Light Metering Basics: Using an Incident Meter
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the presenter introduces incident metering, a fundamental technique in photography and videography for measuring light. The video explains how the lumisphere, an unbiased light meter, works by measuring the light falling onto its dome. The presenter demonstrates how to use the meter to set lighting ratios, crucial for creating different lighting effects. They adjust key and fill lights to achieve a two-to-one ratio, showcasing the process with a model. The video also covers the concept of f-stops, explaining how they quantify light and are used to calculate lighting ratios. The presenter's practical examples and tips make incident metering accessible, even for those unfamiliar with the concept.
Takeaways
- 🌟 Incident metering is a basic form of light metering that measures the light falling onto a white dome called a lumisphere.
- 🔍 The incident meter is unbiased as it does not consider reflectance or the color of the subject, only the amount of light falling on the dome.
- 📏 The meter provides an f-stop reading that indicates the amount of light available for a given scene.
- 💡 Adjusting the light source's intensity can change the f-stop reading, allowing for precise control over lighting ratios.
- 🎥 Lighting ratios are crucial in cinematography and describe how much brighter or darker one light source is compared to another.
- 🔧 The incident meter can be used to set up lighting ratios by measuring the key light and adjusting the fill light accordingly.
- 📉 When retracting the lumisphere, it can isolate a single light source, allowing for more accurate readings of that specific light.
- 📸 The script discusses butterfly lighting, a technique that creates a subtle shadow under the nose, often used for beauty shots.
- 📈 Understanding f-stops is essential for quantifying light and calculating lighting ratios; each f-stop represents a doubling or halving of light.
- 🤔 Memorizing the f-stop scale can be aided by recognizing that each stop is either double or half the previous amount of light.
- 🎬 The incident meter is a practical tool for filmmakers to set lighting ratios and ensure consistent lighting across different shots.
Q & A
What is incident metering?
-Incident metering is a method of measuring light that involves using a device, like a lumisphere, to measure the amount of light falling onto its dome. It is unbiased because it doesn't care about the subject's reflectance or color; it only measures the light that reaches the meter.
What is a lumisphere?
-A lumisphere is a small white dome used in incident light meters to measure the light falling onto it. It is designed to provide an unbiased measurement of light.
How does incident metering help in setting lighting ratios?
-Incident metering helps in setting lighting ratios by allowing the user to measure the amount of light falling on the subject and then adjust the light sources to achieve the desired ratio. For example, if the key light measures at f/2.8 and the fill light at f/2, that's a 2:1 ratio, with the key light being twice as bright as the fill.
What is an f-stop and how does it relate to light measurement?
-An f-stop is a unit used in photography to describe the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor. Each f-stop represents a halving or doubling of light, with a lower f-number allowing more light and a higher f-number allowing less light.
How can you remember the relationship between f-stops and the amount of light?
-The relationship between f-stops and light can be remembered by knowing that each stop represents a halving or doubling of light. For example, going from f/2 to f/4 halves the light, while going from f/4 to f/2 doubles it. The scale can be memorized by starting with f/1 and f/1.4 and then doubling the previous number to get the next f-stop.
What is the difference between a key light and a fill light?
-The key light is the primary light source that defines the subject's appearance and establishes the overall lighting mood. The fill light is a secondary light source used to soften shadows created by the key light, providing more even lighting.
What is a lighting ratio and why is it important?
-A lighting ratio is the relative measurement of the brightness between the key light and the fill light. It is important because it helps to create depth and dimension in a scene, as well as to set the mood and style of the lighting.
How can you adjust the incident meter to measure a single light source?
-To measure a single light source with an incident meter, you can retract the dome and cover the head of the meter, then point it towards the light source you want to measure. This isolates the light from other sources.
What is butterfly lighting and how is it achieved?
-Butterfly lighting, also known as Paramount lighting, is a style where the key light is positioned high and slightly in front of the subject, casting a shadow under the nose that resembles the outline of a butterfly. It is typically achieved with a soft light source and is flattering as it creates a soft shadow and even lighting.
How can you use incident metering to create menacing or dramatic lighting?
-To create menacing or dramatic lighting with incident metering, you can turn off the key light and measure the light levels with the fill light only. This can create a darker, more dramatic scene by reducing the overall light and increasing the contrast.
What is the significance of the number 5 in the context of stops and light measurement?
-In the context of stops and light measurement, a difference of 5 stops means that one light source is either 32 times brighter or 32 times dimmer than another. This is because each stop represents a doubling or halving of light, and 2 raised to the power of 5 equals 32.
