Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

What does a reflected-light meter aim to render when measuring exposure?

1. True white

2. True black

3. Middle gray

4. Bright color

The correct answer is: Middle gray

A reflected-light meter aims to render middle gray when measuring exposure. This is fundamentally important because the meter is designed to interpret the scene's brightness and provide exposure settings that average the scene to this neutral gray tone, which reflects about 18% of the light that hits it. The concept of middle gray is central to photographic exposure; it acts as a reference point for determining how light falls on a subject, balancing both highlight and shadow areas within the frame. Understanding this allows photographers to set their exposure based on how they want the final image to look, ensuring that the overall exposure is neither too dark nor too light. This approach can be particularly beneficial in varied lighting conditions, providing a solid basis for achieving accurate exposure across diverse scenes. While true white and true black are critical elements in dynamic range and tonal reproduction, the reflected-light meter does not specifically target these extremes, rather focusing on middle gray as a balanced representation of the scene's overall luminosity. Bright colors would also not represent the purpose of the reflected-light meter, as the meter aims for an average that provides a consistent reference for exposure calculations.