How to Meter for Film Photography // Highlights or Shadows?

[@Guairenito]

If you can and want, a video about how to use a Sekonic meter correctly would also be very useful. When to use the sphere in and when to use it out. Functionalities of the metter, and stuff like that. Thank you for this video, it is very helpful.

[@Biker_Gremling]

About those light meter apps, please do both iPhone and Android ones 🙏

[@PikulBoy]

I've watched over a dozen videos on metering, and this was by far the most helpful. Thanks!

[@stuarthayes8477]

So happy you're at this full time now, your content is top notch and always helpful!

[@pmartinez358]

Buy a lightmeter on a whim.... video on how to use it properly comes up the same way....WIN!

[@mattdayphoto]

Ghost_Vinyl_Media58 it’s destiny!

[@hafiz2664]

Gotta say this was the metering video help I've been looking for. A lotta videos just go meter for highlights, shadows, bla bla bla without really showing the difference between them. excellent work Matt.

[@VariTimo]

That’s why the Leica M5 is so great. It’s got a spot meter that’s super precise.

[@MrScottCarr]

You are cranking out these great videos! PS Happy Go Skateboarding Day!

[@michaelfilofficial]

Really appreciate the side-by-side visuals!

[@Enevan1968]

A friend gave me a Pentax Spotmeter V last year. Best gift ever!

[@katha.m]

This is exactly what I was looking for ! Thank you so much

[@Dunnoxer]

Oooh, can't wait for the smartphone app video!

[@jonathantaylor5981]

Killing it! Maybe spot metering tutorial next?

[@buyaport]

Thanks a lot for putting this video together. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to a video covering the smartphone apps!

[@ddaly20111993]

Great video on metering. I do mostly street photos so I always meter for the shadows or for skintones by metering the light hitting my hand.

[@HerfingPug]

Fantastic. Finally metering that makes sense. Thanks Matt.

[@alexandradefer9434]

This was such a helpful video for light metering! Mahalo!

[@StephenMilner]

Hi, what an awesome video. Keep up the superb work! I look forward to your next video.

[@sednasix6608]

Simple, down to the point.

[@roiloubia4483]

Thank you Matt. Excellent explanation. Short, precise and to the point..

[@garethVanDagger]

Thanks mate, this video finally made things click for me. I now have a better understanding

[@ItsTOUGHtobeFascinating]

I'm new to film, so this video was very helpful. Thanks!

[@CARLOSGUTIERREZ65]

Trev is awesome. I got a chance to chat with him a bit at the Paiedeia. Great guy and photographer.

[@lifeonfilm7227]

Cool stuff. I usually meter off my hand If I tend to nail skin exposure. Otherwise I'm all about good old sunny 16!

[@hughwolfe1176]

Thank you Matt. This is good basic information film or digital. Makes me want to dig out my fathers old Contaflex vintage '53 and shoot a roll.

[@mattdayphoto]

Hugh Wolfe go for it!

[@nicholaschalmers4537]

Thanks so much Matt. This was perfectly explained.

[@austintexas29]

Loving all of these videos you've been pumping out lately man... as always

[@johngskewes]

Hi Matt- Your channel is very useful - thank you. I have recently been trying to unlearn digital photography, and learn...film photography. The most useful tools I have for learning right now are my Sekonic L-508 and my Fujifilm X-T3. Using the Fuji in manual mode (adapted manual lenses,) I meter the scene, make a judgement, then see the effect. After a few weeks of this, I am able to use the Fuji and the meter and not "cheat." I am more confident and the results are predictable. I set the meter and the camera ISO a half a stop apart - it's my feeling the camera is darker than film. I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks for all the great work. My film cameras are a Spotmatic and Zorki 4K.

[@theartistFKAjudge]

Dude THANK YOU!!! Just picked up a L-308X-U and needed to know wtf I need to do😂

[@jllanesphoto]

Great video, thanks Matt!!!

[@TracyClayton]

Gonna love the Matt Day + Darkroom Lab collaboration. Looking forward to it.

[@mattdayphoto]

Tracy Clayton thanks, man!

[@shaunhall8158]

Great video, thanks Matt.

