It’s the most common question I get and it’s why I wrote the book “Finding Middle Gray (and then some).”
Photo taken with B&W film and the techniques I teach here
OK, metering is where most people have trouble when learning to use their new digital (or film) cameras. If you are a student or just an enthusiast, learning to use your meter is the most important lesson for getting good exposures. The words “how do I use my meter” and “Finding Middle Gray” are in my thinking the same thing. They are synonymous and this is why I combine them in my writings.
The reason I say this is that when you turn on your light meter and read a scene for exposure, the meter is looking for “middle gray” by default. New camera, old camera, digital or film, hand meter, camera meter, they all look for middle gray. Middle gray that is the basic building block of exposure.
Knowing that your meter looks for middle gray is the starting point of learning how to use your camera meter. I cover what middle gray is in more detail in other articles on this site as well as in my book “Finding Middle Gray.” But, the simple explanation is that it is the mid tone of any scene you are metering. Take the brightest highlight tone and darkest tone in a scene and middle gray is the middle tone between them. Trust me this is an over simplification, but still a good starting point.
In short, your meter is trying to find an average tone in a particular scene and from that offer you a suggestion of f-stop and shutter speed settings to expose the scene so it looks natural.
I have friends who have taken courses in photography with the hope of using their expensive new cameras with more control. They wanted to break away from using Auto only on their new cameras. During the course they seem to “get it’ but then “forget it” very shortly after the course is done and go back to Auto only exposure. I often think it’s because some photography courses teach too much at one time and master nothing in the process. This is why I teach the concept of metering and middle gray all by itself in one lesson. If I had only one lesson to teach a budding photographer, this would be it. Get “middle gray” and you’ll get it for good!
So, how do you use your camera meter? Read this simple book about metering titled “Finding Middle Gray (and then some)“. The lessons in it will take you far, especially if you’re new to the concept of metering and middle gray. It will build a proper foundation for anything else you will learn about using your camera and metering.
The book is simple and very easy to read. Other fine professional photographers have told me that they wish they had this book when they started.
Look, you paid good money for your new camera possibly thousands. Maybe you even took photography lessons, but if your still using Auto exposure and want to break free of it to get a little more control. If that’s the case, then you need to learn how to use your camera meter properly. The great thing is that it’s not even hard to learn.
This 60 page book covers everything you need to know to get you started on understanding how to use your camera meter (or even hand meter). It will get you on the right path technically speaking, and it even covers Histograms as well. Histograms are a great addition to metering. Understanding how they work will further free you to use your camera with more creative control and confidence!
Get the Book Here – You’ll be glad you did.
