Controlling Exposure with Your Light Meter

Using a built-in light meter, you can force an over- or underexposure by pointing the camera at something darker or lighter. Meter off a darker subject, and your camera will overexpose. Meter off a lighter subject, and you’ll get an underexposure (see Figure 8.15). However, because your camera will probably lock focus at the same time as exposure, you’ll need to be certain you are metering off something that is at the same distance as the image you would like to have in focus, or use your camera’s exposure lock feature (if it has one).