| In photography, exposure is the amount of light | | | | For pictures with a greater focus on a single subject, |
| allowed to enter the camera, thereby making the | | | | centre-weighted metering may be a better option. In |
| image brighter or darker depending on the exposure | | | | this mode, the camera is most sensitive to the |
| time. If the shutter is open too long, the picture | | | | centre of the image, and so giving it the most |
| becomes overexposed, and far too bright. On the | | | | "weight," or importance. This method still leaves the |
| other hand, if the shutter is too quick, not enough | | | | surroundings visible, which can give a nice balance to |
| light enters the camera, leaving the image dark and | | | | the picture. It can also be used to capture a |
| unusable. Clearly, the amount of exposure is an | | | | silhouetted subject, by working harder to properly |
| important part of photography. | | | | expose appropriate area. This is the second most |
| Fortunately, modern digital cameras make this much | | | | commonly used metering method. |
| easier. By using a light meter, digital cameras can | | | | In some cases, such as wildlife photography or |
| automatically fine-tune an image's exposure, resulting | | | | extremely backlit subjects, spot metering is very |
| in better pictures. | | | | useful. In this mode, the camera will only expose a |
| However, while the camera can determine the | | | | very small section of the photograph, usually 5% or |
| relative brightness or darkness in a photograph, | | | | less of the image, ignoring the rest. For instance, spot |
| sometimes it does not produce the image you had in | | | | lighting is excellent for photographing the moon, as it |
| mind. Fortunately, many cameras provide several | | | | will ignore the darkness of the surrounding space, |
| metering options to help take that perfect picture. | | | | showing much more detail. Most cameras will |
| The majority of photographs use average metering. | | | | automatically focus on the centre of the viewfinder; |
| This method simply uses the whole image to | | | | however some may allow you to adjust the focal |
| determine the exposure time, resulting in consistent | | | | point. |
| brightness values throughout the image. Most of | | | | Finally, some cameras may offer a partial metering |
| today's camera's use a more advanced method that | | | | option, which is essentially spot metering over a |
| breaks up the image into several sections, | | | | larger area, around 10% to 15% of the image. Use |
| determines the best exposure for each, and then | | | | partial metering when the edges of the image would |
| recombines them, resulting in a more detailed image. | | | | badly affect the lighting of your subject. |
| Depending on the camera, this may also be known as | | | | Using this information, you should now know which |
| evaluative, matrix, multi-zone, or honeycomb | | | | option will work best for you. |
| metering. | | | | |