Understanding How Your Camera Meters Images

The way you see light and the way your camera sees light are quite different, and as such, it is important to understand the differences to ensure you get the correct exposure and to be able to anticipate when your camera might get it wrong. This great video tutorial discusses how cameras meter photos, what to be aware of, and when you should consider switching to manual metering. 

Coming to you from David Bergman with Adorama TV, this excellent video tutorial discusses how cameras meter light and when to consider using manual exposure instead. The fundamental thing to remember is that cameras do not have the contextual understanding of a scene that humans do. Your camera simply attempts to balance the overall exposure in the scene; it does not know if certain parts of it should actually be brighter or darker than the average object, and as such, it can be fooled (a common example is snow being underexposed due to this phenomenon). With all the advancements in AI being applied to things like autofocus for object recognition, I do wonder if we will eventually see such steps forward in metering, but for now, be sure to know your camera's limitations. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Bergman.