Photography - Light Meters

In today's lesson we learnt all about light meters and how to use them. A light meter is a device that the photographer can place next to the object that they are shooting to work out what aperture will give them the correct exposure for that particular object. My group used a beauty dish as a light source to experiment with because it is a harsher light than a soft box so that we could see more shadows, however it isn't as harsh as a spill kill. 

How to use a Light Meter:

1. Turn it on by pressing the Power button.

2. Hold the ISO button to get 100.

3. Click the Mode button until you find a lightening symbol with a C.

4. Make sure the slider (white dome) is closed.

5. Plug the sync lead into the light meter.

6. Hold the light meter next to the model, with the white dome facing towards the light, and press the button on the side. 

7. Read the number on the bottom right of the screen to see what aperture should be used to give the correct exposure for the model's positioning.

The aperture, preferably, needs to be either f/5.6 or f/8. If the aperture if too low, but you don't want to change the model's positioning, then you can make the power knob on the light up to give you a bigger aperture. This also means that if the aperture is higher than f/8 then you need to turn the power knob down until the light meter gives an aperture of f/8. However you may not always want to have the correct exposure in your image, for example, if you want to achieve a very bright, over exposed image then you would not follow these rules. You can use gaffe tape to mark where the model is standing so that you know that the model will stay in the same place as when you first used the light meter. 

Light meter
SOPHIE, 2015. Best Light Meter For Digital Photography [viewed 30th January 2016]. 
Available from: http://tipsfordigitalphotography.com/best-light-meter-for-digital-photography/

Light Meter and Reflector Experiments
In the experiments below we tested out what effect different reflectors had and what would happen if we bounced the light backwards onto the model. We also used a light reflector on each image to make sure we used the correct exposure.

The image above shows the model with a beauty dish directly in front of her, with no reflectors. We used a light meter to obtain a reading of f/8 and had to change the the power of the light accordingly. The beauty dish was placed slightly above the model, so there are very harsh shadows underneath anything sticking out, for example, the model's chin. 

In this image we used the same lighting set up but we held a reflector under the model's chin to soften any shadows, like the one under the chin. I think that this would have been more effective if the camera was more zoomed in because the reflector would have been able to get closer to the model's face and therefore bounce more light directly onto it. 

In this image was faced the beauty dish light directly onto the model's face instead of bouncing the light backwards. This diffused the light and gave a softer effect. We also used a reflector under the model's chin to make the shadows less harsh and therefore more flattering. 

In the image above we faced the beauty dish light directly onto the model's face instead of bouncing the light backwards. We did not use a reflector under the model's chin so the shadows are quite harsh, but we instead used two white mount boards on either side to help brighten the sides of the model and therefore give an overall brighter look. This looks very subtle, but I can see that it has taken away some of the shadows under the cheekbones, making the model's face look more flat and lifeless. 

In this final image we directed the beauty dish light directly onto the model's face instead of bouncing the light backwards. We then used a white reflector to reflect light upwards to soften any shadows and we used the two white mount boards either side of the model to reflect light onto her sides. This made the image a lot brighter, however I think we must have forgotten to use the light meter in this image because it looks very over exposed and therefore washed out. This has made me very aware of the importance of using a light meter to help with the image exposure because it ensures that the image won't come out over or under exposed.