Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

What type of light metering is considered less effective due to averaging the entire scene?

1. Incident

2. Spot

3. Reflected

4. Matrix

The correct answer is: Reflected

Reflected light metering is considered less effective in certain situations because it averages the light across the entire scene being photographed. This averaging can lead to inaccurate exposures, particularly in scenes with high contrast, where shadows and highlights coexist. For example, if a photographer is in a bright setting with a person in the shade, reflected light metering might cause the camera to overexpose the subject, thinking the overall scene is brighter than it actually is. In contrast, incident metering measures the light falling on the subject directly, making it more accurate for exposure settings because it does not take the scene's reflected properties into account. Spot metering focuses on a very small part of the scene, allowing for precise exposure readings in areas with specific lighting conditions. Matrix metering combines various metering strategies to adaptively measure light across the scene, making it versatile but also somewhat dependent on the camera's algorithms. Therefore, the inability of reflected light metering to isolate the light in a complex scene makes it less effective in those situations, reinforcing the choice of this option as the correct answer.