Light Meter

[Sabiesh]

I'm very new at doing portraits, and I have an assignment to take individual and group pictures of my orchestra. So, here's my biggest question:

Can you use the in-camera exposure meter for portraits, or do you need to have a hand-held incident light meter? Would it be good enough to just use the camera's meter with a gray card?

Also, when getting a meter reading, do you just get it for the person as a whole, or do you need to meter both sides of their face for the key light and the fill light?

One more question: I'm going to use my own home-made equipment for practice--a shower curtain with lamps, aluminum foil for a reflector etc. For the actual assignment, though, would it be best to rent more standard equipment like an umbrella and spot lights? Is there a big difference between expensive professional equipment and what you can rig up on your own?

 

[Sabiesh]

Oops I meant strobe lights at the end of my message, not spot lights--I think spot lights would be a little too bright!