Photography

How your camera meters a scene

and why it matters that you know it

I’m sure you’ve noticed that your camera has the ability to meter a scene and decide what it thinks is the best exposure settings for that scene. This is how it works in any automatic mode or semi-automatic mode you might operate your camera in. But do you have any idea how it does that or why it’s helpful to know how?

It’s a curious fact that on average when you look at a scene in front of you, that scene is reflecting back 18% of the light that is…