatsheet can get you out of a sticky situation when you don't know what settings to use.

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Get comfortable with your DSLR camera's settings from aperture to lighting.

Ready to get more creative with your photography? At first, having a digital or analog SLR camera is an exhilarating and intimidating experience. Most beginners play it safe with the automatic modes, but if you’re looking to step up your photography game it might be time to switch to the manual settings. Not only will you see a difference in the quality of shots, you will also have more creative control over the outcomes. In this guide, you will learn about the tools you need to get set up, various photography terms and how to put all the information together to get the shot that you want. No filter needed.

First, knowing how you want the shot to look is key to getting your desired results. This guide will provide you with a little introduction to all the things that go into making a beautiful shot.

Lighting

An important part of upping your photography skills is learning how to master lighting. Flash photography can be useful in certain settings, such as when you’re indoors in low light or when you want your image to have a high-contrast look. On the other hand, natural lighting produces more subtle results.

Whether or not you can shoot with just natural light is highly dependent on the time of day, whether you are indoors or outdoors, and where the light source is situated in comparison with the subject. Is the sun behind you or is it the very subject you are shooting? These are important things to think about before you turn on your camera or position your subjects.

Environment

Where you are will greatly affect how your photo turns out. If you are inside a low-lit home or outdoors midday, you will have to adjust your manual settings accordingly. If you are using an analog SLR, you will also have to think about the ISO of the film that you are using. 400 ISO is typically the standard film available at most shops, and will work in most settings that aren’t too brightly or dimly lit. 200 ISO is better for brighter conditions and an ISO of 400 or above is better for darker conditions. This is an important thing to think about when purchasing your film.

Lenses and tripods

Using a SLR doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Depending on the brand, many entry-level digital SLR packages come with an 18-55mm kit lens, which is great to start out with. When it comes to analog SLRs, depending on what make and model you buy, check out which lens is being offered with it. If you have an analog SLR, the lens that comes with it is likely to be a 50mm. For example, a Minolta X-700 camera fitted with a 50mm/f1.7 lens offers incredible depth-of-field and allows you to take photographs in lower lighting. The low f-stop means you can have a higher depth-of-field with a sharp image at the center and a blurred background, creating a dramatic effect.

The difference between these two lenses is that the 18-55mm is a zoom lens, while the 50mm is a prime lens. A zoom lens allows you to zoom in, capturing multiple focal lengths without changing lenses. A prime lens is fixed, meaning that you can’t zoom in with it, and will only be able to capture one focal length. To get a closer shot, you would have to change the lens.

If you’d like to move past the kit lens, you will have to decide on whether you would like another zoom lens or to try a prime lens. Both have positive and negative aspects for photographers. Keep in mind that you can’t necessarily use one lens on both an analog and digital SLR. There are some ways to retrofit old lenses onto new cameras, but they might need to be the same brand, and you may lose some important technical tools, like the light meter.

My Light Meter Pro User Manual Download

Another piece of equipment you’ll want to consider using is a tripod, especially if your camera doesn’t compensate for slight movements. Using a tripod will ensure a crisper and cleaner image.

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Analog equipment

For analog photographers, the type of film and brand you choose will affect your photographs. 35mm film typically comes in black and white or color negative. The most common brands to choose from are Kodak, Fuji, and Ilford, but there are others.

The most common 35mm film is measured in ISO, or speed, ranging from 100 to 3200. Each speed will create a different effect. Higher ISOs are best used in lower light, while lower ISOs are better for brightly lit interiors or full sun outdoors. A standard speed to start off with would be ISO 400, which can be used indoors and outdoors with adjustments to your settings. Once you’ve mastered one film ISO, you will want to experiment with others.

Now we’ll move on to the technical settings of your SLR. Once you have everything you need to take a photo, like proper lighting, setting and equipment, it’s time to start using the manual settings on your camera to create the desired effect.

Aperture

The aperture consists of small blades in the lens that create an adjustable, octagonal shape. It tells you how big the hole is in your lens. The smaller the hole is, the less light passes through it. The wider the hole is, the more light will enter your lens. It’s best to think of the aperture as a pupil that can be controlled by you. The aperture is measured by your f-stop. The higher the f-stop (f22), the smaller the hole and the darker your image will be.

The f-stop also measures the depth of field. A lower f-stop (f2.8) will give you more depth to your image. For example, if you are taking a photo of a person and would like the background to be a bit blurry, you would choose a low f-stop. If you are taking a picture of beautiful scenery, you would want a higher f-stop to make sure everything is in focus.

Shutter speed

The shutter speed tells you the amount of time the camera will be exposed to light. The duration of time is shown in a fraction of seconds, for example it could be 1/2-second or 1/200 second. A speed of 1/200-second is faster than 1/2-second. Using a faster speed means the image will be darker. If you would like to lighten the image, use a slower shutter speed. However, a faster shutter speed will catch a frame of movement. For example, if you want to capture a still of someone running, you will want a faster shutter speed.

ISO

The ISO is a control within the camera that will affect the exposure. A high ISO will yield a brighter image, but it could also create a grainier, or noisy, image. For example, setting your camera to ISO 1600 will lighten the image and make it noisier. If you are using ISO 400, the images will be sharper and darker. If you are using an analog SLR, consider matching the ISO on your camera to the ISO of your film. It will help when you are light metering your image.

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On SLR cameras, there are creative modes that give you slight control over a few of the settings. The two common ones that photographers use are shutter priority and aperture priority. Shutter priority means you have control over the shutter speed and ISO whereas aperture priority gives you control over aperture and ISO. The camera will adjust the aperture and shutter speed, respectively, for the best exposure.

After you have input your settings, your light meter will indicate what adjustments you will need to make before taking your shot.

Light meter

The light meter is a tool used to gauge your manual settings. If the light meter reads “0”, it means that there is enough light to capture your image. It also indicates that your image should be well-balanced. If your light meter reads negative, it means the image will be underexposed, or too dark. A light meter that reads positive will mean the image will be overexposed, or too light. You can adjust the different settings on your camera to pull the meter to zero.

When you are ready to shoot in manual mode, here is one way to go through your settings. Choose the ISO that would best work for your lighting conditions. If you are in a darker space or indoors, choose a higher ISO. Second, decide if depth of field or motion is more important. If you choose depth of field, you will need to adjust your aperture before you compensate with the appropriate shutter speed; vice versa for motion. Make slight adjustments based on the results.

There are a couple of tricks to use when trying to find the right balance for an image. For a medium level of ISO sensitivity, the shutter speed and aperture can be in the middle also. However, if you use a high ISO sensitivity, a faster shutter speed means you should make your aperture larger (low f-stop) and a slow shutter speed means you should make your aperture smaller (high f-stop).

Trial and error

The best way to learn more about your manual settings is to try different combinations. Using everything you’ve learned above, set up your SLR and take different shots of the same thing using different settings. Keep a log of the results so you can track which settings worked the best for different scenarios. Using these techniques, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the technical challenges of photography.

More photography resources:
Best Free Online Courses and Tutorials for Photographers
A Beginner’s Guide to Buying the Right Photography Equipment
8 Common Beginner Photography Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

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