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To answer that question, first weâll explore if a smartphone is capable of metering light accurately at all. Then, weâll take a look at how it compares to using a dedicated meter. And finally, weâll apply what weâve learnt to assess each light meter app individually.
The psychological influence of contrast lighting can be traced back to evolutionary biology. Humans have naturally evolved to be sensitive to light variations during different times of the day, impacting mood and behavior. Filmmakers capitalize on this innate sensitivity to manipulate how audiences react to visual storytelling. Through strategic use of light and shadow, they can subtly influence an audience's mood, leading them to feel more engaged and emotionally connected to the narrative.
Taking photos with the help of Light Meter Ultra is a genuine pleasure. The big, easy-to-adjust dials on the bottom of the screen click into place as you input your exposure values. The top half of the screen is dedicated to a targeting spot and the primary reading. Switching between aperture and shutter priority modes is achieved with a swift glide of the finger across the screen.
Contrast lighting is a fundamental tool in media production, altering how audiences perceive and interpret visual content. By manipulating how light and shadow interact, media creators can significantly enhance the storytelling process.
Unlike most of the other apps Iâve reviewed, Light Meter Ultra updates its exposure reading continuously. This can be really useful for quickly getting an idea about exposure variations in a scene. When youâre ready to input a reading, point the targeting circle at your subject and hit the lock button.
In my experiments, these methods can result in errors of two or more stops. Therefore, take any readings from apps which offer these metering modes with caution.
Lightme does include a continuous measurement option that allows you to see the reading change as you point it at various parts of the scene, but with so many numbers moving around it can be hard to keep track of what youâre looking at.
Contrast lighting plays an instrumental role in storytelling within films and photographs by manipulating light and shadows to influence the viewer's perception. It is a technique used to promote deeper understanding of a scene's emotional undertones and narrative pathways.
Despite my struggles with the interface, once I was up and running the meter performed well, faithfully relaying suitable exposure values for the scene.
In addition to the deviceâs natural reflective metering mode, the app offers an incidental mode. Typically, smartphones adapted to being incidental meters suffer with significant accuracy problems for reasons that I go into above. Unfortunately, myLightMeter PRO is no exception. This is tacitly acknowledged by the developer in their manual with a recommendation to âmake your own testsâ.
The optics and computing power available on todayâs smartphones are nothing short of phenomenal. You already hold in your hand a device that the technology giants have invested billions of research and development dollars into â you may as well make the most of it!
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Contrast lighting is a technique used in photography and cinematography to create visual interest and depth by using varying levels of light intensity and shadow. This method enhances textures, highlights details, and directs the viewer's focus to specific areas within an image or scene. Mastering contrast lighting involves strategically placing light sources to balance highlights and shadows, resulting in a dynamic and captivating visual composition.
A big part of it is software. Nowadays, a modern evaluative exposure algorithm does so much more than average a few spots of light. A modern evaluative exposure algorithm is able to assess a scene in real time to detect faces and specific skin tones, recognise backlighting, determine if the scene is indoors or outdoors and more.
The first thing that strikes you about Lightme is its user interface. Much like myLightMeter PRO, Lightme has approached its interface by replicating the look and feel of a vintage light meter.
The only problem with a digital interface so tightly aligned to its vintage inspiration is that it can interfere with its operation â the preview in the âclassicâ mode is smaller than the appâs own logo.
The secret to great exposures with a light meter app lies in harnessing the deviceâs strengths. And one of your smartphoneâs biggest strengths is its exposure algorithm.
Remember, the source of lighting in contrast lighting techniques is often hard and directional, helping create sharp edges between light and dark areas.
While each light meter app will come with its own approach and unique set of features, there are some elements that are essential for getting the most from your photography. We need to look for apps that are:
Contraste lightingout of Business
High contrast lighting is often employed in films to create dramatic visual effects and evoke particular moods. This lighting style is significant in defining the narrative and visual aesthetics of a film.
As a storytelling tool, contrast lighting carries profound cultural implications. Different cultures utilize lighting styles to convey themes and express narratives:
It took me some time to work out how to actually take a reading with this app. At first I felt I had unwittingly entered a game of whack-a-mole as I found myself moving dials into position and locking them, only to have them unlock again when I attempted to input another value. Tapping the âpauseâ icon helped keep things stable long enough for me to take a reading â but it does take some getting used to.
