If you depend on your camera’s automatic settings or you rely on the inbuilt meter when you’re in manual mode, then don’t worry—you’re probably getting correct exposure every time. However, you’re often robbing yourself of unexpected, interesting photos that you could get with creative use of exposure. Don’t be afraid to leave the safe zone of average exposure and try getting creative with your pictures!

A camera’s built-in light meter measures the level of incident light and adjusts aperture, shutter speed, and ISO based on that. Your exposure mode setting determines how your camera will work with the light levels that it measures. Depending on the mode, the camera will either adjustments fully automatically, or leave you a certain amount of control over a photo’s final tonality. Meanwhile in manual mode, the meter has no effect on the exposure settings at all. What exposure modes do DSLRs offer and how are they useful? We’ll be answering these questions in today’s article.

The exposure meters built into digital cameras generally do their work well and make your job as a photographer a lot easier. But in certain complex situations they can get confused. That’s why for precise exposure metering, you can either use aids that help the camera’s built-in light meter, or use external light meters. These, the higher-quality option, measure the light actually contained in the scene.