[@matthewmendoza5729]

This video couldn't have come at a better time! Just got myself a Leica M2, so not having a meter has been worrying me a bit. After seeing this though, I'm much more confident in going out with a handheld and getting the shot. Keep up the great work!

[@awprc]

Just had to mention your Leica

[@matthewmendoza5729]

@@awprc Would have mentioned any camera I had. Have a good one!

[@awprc]

@@matthewmendoza5729 Just had to reply

[@jaymangussad9697]

This is really helpful Matt! I generally shoot overexposed by on stop metered in the shadows when shooting color negatives, i guess ill start trying to try and meter the midtones for maximum latitude. Keep em videos coming!

[@hayleywood462]

This was super helpful with the examples and exactly what I was looking for!

[@kribomon]

Great and informative video! Cheers Matt!

[@argallegos8558]

Helpful video. Thanks Matt!

[@aladinsarsipeus]

I’m learning 35mm film photography the dumb expensive way. Roll after roll of 35mm film. I did start using Lux a couple of weeks ago though😀

[@voyagersquaremuzika]

I never use light meter,i use my experience and sunny 16 rule. Great videos man!

[@_theyojimbo]

Great video streak this week Matt, been pretty bored lately and these are always interesting for me to watch! Been wanting you to make one about metering so I'm spoiled ahah

[@photog1529]

All meters (handheld, in-camera, etc.) provide mid-tone exposure readings. From that point, the photographer still needs to determine where he or she wants the shadows or highlights to fall and adjust the exposure accordingly. The meter reading is just a starting point.

[@spencerrobertson604]

Reflected and incident meters don’t work the same at all.

[@Pineappletrainable]

This was exactly what i was looking for, super good info. Thanks

[@mattdayphoto]

Glad to hear it!

[@aristoioannidis7490]

A Grade material Matt! Thanks you so much.

[@DirtyyDom]

That was so helpful and to the point. Thank you for this.

[@maxheadroom3000]

Finally the vid we needed. Thanks yo!

[@Crying_Kyle]

Legit the video that I was looking for only till recently I started wondering about how to use a light meter. Thank you Matt for this helpful video!

[@2filmshooters]

We always meter for the shadow! Good job man!

[@vectorhunter4659]

this video helps me a lot Matt! thank you

[@alteki]

Well done. Very useful information. Thank you.

[@nuj427]

Long time subscriber here. Like way back like when you uploaded just under five videos. Never commented but why not. First, man, if you've done a video like this maybe six years about you've would of really saved me tons of rolls. Started digital ten years ago, then jumped into film relaying on the meter and giving me a lot of crap in the beginning. Anyways, a great video to refresh the memories. I'm a SF native, but now living in France. If you're ever heading for Europe do let us know!

[@KeithCanisius]

Great video, just where I'm at in my learning curve..

[@Litosjr24TV]

thanks for this super helpful video. It has cleared some doubts i had...thanks again dude!

[@lolmdr431]

great video, thank you Matt !

[@GrandTreasureBay]

This was hugely helpful. Thank you!

[@AbduStudio]

Everything I needed to know! Thanks 😊

[@rebeccaharris334]

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

[@davehyper7835]

About the best advice you can get all compressed into a 6 min video! Excellent stuff sir!

[@timmyd999]

Super stuff matt. Would love a similar video of how to meter scenes at night :)

[@TankDude]

Outstanding video! Extremely helpful since I bought a Mamiya C330 :)

[@yangjiazhen]

Very nice video! Concise but informative. Thank you.

[@demkadeem]

Smartphone ones are pretty accurate. I use Lux and it hasn’t failed me yet

[@matthewjensen8681]

You're right there..... but it feels so good to use a light meter it makes me feel important and professional. I wouldn't have gotten one if my photo class didn't have it on the list of items to get. Sadly, the teacher said phones are just fine and I spent 200 bucks for nothing, but it's so nice to have a piece of kit /specifically/ made for one purpose.

[@mynciee]

Hey Matt! Thank you for the video. Looking forward to the next one because I have had mixed experiences with light metering apps. I will say however there are really simple sunny 16 apps out there- I use one that's just a simple slider with ISO, aperture and shutter speed and based on the lighting condition it your choices to what would work together.