The caveat to this is that in low-light conditions the video preview may appear under-exposed. This is caused by the device attempting to maintain a stable video frame rate in poor lighting conditions.
For the most part, the following apps fulfil the above criteria, and where exceptions arise I mention them in the review:
Taking a more minimalist approach in its metering interface is Photo Light & Exposure Meter. The top two-thirds of the screen are taken up by a spacious exposure preview that allows you to tap to select a point of focus. Below that sits the dials for selecting ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
However, this doesnât mean that the readings are unusable. In our experience, the readings will continue to be accurate at impressively low levels of light. Experiementation is recommended in order to get a feel for the limits of your particular device.
Thereâs room to grow too, as once your camera bag grows, Light Meter Ultra allows you to create a profile for each camera, lens and film type. This ensures you only get shown exposure values that are compatible with your current equipment selection.
Unlike the rest of the apps in this round-up, myLightMeter PRO doesnât offer a free tier, so even if you just want to try youâll need to pay outright.
Consider a stage play with a scene set in a dimly lit room. Contrast lighting can be used to illuminate only the protagonist, leaving other characters in shadow, to accentuate the emotional isolation felt by the character.
On opening myLightMeter PRO, itâs immediately apparent that a tremendous amount of care has been taken in faithfully reproducing the look and feel of a vintage pinwheel lightmeter. The luxury wood surround, the individual screws holding together the front plate â itâs a visual feast.
Thereâs an incredible amount of choice when it comes to light meter apps for photography, and itâs fair to say that some choices are better than others. So which should you choose?
In Akira Kurosawa’s films, the interplay of light and shadow often reflects characters' internal struggles, using minimalistic contrast to convey deep philosophical concepts.
LiteharborLighting
Lightmate peforms well as a light meter just as long as your equipment marries to its particular setup; thereâs no option here for increments other than half-stops, and thereâs no way to constrain your values to minima and maxima other then the defaults.
One question Iâm often asked is âhow accurate can a light meter app be anyway?â And the answer is that a light meter app on your phone can be at least as accurate as a dedicated device â and in many ways itâs even more capable. But like anything, itâs important to understand where the relative strengths and weaknesses lie.
LitelineLighting
Achieving high contrast lighting involves specific techniques, such as placing a hard light source at an angle to the subject. This results in pronounced differences between lit and shadowed areas, achieving the desired dramatic effect. Additionally, controlling the background and light fall-off is essential to ensure the focus remains on the subject.
Of course, as one of the developers that works on Light Meter Ultra youâd be well within your rights to think Iâm less than impartial. Luckily though, you donât need to take my word for it. Download Light Meter Ultra today, take advantage of the free trial, and see for yourself.
Consider a scene in a thriller where the protagonist is interrogated under a swinging bulb. The high contrast lighting emphasizes the tension and keeps viewers on edge.
This technique involves adjusting the light in a scene to cast pronounced shadows. It typically requires positioning a strong light source at an angle to the subject. The stark differences between the illuminated areas and the dark shadows provide the contrast that defines this style.
Likewise, the incident mode suffers from the same limitations as myLightMeter PRO and so I would avoid these functions completely.
Nor is it possible to take incidental readings with any great accuracy. For one thing, your deviceâs lens is designed to take reflective readings.
At first glance, a spot-meter might seem the most similar to a light meter app, but even here there are subtle differences. A traditional spot meter will attempt to meter for middle grey, but if you attempt to do the same thing on-device, by the time your device has done its work to create the best possible on-device preview, the video output is no longer useful for extrapolating a reliable reading.
From there, you can input the displayed exposure values into your camera right away. Or, with the lock still engaged, youâre free to adjust the dials to experiement with alternative exposure values â or even modes. This unique capability gives you all the flexibility of something like an old-fashioned pinwheel interface but with none of the clutter.
For example, a Light Meter app canât replicate the functionality of a Flash Meter â the latency of the optical sensor makes it impossible to get a usable reading in the short window of time the photons of a flash gun remain in-flight.
