GlassMeter · Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Photo Safari
Yosemite, any day of the year, through a classic film camera. Pick a viewpoint and an hour, let GlassMeter read the light, and take a picture — your print develops in seconds.
Press METER on the phone Press the white shutter button Watch your print develop
Where to stand Tunnel View
Explore
WeatherC
Move tripodV
Watch the dayY
Wait for wildlifeO
LandmarksI
Camera
Open hoodW
Look inD
LoupeZ
Preview depthX
Tripod headH
Take apartE
Page
SoundN
ShareK
About?
18:36
AVERAGE
Portra 400
Drag to aim · click to spot-meter · double-click to focus
DoF —
—
EV —
METER
Where to stand Jump to a viewpoint, or to a moment worth the trip — the day, the hour, the weather and the lens, already set.
All Best light Ansel Adams
Click the ground to set the tripod down · Esc to cancel
✕
About this page
A meterless camera, a real valley.
This camera was made in 1988 without a light meter: photographers carried one in their pocket. GlassMeter is that meter for your phone, with 30 films and the Zone System built in. Here you can use both together, at the real Yosemite, any day of the year.
What's real
The valley. Elevation from USGS 3DEP (1 m lidar around each viewpoint), colour and land cover from USDA NAIP aerial imagery, and the Merced from USGS hydrography. The sun and moon follow their true paths for any date you choose, the stars and Milky Way turn overhead at night, and the sky is a physically based atmosphere.The light. Scene brightness is calibrated so a grey card in noon sun meters EV 15. The meter reads what the lens sees, just like the app.The film. The curves, grain, halation and filter responses are the app's own code, ported line for line.The optics. Field of view, depth of field and the aperture scale come from the lens maker's published data. The camera's screen shows the lens wide open and mirror-reversed, as the real one does.
How to shoot
Drag inside the phone's viewfinder to aim.
Optional: click the brightest and darkest things you care about. Each pin shows how light or dark it will print — its zone , from 0 (black) through V (mid-grey) to X (white).
Press METER : the free dial turns to the right exposure. Press the grey button at a dial's hub to lock it (it turns red).
Double-click the viewfinder to focus there, or turn the lens's focusing ring in 3D.
Press the white shutter button. The mirror flips, the shutter clicks, and your print develops in the tray.
New to this camera? Camera School teaches it hands on: the crank, the dark slide, the lenses — and how to meter with GlassMeter.
Keys
M meter · F shoot · L next lens · G show or hide the phone[ ] aperture · − = shutter speed · , . focus · arrows aimB where to stand · C weather · V move the tripod · I landmark names · Y watch the day · O wait for wildlife · P pause time · T time speedW open the hood · D look in · Z loupe · X preview depth · H tripod head · E take apartN sound · K share link · ? this panel · Esc close
Credits
Elevation: USGS 3DEP. Imagery: USDA NAIP. Hydrography: USGS NHD. Names: USGS GNIS (all public domain). Stars: Yale Bright Star Catalogue. Milky Way: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, Deep Star Maps 2020; Gaia DR2: ESA/Gaia/DPAC (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO). El Capitan's face: USGS ground-based lidar and imagery, May 4 2022 (Corbett, Collins & Helfrich; CC0). Half Dome, Bridalveil and Royal Arches: USGS 3DEP 2019 airborne lidar; Half Dome's colour from the photographer's own photographs. Fine rock detail on El Capitan's west face, Cathedral Rocks, Sentinel Rock, Royal Arches and the Yosemite Falls cliff: the site's own AI edits (Google Flow) of tree-free renders of this scene, projected back onto the lidar terrain through the renders' cameras. The Moon: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio CGI Moon Kit (LRO LROC colour mosaic, public domain), placed by the IAU rotation model. Ground and bark textures: Poly Haven (CC0). The camera is modelled from the original service manual's drawings and the lens datasheets; it carries a Glass Works nameplate and is not affiliated with the original maker. Built with three.js.
Grinding the glass…
Building Yosemite from USGS lidar — about ten seconds the first time.
GLASSMETER
GlassMeter / Photo Safari