Outlines
📸 Introduction to Incident Metering
The speaker introduces incident metering, explaining that it is the most basic form of light metering. They describe the lumisphere, a small white dome that measures light falling onto it, providing an unbiased reading of light intensity. The speaker demonstrates how to use the incident meter by taking readings in different lighting conditions and adjusting the light sources accordingly. They also discuss how incident meters can be used to set lighting ratios, which is the relative brightness or darkness of lights compared to one another. The concept of f-stops is introduced as a way to quantify light, with a detailed explanation of how changes in f-stops relate to doubling or halving the amount of light.
💡 Understanding Lighting Ratios and F-Stops
The speaker elaborates on lighting ratios, explaining how they determine the relative brightness of key and fill lights. They provide examples of different lighting ratios and how they affect the look of a subject in a scene. The concept of butterfly lighting is introduced, which is a type of lighting that creates a subtle shadow under the nose, often used in beauty or portrait photography. The speaker demonstrates how to adjust the fill light to achieve a flat but flattering look. They also discuss the importance of memorizing the f-stop scale and provide a method for doing so by counting backwards from higher f-stops to lower ones.
🎥 Practical Applications of Incident Metering
The speaker shares practical tips on using incident metering, such as turning off lights to isolate a single light source for measurement. They demonstrate how to adjust the light levels using a dimmer and explain the concept of stops in relation to light intensity. The speaker also addresses the difficulty some people have with memorizing f-stop values and suggests using a light meter as an alternative. They conclude by inviting viewers to ask questions and share their thoughts in the comments.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Incident Metering
💡Lumisphere
💡F-stop
💡Lighting Ratios
💡Key Light
💡Fill Light
💡Butterfly Lighting
💡Reflectance
💡Dimmer
💡ND Filter
💡Beauty Lighting
Highlights
Introduction to incident metering, the basic form of light metering.
Explanation of the lumisphere, a device that measures light falling onto its dome.
Demonstration of taking a light reading with an incident meter.
Discussion on the unbiased nature of incident metering.
How to set lighting ratios using an incident meter.
Explanation of lighting ratios and their significance in photography and videography.
Practical demonstration of adjusting key light using a Kino dimmer.
Use of the incident meter to measure the intensity of a single light source.
Adjusting fill light to achieve a specific lighting ratio.
The concept of f-stops and how they quantify light.
Explanation of how f-stops relate to the amount of light.
Practical demonstration of adjusting f-stops to achieve different lighting effects.
Discussion on the concept of butterfly lighting and its origin.
Explanation of how butterfly lighting creates a flattering effect.
Practical demonstration of adjusting fill light to achieve a flat and flattering look.
Advice on memorizing the f-stop scale for quick calculations.
Practical tips for using incident metering to set up lighting ratios.
Discussion on the importance of understanding stops for lighting calculations.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Applause]
alright y'all so this is a basically
intro to incident metering this is like
the most basic form of light metering
it's this little white dome it's called
the lumisphere basically this measures
whatever is falling onto the dome so if
I take a measure if I just take any
reading like for example I just take a
meeting right here right now I'm getting
an F 8 if that means I have an F 8 worth
of light falling onto the dome and the
incident meter is truly I guess
non-partisan is a good it's it's
unbiased is what I'm trying to say it's
a truly it's a truly unbiased because it
doesn't care what you're looking at it
doesn't care about reflectance it
doesn't care about what shade of
anything any of this is it just cares
about how much light is falling onto
this dome so basically the way it works
is that you can put your eye so you can
put your how many forms per second and
it'll spit out the third kind of number
for you so right now I'm getting an
effect so if we get hop on the Kino
dimmer and if we can give me a two eight
if we can I might be a little touchy
thanks for actually scribble four nine -
eight seven - what that's yeah four and
one so Tyler let's open up to a four on
FS 7 close down I don't know yeah
this is a four actually let me have in
there really quick chick oh yeah what's
on the wrong nd let's see what a two-way
it looks like one more step yeah nope
almost too much one four oh that's
really touchy you're a two eight and a
half oh let's call it the right there
that's two a yes so now we have this
image and actually so basically the good
thing the nice thing about the the
incident meter is that it's basically
how I set my ratios yeah I'm sure you
guys have all heard of lighting ratios
so lighting ratios are basically how
much brighter how much darker lights are
relative to one another so right now we
only have the single key right above
Savannah that's giving us a two eighths
worth of light basically and so now
let's let's get on this fill this 300d
let's turn that on it's probably gonna
be really hot so much guys cool and if
we can actually just adjust the beam
angle so it illuminates kind of more of
the center yeah ideally we'd use a
little bit of a kind of a wider a more
broader source I think you said that's
full flood right yeah that's all good so
then what you can do is you can actually
this lumisphere actually retracts and
