metering and exposure

[Myra]

Heidi, you mentioned in the challenge thread about discovering the light meter in your camera recently. I bought the book Understanding Exposure and it's still sinking in.

Could you share your revelation?

[HeidiKnight]

I read that book and LOVED it! It was a huge milestone for me too. Anyway, I finally grabbed a "field guide" for the D70 and lo and behold, we have a light meter in the viewfinder. Basically, it's a series of dashes at the bottom when you're looking in the viewfinder. Plus is over-exposed, minus is underexposed, and 0 is just right. When you set your camera and adjust the variables (shutter speed, aperture) the indicator tells you what the exposure is like (over, under, right on). There's probably a better way of explaining it - I'm editing engagement photos so I'm a little fried at the moment.