Photography: Using an incident light meter for better film photos

Prepare the Ground. (Tri-X 400, Nikon F3).

Miniature photography (and photography in general) has become substantially easier with the advent of advanced integrated light meters and digital displays that preview what the photo will look like when you press the shutter. These features, common on modern mirrorless and phone cameras (and DSLRs to an extent), make achieving a desired outcome more intuitive, since you can adjust settings and see the effects in real time. When taking miniature photos using film, however, things are more difficult. With film, you do not have the luxury of previewing the picture before taking it. Most film cameras have relatively simple integrated light meters that measure reflected light and estimate the necessary setting required to obtain what it thinks is a proper exposure (often trying to achieve 18% neutral gray). These, however, can be easily fooled when lighting conditions are not ideal, resulting in meter predictions that lead to over- or underexposed images, if you do not know how the meter works. For example, when using my Nikon F3 and Minolta SrT 201, their internal meters often overexpose images of miniatures, since the scenes I try to capture are dark and moody, but the integrated meter attempts to increase the exposure to achieve neutral gray. In the past few months, I have been using an external incident light meter to get around this issue.

I have been using a Calcu-Light-X Digital Exposure Meter, which can measure both reflective and incident light, for my miniature photography (thank you, @unsupervised_darkness, for gifting it to us!).

The white, translucent dome on the light meter is a lumisphere used to detect incident light (rather than reflected light).

The Church of the Red Athenæum - ILFORD Delta 100, Nikon F3

Hypatia Etranzi - ILFORD Delta 100, Nikon F3

As I suggested, most cameras measure light reflected back onto the image sensor, which is then processed to suggest the required settings for a proper exposure. Newer cameras are quite sophisticated and can do this very well, even in challenging situations, such as very dark or light environments. In contrast, older film cameras tend to be simpler, which makes trusting the meter exposure settings without thought a risk. An incident light meter gets around this issue because it is placed in the scene you are photographing, where it measures the light that falls on the subject (incident light) and then calculates the necessary settings for your camera. It does this via a lumisphere, a white, translucent dome that diffuses light, allowing the meter to measure the amount of light falling onto the meter (and therefore the subject). Thus, since it does not measure reflected light, it is not “fooled” by really dark or bright scenes. Importantly, you need to be able to place the incident light meter in the scene to get a measurement of the light falling onto it for it to work. This is not a problem when taking photos of miniatures or doing something like portrait photography. However, it is an issue for other types of photography, such as wildlife photography, since you cannot climb up in a tree and place the light meter next to that chirping songbird (you need to use a reflected light meter for this).

Chaos Dwarf - Tri-X 400, Nikon F3

Skaven warrior - FUJIFILM Neopan Acros 100II, Nikon F3

Vastarian skirmish - Tri-X 400, Nikon F3

When taking film photos of miniatures, I found the accuracy of an incident light meter removes a lot of the guesswork of getting a good exposure, often suggesting faster shutter speeds than the camera’s internal meter. This makes it easier to get a sharp photo, minimizing the possibility of introducing camera shake. With all this said, I often use a tripod and a remote shutter release cable to minimize camera shake and allow for long exposures. Being on a tripod is also very helpful with miniature photography, particularly if you use a macro lens, which has a very shallow depth of field. Using a tripod lets you fix the focus and carefully determine what is in focus. I am excited to continue to photograph miniatures with film, and with the help of an incident light meter, also take battle report photos on film, too!

- Eric Wier