How to Use a Light Meter, with Mark Wallace

This course will be free to watch while streaming on YouTube Live on 10/3/2026 from 1:00–4:00 PM EST and will be available for purchase after the event.

Most photographers rely on the meter built into their camera — and most photographers have been fooled by it. Reflective, through-the-lens (TTL) metering simply averages everything in the frame to middle gray. It doesn't know that the bride's white dress should stay white, or that the groom's black tux should stay black, and it has no idea which part of your scene actually matters. In this class, Mark Wallace breaks down exactly how reflective metering works, where it goes wrong, and why a dedicated handheld light meter gives you the control your camera's meter simply can't.

Starting with a clear, practical refresher on the exposure triangle, Mark shows how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work together for ambient, natural-light exposures — and how to set your meter and your camera to agree with each other in full manual mode. Then he introduces the concept that changes everything once flash enters the picture: the exposure diamond. Once you add a strobe, a single exposure becomes two — one for the ambient light in the scene and one for the flash — and now you have a fourth variable, flash power, to manage alongside ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Mark walks through cordless, sync-cable, and radio-triggered flash metering, and shows exactly where to point the lumisphere for people, products, and flat art.

From there, the class moves into the real-world techniques that separate a snapshot from a controlled, professional image: metering for highlights and shadows, building specific light ratios, mixing ambient and flash (and eliminating ambient entirely when you don't want it), and using your meter's memory and delta EV functions to keep a look consistent across an entire shoot. Mark also covers reading and understanding the analog scale, checking your camera's dynamic range, and calibrating your meter to your specific camera and lenses. You'll also learn how to measure flash duration for action-freezing exposures.

Whether you're picking up a light meter for the first time or you already own one and want to actually understand what it's telling you, this class will get you shooting with precision and confidence instead of guesswork.

This class includes a dedicated 30 minutes of Q&A directly with Mark Wallace.

This class includes a giveaway with Sekonic. Click here for giveaway details.

What You'll Learn

• Explain why your camera's built-in reflective (TTL) meter can be fooled by blacks, whites, and mixed light sources — and why a handheld meter fixes that.
• Take accurate incident and reflected light readings using the lumisphere in both its extended and retracted positions.
• Set up your light meter and match its readings to full manual mode on your camera.
• Balance ambient light and flash using the exposure diamond, so you can dial in a consistent look shot after shot.
• Meter for highlights, shadows, and light ratios to control contrast in a studio lighting setup.
• Use your meter's memory, mid-tone, and delta EV functions to build repeatable, professional lighting setups.

Who It's For

• Photographers who currently rely only on their camera's built-in meter and screen and want more accurate, repeatable exposures.
• Photographers moving from natural/ambient light into studio strobes, speedlights, or multi-light setups.
• Portrait, product, and studio photographers who need consistent light ratios and exposure from shot to shot.
• Anyone who owns — or is considering buying — a handheld light meter and wants to understand how to use it.
• Intermediate to advanced photographers and cinematographers ready to move beyond auto and semi-auto exposure modes.

How to Join

• This class will be free to watch while it is streaming live on YouTube.
• The YouTube Live link will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.
• After the live event, the class will be available for purchase.

About the Instructor

Mark Wallace is a commercial photographer and educator based in Phoenix, Arizona, and the founder of Snapfactory, a full-service photography and video production studio. He's best known for his long-running tutorial series Digital Photography One on One and Exploring Photography, which have reached millions of viewers on YouTube and helped establish him as one of the most trusted teaching voices in photography. Mark's commercial and editorial work has been used by brands and outlets including Sekonic, Profoto, Tether Tools, The Washington Post, and NPR.

On CreativeLive, Mark is known for breaking down technical subjects — lighting, camera settings, post-production workflows — into clear, practical steps that beginners and working photographers can put to use immediately. He brings that same approachable, hands-on teaching style to his classes, walking students through each tool step by step rather than assuming prior knowledge.