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Light metering
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Photo=light Graphy=writing. Light is the essential element in photography. While photographers have different styles it is generally agreed that it is useful to be able to see the subject.

I regularly see photos taken indoors where the camera has decided to meter for the light streaming in the window which leaves the subject looking like a silhouette figure upon their messy backyard.

Light metering simply means measuring the light for the camera and preceeding the age of electronics this was done manually with a hand held light meter. The photographer would walk over to the subject and take a measurement of the light intensity which he could then adjust the camera for. These days the camera meters automagically and we rarely think about it until we look at a photo afterwards and wonder why half of the shot is black and the other half is blown out with sunlight.

 

Light Contrast

It is an age old problem in photography ... getting a nicely metered blue sky with definition in the clouds and at the same time having the foreground both near and far in good light. If you have ever seen the scale and layout of the Fiords in New Zealand you can appreciate why things like grad filters and polarizing lenses were invented. The huge sheer cliffs overseer the glistening calm waters laden with beauty both flora and fauna. Nice for a travel brochure but a photographers nightmare in the wrong light. Even the most basic digital camera has the ability to control light metering which is universally given the symbols shown. The three most common settings are Spot metering, Centre Weight metering or Evaluative metering.