comes out so you basically want to
retract it if you're trying to isolate a
single light source like now that we
have two light sources and I want to
measure this one only I can retract it
and and kind of cover the head and then
just take a reading so that'll give me
what was that say about a two eight and
a half so it's actually coming in
brighter than this so let's what uh
what's the 300d set to you right now
forty-four let's come down to 20
let's come down 5 more points so right
now that's a 2 so right now keys at 2 8
fills at 2 so that's a one stop
difference which means it's a two to one
ratio so that means that's my key is
twice as bright as my fill and you guys
know how stops work are you guys
familiar with how stops any questions so
an f-stop is basically a it's that's how
we as filmmakers quantify light so
stopping relative to one another a stop
of light is either double the amount of
light or half the amount of light so if
something is one stop brighter then that
means I have double the amount of light
if it's two times brighter then 2 times
2 it's 4 times brighter if it's 3/2 if
it's if it's three stops higher what is
that can anyone tell me so basically you
want to times that number by 2 so 2
times 2 4 times 2 8 so how much brighter
is 4 steps
16 cool exactly there's a lot of them 16
times brighter there you go so you just
use those numbers and so that's where
your lighting ratio comes from so if I
have a two to one ratio
light my key is two times brighter than
my fill if I have a four to one it is
four times rather than my film and so on
and so forth so right now we're at a two
to one ratio in this classic butterfly
lighting and right now we're just
getting some nice fill let's see if we
can so what's it what's it out right now
15 let's go to like five let's see what
that gets us the only goes to 10 all
right let's try let's try that try 10
yeah so basically butterfly lighting it
comes from like a Paramount Studios used
to do this a lot though they called it
kind of paramount lighting basically the
lights coming very from the center kind
of top-down E and it basically kind of
let's turn this Phil off really quick if
we can if we check out like the no
shadow there's just like the slightest
shadow right here coming right out of
the note under the nose and usually it's
a lot more pronounced when you use
smaller sources and it's a little bit
higher you get more for pronounced edge
but since we have such a soft source and
so this is more commonly known as beauty
lighting butterfly lighting because it
just kind of it's kind of very even and
so let's throw on this fill once again
so if yeah and then so basically that
fill just kind of fills in everything
else and it's it's it's it's very flat
but it also makes it's like if you're
doing any kind of beauty shots with
anybody that'll make them yeah it's very
flattering like it's a very flat light
but it is also very flattering it's flat
let's see what are we over yet ten on
the let's go back up to 15 okay
and then tie let me step in here just
this really quick yep
so yeah that's basically incident
metering is really simple point out a
source you'll get and sometimes I'll
even go as far as turning off sources so
if we could turn off this key no really
quick it's just another way of isolating
lights yeah so now it's just totally off
if you want to get really menacing
there's your look so if I take a meter
reading I'm still at f/2 right around my
fill and then we can turn the Kino back
on you might need a ramp it cuz it's on
the dimmer and so if I want to bring
that back up bring get a for right now
once - yeah - 8 - too much right you see
it can you see it yeah hey so yeah
instant metering really simple point out
somewhere it'll give you that much
amount of light so and this is a great
way to set your ratios and yeah yeah do
you guys have any questions
[Music]
was the easiest way to think of like
your stops like you said times by two so
it's like you know the immediately basic
and it's always the same yeah so like
what do you mean like memorizing them
yeah cuz like I feel like I'm like
terrible on that so I'm like yes I like
you talked about in these earlier yeah
so a lot of that comes down to
memorizing that f-stop scale and that
and you just have to memorize the whole
and one really easy way to do it is you
only have to remember is f1 and 1.4 and
then what you can do is double the
previous number so 1 and the 2 and then
2 wait
yeah it's a really a really great way
that it was described to me is if you
draw them all out linearly yeah then you
just draw a little like yeah like hooks
times like under under under just skip
the next number and then you can just go
oh I know that that's like yeah basic
and I can't I'm really bad at math so
what I'll do is I'll just count so if
I'm trying to think of a ratio that I
want or whatever I'll go all right so
what how many stops is f11 from a - all
right let's count backwards f11 8 5 6 4
- 8 - that's 5 stops and so once you
start working with stops more you just
need to memorize that scale and then and
then just count literally come with your
fingers okay that's five stops and then
if you're trying to figure out how much
darker that is or brighter 5 stops
that's 64 or 32 see I don't even know -
4 8 16 32 32 so would be 32 times
brighter or darker to being on which way
you're going
each number in desktop scale is like
either double the mentally or
or you can get a light meter just make
sure that your tattoo artist open-face
out of five and a six what are we
shooting average you're not five or six
today mm did you in the comments hit me
hit me in the comments below I'll be
looking for your questions by my percent
laughs all right
check out my DJI Ronin s review
featuring savanna cameras
[Laughter]
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