Photography Exposure and Metering Questions and Answers Flashcards
6 cards from real Photography practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Photography Exposure and Metering Questions and Answers flashcards as text
What is the Sunny 16 Rule used for in photography?
Answer: Estimating correct exposure in daylight without a meter
The Sunny 16 Rule states that on a sunny day, correct exposure is achieved at f/16 with a shutter speed equal to the reciprocal of the ISO (e.g., ISO 100 = 1/100s at f/16).
When using center-weighted metering, which part of the frame has the most influence on the exposure reading?
Answer: The central 60-80% of the frame with emphasis on the middle
Center-weighted metering averages the entire scene but assigns the greatest importance to the central area (typically 60-80%), making it well-suited for centered subjects like portraits.
What is the primary risk of exposing to the right (ETTR) in digital photography?
Answer: Clipping highlights beyond recovery
Exposing to the right maximizes tonal data by pushing the histogram rightward, but going too far clips highlight detail that cannot be recovered in post-processing.
In a scene with strong backlighting, what exposure issue does the camera's meter typically produce?
Answer: The subject appears as a dark silhouette because the meter overcompensates for the bright background
Strong backlighting causes the meter to reduce exposure to account for the bright background, resulting in the foreground subject being rendered too dark or silhouetted.
What does an incident light meter measure compared to a reflected light meter?
Answer: Light falling on the subject rather than light bouncing off it
An incident meter measures the intensity of light arriving at the subject's position using a white dome, providing an exposure reading unaffected by the subject's reflectance or color.
What is the exposure difference between each full stop of ISO (e.g., ISO 100 to ISO 200)?
Answer: The sensor becomes twice as sensitive, doubling the brightness
Each full stop increase in ISO doubles the sensor's sensitivity to light, meaning the captured image becomes one stop (twice as) bright with all other settings held constant.