Reflected light reading

All camera meters use ‘reflected light readings’, measuring the light reflected off the subject to gauge the exposure. It’s straightforward and obvious enough, but it has a major flaw. This method doesn’t distinguish between bright light and objects which are naturally bright in themselves. This is where you need to adjust the exposure manually because no camera can do it for you. It might have the most sophisticated metering system in the world, but it doesn’t have the brain needed to figure out whether objects are instrinsically light or dark in themselves.