Exposure Compensation


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darkavgr

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See this website

http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/photo_world/cbp/better_pict6.htm

Basically it says that when shooting frame where most of it is bright, i.e sky or snow...we shd +EV

and that if frame is dark...we shd -EV

I thought was other way around...i.e if backdrop is snow, sea etc then I shd -EV as meter wd have been biased towards brightness.

Can someone shed some light ? ;)
 

If your girlfriend is sitting in the middle of the snow field, the camera will expose for the brightness of the white snow, and your girlfriend's face will be very dark in the picture, although the snow looks very nicely exposed. Believe me, her face will also turn dark when she sees the picture. By using exposure compensation of +1, the background will be over-exposed, but her face will be nicely exposed.

The opposite applies for dark backgrounds.
 

darkavgr, the rule for exposure compensation is: add light for bright and substract light for dark. The reason is beacuse the camera meter tends to render the picture into MIDDLE tone. So a white is no longer white but gray, and same to the black. Consequently, a middle tone subject in a bright background will be underexposed, and a bright subject in a dark background will be overexposed.

However, it depends on how u meter. If u use spot metering and meter a person's face (middle tone), then u still get correct exposure regardless of background (say white snow). And if u spot-meter white snow and +1~+2 stops compensation u also get correct exposure. There are many books out there detailing this issue. u may disable the evalutive/matrix type of metering modes and shoot with center-weight/spot metering to figure out how to compensate.
 

Thanks, Streetshooter..

In the scene where person is agst background of snow or brightness, I wd imagine that fill-flash wd be way to go.
I had a few pics some time ago where I spot metered her face,
AE locked and snapped. Kind of knew that her face wd be under-exposured if I had just snapped.

Resultant pic of cos is her face correctly exposed but background was washed out. Pic looked terrible !
Learnt lesson here to use flash even in daylight.

Tom, thanks. I think I need to practice for such scenarios.
Got a current roll in the camera where I had played around with +/- EV but are mainly flash shots indoors.
Not developed yet hence can't comment.

I shoot mainly print and given wide latitude of print film, I guess no harm fooling around with the settings ;-)
 

I'm glad you brought this up, because honestly I did not know about it. I simply reasoned it out based on the recommendation and what I knew.

The reason I'm glad is that I'll be going on a skiing trip to Korea in December. I'll remember to do the +exp bit.
 

When a person is strongly backlit, my metering choice would be:
1. Center-weight: Av, exposure compensation +1/3~+1, ISO100, fill-in flash +1~+2.
2. Partial metering: Av, exposure compensation -1/3~-1, ISO 100, fill-in flash +1~+2.

I'd suggest anyone who is not clear about exposure compensation shoot in center-weight/partial metering modes first. Also, I found digital photography tends to spoil us as we can always go back to adjust brightness/contrast. Being sensitive to light and building up a habit to compensate for each shot we take are extremely important for success. Some pros claim that they had spent more than 10 years to figure it out...
 

Originally posted by tomshen
Also, I found digital photography tends to spoil us as we can always go back to adjust brightness/contrast. Being sensitive to light and building up a habit to compensate for each shot we take are extremely important for success. Some pros claim that they had spent more than 10 years to figure it out...

I sense you are drawing near to the dark side and will buy a film camera soon (probably a Lei......).

Seriously. digital photography, instead of "spoiling" us, is a great learning tool, because you can check your result immediately (histogram and all) and learn to become sensitive to the available light and adjust accordingly.
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter


I sense you are drawing near to the dark side and will buy a film camera soon (probably a Lei......).

Seriously. digital photography, instead of "spoiling" us, is a great learning tool, because you can check your result immediately (histogram and all) and learn to become sensitive to the available light and adjust accordingly.
hehe, i got my film body (EOS30) before D60, I was lured into serious photography by slides, not DSLR:) And these days I started shooting more slides, great fun! But somehow I miss 1.6x multiplier, my D60 shots are much more effective to get rid of distractive background...
 

Tom,

Not sure what's partial metering, dont think my EOS30 has this.

Other than the subject against bright or dark backgrounds, are there any other situations where I shd use exposure compensation ?

darkavgr
 

EOS has partial metering, but no spot metering.

In fact, u need to compensate for EVERY shot u take!, be it 0 or +/-. Nowadays ppl are too happy with evalutive/matrix types of metering. The camera compensate for the photographer. This is not good for learning and mastering the theory and practice of exposure, which is the basis for becoming a better photographer. I use Canon system, the design of the camera makes it very easy to compensate, without removing my eye from the viewfinder and only one-hand operation. I am training myself to compensate for each pic i take. It's hard and in many cases there is no time to think about it, but i believe sooner or later i can make it, as a second nature. And only by the time, i will be more consistently getting better exposure.
 

