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“Chaco Canyon, NM, 1995,” by Russ Gilbert. Courtesy of the photographer.

Getting to Know Your Meter

Meter Types: Luminance and Illuminance

There are two types of light meters. The most popular type is commonly used to measure the light that’s reflected toward the camera from some subject surface. For this reason, photographers generally call these meters reflectance meters or even reflected (light) meters, but that doesn’t describe their capability completely. They’re equally effective for measuring transmitted or emitted light such as the glow of a stained glass window or the incandescence of hot metal or flowing lava. We perceive reflected, ...

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