How To Use a Light Meter To Make Better Videos
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 7/29/2016 1:00:00 AM
One of the best ways to improve the look of your photographs and Youtube videos is to use a light meter and use manual settings.
I get a lot of comments on my Youtube channels from people asking for tips on making better videos, so from time to time, I'm going to take you behind the scenes and show you some of my techniques.
Today I'm going to talk about one of the easiest ways to improve the look of your videos by using a light meter, instead of relying on your camera's automatic settings.
For some people, the idea of turning on manual settings can be pretty scary. After all, automatic settings are supposed to make it easier to use your camera, so why would you turn on manual settings?
The main reason people are afraid of manual settings is that they assume they have to make blind guesses about each setting, but if you have a light meter, it's just as easy as using automatic... except you get much better results.
Using a light meter is pretty simple. You just place the light meter in front of the subject you are photographing, face it TOWARDS THE CAMERA, hit a button, and read the screen to see exactly what settings you can use to get a perfectly exposed shot.
The reason this is more reliable than the camera's automatic settings is that you are measuring the actual light that is thrown on your subject. This is far more accurate than the camera's method of measuring light, which is to guess the amount of light based on the image itself. The trouble is, that image can be drastically misleading, especially if the image contains a lot of dark or light content.
For example, if a dark skinned person, wearing a dark shirt, is standing in front of a black background, the camera will assume the image needs more light than it actually does, because all it sees is darkness. Conversely, if a light skinned, blonde haired woman in a white dress, standing in front of a white wall, the camera may assume there is too much light.
The only way to truly know how much light there is on the subject is to use a light meter and point it towards the camera... That's exactly what I do (unless I'm lazy... I'll explain that in a future video showing what can go wrong).
In my case, I use a Polaris light meter, which is relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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