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If you meter with both main and fill lights on and your meter reads higher than it did when you had just your main lights on, your fills are set higher than your main.
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Not so. Here's a simple example to illustrate. Let's say your main is on camera left and your fill is on camera right. Same power lights. Same distance from the subject. Same umbrella, etc. With just the main light on you register f/8. If you turn the other light on at the same power, you'll read f/11. Twice the light.
Even if your fill light is less intense than your main, the subject will be illuminated with more light than just the main light...thus requiring a smaller aperture.
You have to meter (with a white diffuser pointed at the camera) after all your lights are set, then re-set your aperture to match. That is, unless you're intentionally over/under exposing.
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