[@elainethi]

thank you so much!! this is exactly what i was looking for (-:

[@janbeers3952]

Hello from Holland Matt. You mention exposure bracketing which seems a clever idea. How do you ‘remember’ what exposure you were shooting on in the first place? Do you take notes? When I get film back that is not exposures right I often miss that. And again an again I forget. Not so clever. Love your channel! Kind regards, Jan

[@leidibugz]

Was that light meter apps video finally uploaded? I'm curious about thatttt

[@terrywbreedlove]

I will be shooting Velvia 100 in 4x5 this week in a very green HOH rainforest. I will use my Sekonic but really not sure about my capabilities with it yet. I have 20 sheets and plan to shoot them all this week.

[@HenryTaala]

i always meter for shadows with my mamiya 7/canon a1. color film has multiple layers that you need to expose! if you underexpose, you’re only penetrating through half of those layers!

[@chrisperceval193]

Not true - the film has 3 layers but they do not block each other (they are sensitised to different frequencies) - a 400 speed colour film has the same sensitivity as a 400 B&W film. How you meter will depend on the negs you like to print and, if you are getting technical, the HD (Hurter/Driffield) (or d log E) curve of the film. Colour neg has a very long and not particularly steep straight mid section of the curve. Shouldering off is gentle meaning highlights are handled well without blow out. The contrast reducing mask (the orange thing) in the neg film helps create this sort of characteristic curve. Transparency film obviously cannot have the orange mask and normally has a much more S shaped curve with quite a steep mid section giving good mid tone separation. The trade off is less latitude meaning shadows can block or highlights blow more quickly. B&W films vary but are generally between the two. Some are more forgiving than others - Tri-X is more contrasty, having a steeper gamma than say HP5. TMax100 has very little shouldering off at the highlight end of the curve so highlights can blow pretty easily - careful exposure and developing is needed to avoid this - and make use of the many qualities this film has.

[@lexie95hannah]

FINALLY! i now get it. thank you!

[@michaelgizicki9625]

really great and helpful

[@VariTimo]

That’s why the Leica M5 is so awesome. It’s got a spot meter that’s super reliable. I can determine perfect exposure for slide film with it even in really insane contrast situations. I usually meter for the brighter parts of the shadows with negativ film because I don’t like that overexposed look and I want *all* the details in the highlight. Although often enough when shooting Portra 400 I just try not to underexpose to much and occasionally even shoot wide open in the daylight.

[@sonygoup]

I always meter for shadows, it doesn't always work. But I get a over/under exposed images every 2-3 images a roll. I just started using a Sekonic l308 for my Bronica and I'm confused because leaving the cover on gives a different reading then off. Most cases the off give good readings.

[@jonathanhornby]

I shot a short film using an Aaton Prod super-16mm camera. My DSLR, phone app and the Aaton camera’s meter all gave different readings. I decided trusting the Aaton’s meter, which meters for the light reflecting off the film; I used a grey card since the scenes showed all spectrums of skin tones. The Aaton metered about +1 to +2 compared to the DSLR but the results were perfect. I could have easily exposed for even more. Film is amazing, even IF there’s no LCD preview 😉 #ShotFilm #FilmWins

[@j.fontaine2491]

Great video. Great examples. Great hat. 🤟🏽

[@ShawnBrezny]

Spot on and enlightening 😀

[@mattdayphoto]

Shawn Brezny I see what you did there.

[@cjwillis6965]

Great Vid! This was extremely helpful.

[@leoneeds9311]

Thank you Matt, but you should have mentioned that all this information is about negative film, as slide film has absolutely different physics. It'll be cool to see your thoughts about slide film metering too

[@mattdayphoto]

Leo Shipelik 2:16

[@oopsydaisy74]

Looking forward to that metering app video

[@candykanefpv98]

4:40 how about metering off the middle shadows? not the darkest parts of his face, but the parts that are middle of the ground. Not highlights, not shadows. And then getting that dialed in to "neutral grey" and you've got highlights that aren't blown out, and shadows that are nice. So on a digital camera, using spot meter to get in on an area with nice neutral shadows. The lighter shadows on the face.

