Avoiding Shine on Bald Heads with Lux Meters

Lux meters are a very useful way of measuring the light inside a scene. This makes it possible to avoid the possibility of glare which can affect your films. If you are filming men with bald heads then this can be a serious cause of glare. To minimize any problems you will need to learn how to reduce this glare. Reducing glare is actually easier than you might imagine. It's simply a case of using a lux meter to correctly measure the amount of light bouncing off the head and any other areas in your photo.

A lux meter is very easy to use and by knowing exactly how to use it then you should find it much easier to make your videos look perfect. Lux meters might not be essential but they do make it easier to avoid any problems with glare or overexposure.

Step 1: Composition

Set your camera up and mount it on a tripod. Point it towards your subjects and get them to stand in front of the camera so that you can see them. When the video is composed properly you will be able to use the Lux meter to check the brightness and intensity of light bouncing off bald heads in the video.

Step 2: Setting the Meter up

Turn the meter on and set it into ambient light mode when using it outdoors. If you're using it indoors then you need to set it to incandescent mode. You need to be sure that you're using the right mode because it will make the results much more accurate.

Step 3: Setting the Meter Speed

The meter speed will have a number of different speed settings available. To get the most accurate results you must ensure that the speed is set correctly on both the meter and the camera. The meter can be set adjusting the menu or alternatively rotating a dial depending on the model you have and use.

Normally you will use low ISO settings when working with studio lights. When working outdoors you will generally want to use higher ISO settings. Change the setting on the meter every time you change your camera's settings otherwise the results will not be accurate.

Step 4: Measuring Distance

The first thing that you need to do with the meter is measure the distance between the camera and your subjects. To do this with most meters it's simply a matter of looking through the eyepiece and then pressing a button. This should then display the measurement.

Step 5: Measuring Light Intensity

Point the Lux meter towards your subject and aim it at the bald heads in your shot. This should make it much easier to correctly determine the right settings for your camera. The results displayed on the meter will be the aperture and shutter speed.

Some of the better meters are capable of selecting a number of different spots in the photo and calculating average values which will capture everything in the right exposures.

Video cameras are fairly easy to use. To get better and more professional results, however, you really need to use Lux meters and spend longer composing your shot rather than simply using it to point and shoot.