Light: Activity 3

Find two images that have been shot into the light or included the light source. Explain how the photographer may have gone about taking a light meter reading for these photographs.

This first photo by Tim Knifton was taken with the light source, the window, in the photograph itself. The photographer could have used a light meter to measure the amount of light hitting his subjects, the stuffed animals, and used the reading to determine the f-stop to use to get the perfect exposure. Since the stuffed animals' fur could be somewhat reflective, he could use the light meter right in front of them and then raised the suggested f-stop up a couple of numbers to let less of the reflected light into the photo.

Photo by Tim Knifton

This second photo by Julius Narkunas was taken so that the camera was directly pointing towards the sun, and the light from the sun was hitting the camera's lens. A light meter could have been used right in front of the camera, so the photographer could measure how small of an aperture would be needed in order to get a good exposure with the sun in the frame as it is. 

Photo by Julius Narkunas