Historically, contrast lighting has roots in baroque and renaissance art, where artists like Caravaggio used light and shadow to evoke drama and emotion. This artistic tradition translated into the film and media industry as techniques such as chiaroscuro became integral to visual storytelling. In modern applications, technological advancements allow filmmakers and photographers to further refine these effects with precision, creating even more dynamic and evocative visual narratives.
Lightme also boasts a spot-metering mode that can be accessed by tapping on the preview window. Unfortunately, in my testing of version 2.5.4, the reading suffered from up to 2-stop deviations from middle grey which makes this unsuitable for typical spot-metering applications.
Beyond conventional uses, high contrast lighting has evolved in digital cinematography. Filmmakers now use advanced CGI and post-processing techniques to mimic or enhance the natural effects of light and shadow. This modern approach allows more creative freedom, permitting scenes that range from hyper-realistic to surrealistic, expanding the boundaries of storytelling possibilities.
Generally, if you can see detail in the in-app preview, you should find that you can capture that detail in the final exposure too.
From maximalist to minimalist. Lightmate benefits from an edge-to-edge exposure preview that makes it easy to get a sense of your exposure. The requisite exposure values are pinned to the right side of the screen and can be adjusted by swiping to the left or right.
As helpfully explained by the app onboarding on first run, the app operates in an either aperture or shutter priority mode. Tapping the aperture value engages the aperture priority mode, locks the aperture value to your selection, and leaves the shutter speed to free float according to exposure conditions. Likewise, tapping the shutter speed value engages the shutter priority mode.
Remember, smartphone manufacturers are at a distinct space disadvantage when compared to traditional camera manufacturers. Fundamentally, the physics of light make it impossible to achieve the same performance characteristics as bigger lenses and sensors, and yet each year smartphone cameras get better and better results. So, how do they do it?
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Imagine a film scene where a detective walks into a dimly lit room, the light from the street lamp outside casting sharp angles and shadows. This use of contrast lighting enhances the film's suspenseful and moody atmosphere.
Using a well-designed light meter app is notable for its simplicity. Unlike with a dedicated light meter where you have no preview of how an exposure might look, a light meter app provides a video preview interface that allows you to quickly assess overall exposure levels.
The theory behind contrast lighting revolves around the strategic use of illuminated and shadowed areas to guide audience focus and convey complex themes. This method can make narratives visually compelling while enhancing the storyline.
A good light meter app should be a trusted companion: with you at all times, helping you to get the shot. Image: Alexander Andrews
Luckily for us, thanks to standardization, we can leverage these algorithms in order to set the exposure values for the rest of our photographic equipment. Truly, itâs the best of both worlds. The simplicity of digital, with the unassailable personality of film.
While it can be tempting to strap on an after-market diffuser or fashion one out of paper, be aware that the margin of error can be significant. Cameras vary between device models and iterations, and so without calibration to account for these differences a diffuser canât be relied upon to produce an accurate reading.
It does this by using machine learning algorithms trained on millions of images to identify and recognise objects and patterns in a scene, constantly adjusting exposure to achieve a perfect balance. No easy feat.
Dominating the screen on the left hand side is a pinwheel slide which shows a combination of possible exposures for the current measurement. On the right is a small preview window with a measure button. Below that are some additional dials for setting the all important ISO and exposure compensation.
Contrast lighting is a crucial technique in the world of cinema and photography. It emphasizes the differences between light and shadow to create mood, depth, and interest in an image. This method often results in high dynamic ranges, showcasing bright highlights and deep shadows.
Not only is Light Meter Ultra the most intuitive and easy-to-use light meter, but it also packs an incredible amount of power. Its interface delivers all the flexibility of a pinwheel interface, but with none of the visual overwhelm. Its large exposure preview makes assesing a scene a cinch, and its large dials and quick-swipe mode changes mean youâre less likely to miss a shot.
Moving into the âproâ mode and youâre presented with an interface that, while similarly styled, no longer bears any resemblance to a traditional light meter. Here, the preview is similarly miniaturised, but now permits tapping into a larger preview to select a point of focus. Thereâs also the addition of a hyper focus scale.