[@jeuneflingue307]

Thanks for this vid ! This was really clear ! :)

[@jacquelinepuga8315]

Super cool. Thanks!

[@Exercises10]

Good video thanks for sharing! You said color negative film holds highlight detail well so meter sometimes between highlights and shadows depending on how bright light is. What if shooting b&w does this logic hold true there too? I just bought my first film camera and I am excited to give this a try!! Thank you

[@marlon.iraheta]

Love it man thanks for the vid !!

[@Noealz]

great stuff matt

[@Emilioh888]

Good stuff

[@JakeSlabrock]

Great video! Thanks for making this

[@mattdayphoto]

Jake Shapiro Thanks for watching!

[@ribbitrocks]

i guess i'll never get the hang of this... when you say it all depends on the look you're going for, do you even think i know"? im just trying to get a decent photo.....its always easy when you do it every day and i don't :)

[@mdbdoc]

thank you for this!

[@Valentiono87]

Thank you very much!!!

[@edscannell1019]

Great video Matt....quick question were you shooting at box speed in those examples?

[@nineteenseventy4588]

The Lumu Light Meter app does have a very usable spot Meter in it which can be used without the rather expensive Lumu itself.

[@khalilhenderson4082]

This is great information, does distance matter as well? So If I’m further away from the subject should i consider metering differently? Or always meter up close.

[@sandrag.3855]

Great video. Just got myself a light meter so this is very useful. :D Looking forward for the smartphone app video. Hope you cover android apps as well...

[@joseuribe1552]

great info, however I shoot mostly b&w film, would you meter the same way? For digital I almost always meter for the highlights for a moody/dramatic look that I like. Would you meter the same for black and white film to get that moody look.

[@kayla9111]

I’m late but I love your channel thank u omg

[@portfolio641]

loooooovee these photos

[@alexczompoly4219]

Amazing video. What camera did u use tho?

[@johnmccarthy169]

Well, whatever happened to knowing about middle gray, and one stop over that and one stop under that idea relative to what you are looking to do? Or metering several places to get an idea about the number of stops?

[@westsenkovec]

Ok, what about a Leica rangefinder or SLR. The metering is center weighted, right? So can you put the center on the subject of the portrait to meter and then recompose? I'm asking you since you use a Leica and I don't know similar the results are compared to spot metering.

[@mattdayphoto]

West Senkovec yep! Same method!

[@chrisperceval193]

Just a note on reflected metering - extensive empirical research done many years ago in Rochester (NY - the original one is in Kent in the UK) and its environs lead to the conclusion that the 'average' scene reflects about 12-18% of the light that hits it. So, reflected light meters, in cameras or hand held meters are calibrated to assume that whatever they are pointed at will reflect 12% of the light hitting it. (Think of a Kodak grey card and go just a shade darker). Most of the time this is correct. But not always - a polar bear on a snow field or a black cat on a coal heap will fool the meter. In B&W terms the meter will imagine both scenes are a mid grey. So you will get a grey cat on a grey coal heap and a grey bear on grey snown (or at least that is what the neg will be like). But as Matt points out certain scenes (like a back lit subject) can throw the meter off too. Now that is to do with choosing where you want the tones to fall in a scene - where you want the mid tones, the highlights and the shadows etc to fall. Ultimately, this is what metering is about - where do you want the tones to fall - what do you want as a mid tone, a highlight etc. Also, what areas are you happy to chuck away into blocked shadow or white highlight. (Go buy a copy of Ansel Adams' book the Zone system - well worth it.) One word of caution for the digital shooter - digital is fussy - even if it does not seem so - and digital blow out is ugly - best avoided. A hand held meter does not imagine it is pointed at anything but can be fooled too - a very bright sky and a meter angled up a bit - bright objects nearby - may throw light into the meter that is not representative of the light actually hitting the subject and being reflected off it towards the camera. A lot of pros will angle the meter down slightly. I have come across some who wind the dome in too. Best way to learn, as Matt says, is to go try it. Get some E6 film meter in different ways, keep a note of what you did on each frame and stick the results onto a light box. Slide film is hugely unforgiving and you will learn heaps. But do remember to record how you metered each shot.

[@Dksupa94]

recommend using auto mode on light meter?