light), not the actual light the subject is reflecting (reflective light). Obviously
if I’m using a reflective flash meter, like the one found inside a Leica R9 cam-
era, then I would make no adjustments. Of course, most cameras have reflec-
tive “existing light” meters and rely on using their own proprietary flash unit
with distance calculations to determine exposure. They cannot provide reflec-
tive flash-meter readings from studio power packs or monolight systems.
Now, when working with incident flash meters, this technique is great for
indoor or outdoor work. However, I also take into account the Inverse Square
Law before I pull out a light meter. As an example, if my light is 4 feet from
my subject and I have to reduce the light output by a full f-stop—without ad-METERING AND EXPOSURE 105Sometimes I get into the mood for
black & white images made using
only low, ambient light—as in this
case with Playboy model Ashly. I
capture the image in color and con-
vert it into black & white using either
Adobe Lightroom and/or Nik Soft-
ware tools. Photographed in the Vir-
gin Islands during one of my
glamour photography workshops, I
purposely set the camera ISO to
3200 for a grainy effect. (CAMERA:
Canon EOS 5D fitted with a Canon
70–200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. SET-
TINGS:105mm effective focal length,
(^1) / 160 second shutter speed, f/2.8,
white balance at 4900K, ISO 3200)