A to Z Challenge - K

In photography, the term keylight refers to the main light source in a shot that may cast predominant shadows. In theater, that keylight might be a spot light. But in photography, it could be the flash lighting, a lamp, or it could be the sun.

It is important to be aware of all of the lighting in your photograph subject because each one of them will affect the exposure of your photographs. For example, if you take a picture of a subject who's back is towards the sun, the sunlight will affect your light sensors and when you take the photo that subject will likely be under lit and dark because the camera thinks the subject is well lit due to the sunlight in your picture.

The way to work around these issues is to learn to utilize the light meter option on your camera. There are three types of meter options: matrix, centered, and spot. Matrix will cause your camera to take into account all light sources in your subject and determine how much light is needed based on that. Center weighted metering will choose a center point of your subject and do the same. The final option, spot metering, will allow you to choose what point or spot on your subject should be considered by your camera to make that determination.

In this photo, I was in matrix. Given the lighting in the room, the camera lit the picture based on what it thought was needed. Had I used the spot metering option, and chosen Kermit as my spot, I would have gotten a better exposed photo. Live and learn.