Originally posted by tomshen
EOS has partial metering, but no spot metering.

In fact, u need to compensate for EVERY shot u take!, be it 0 or +/-. Nowadays ppl are too happy with evalutive/matrix types of metering. The camera compensate for the photographer. This is not good for learning and mastering the theory and practice of exposure, which is the basis for becoming a better photographer. I use Canon system, the design of the camera makes it very easy to compensate, without removing my eye from the viewfinder and only one-hand operation. I am training myself to compensate for each pic i take. It's hard and in many cases there is no time to think about it, but i believe sooner or later i can make it, as a second nature. And only by the time, i will be more consistently getting better exposure.

Judging by your animal shots, you're almost there already!
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter

Judging by your animal shots, you're almost there already!
Thanks you!:) but far from it anyway (I am telling the truth). It should be a long way to go...
 

Originally posted by darkavgr
Thanks, Streetshooter..

In the scene where person is agst background of snow or brightness, I wd imagine that fill-flash wd be way to go.
I had a few pics some time ago where I spot metered her face,
AE locked and snapped. Kind of knew that her face wd be under-exposured if I had just snapped.

Resultant pic of cos is her face correctly exposed but background was washed out. Pic looked terrible !
Learnt lesson here to use flash even in daylight.

Tom, thanks. I think I need to practice for such scenarios.
Got a current roll in the camera where I had played around with +/- EV but are mainly flash shots indoors.
Not developed yet hence can't comment.

I shoot mainly print and given wide latitude of print film, I guess no harm fooling around with the settings ;-)

I'm having this problem too, even with spot metering, taking pictures of ppl in the shade and the background is a landscape with sun. Result is either overexposed surroundings or underexposed face. Do I really need to buy a fill flash to get these shots right ? I'm not exactly happy with the results of the camera flash in these situations.. too harsh shadows under the chin etc..
 

Originally posted by tomshen
darkavgr, the rule for exposure compensation is: add light for bright and substract light for dark. The reason is beacuse the camera meter tends to render the picture into MIDDLE tone. So a white is no longer white but gray, and same to the black. Consequently, a middle tone subject in a bright background will be underexposed, and a bright subject in a dark background will be overexposed.

sorry, i'm a little lost.. i see 2 meters in my camera.. the meter i see when i do Manual has the + on the left and - on the right. The exposure compensation has the - on the left and + on the right.. i'm often confused as to which to use..
 

Originally posted by shawntim


I'm having this problem too, even with spot metering, taking pictures of ppl in the shade and the background is a landscape with sun. Result is either overexposed surroundings or underexposed face. Do I really need to buy a fill flash to get these shots right ? I'm not exactly happy with the results of the camera flash in these situations.. too harsh shadows under the chin etc..

hmm... perhaps positioning the camera (with flash on) to shoot from a lower perspective will help..... or take the pic with the camera (with flash) upside down ;p
 

I'm having this problem too, even with spot metering, taking pictures of ppl in the shade and the background is a landscape with sun. Result is either overexposed surroundings or underexposed face. Do I really need to buy a fill flash to get these shots right ? I'm not exactly happy with the results of the camera flash in these situations.. too harsh shadows under the chin etc

you will need to understand the film( slide ) canallow only 5 stops (correct if i am wrong) of light and negative has 7-8 stops of light(ccorrect if i am worng) . hence you cannot have everthing at your ideal exposure. hence one way is to cheat by adding artifical light whcih is flash so that all the subjects will more or less lie within the range that your silde/negative can allow for.
reagrding harsh shadow maybe an omnibounce will save the day
my 2 cents
 

sorry, i'm a little lost.. i see 2 meters in my camera.. the meter i see when i do Manual has the + on the left and - on the right. The exposure compensation has the - on the left and + on the right.. i'm often confused as to which to use..

man i am even more confused ...
what is your camera model ...
what u mean by see two meter in you r camera.
is ti inside the view finder?
 

Originally posted by shawntim

I'm having this problem too, even with spot metering, taking pictures of ppl in the shade and the background is a landscape with sun. Result is either overexposed surroundings or underexposed face. Do I really need to buy a fill flash to get these shots right ? I'm not exactly happy with the results of the camera flash in these situations.. too harsh shadows under the chin etc..
That's why exposure compensation works.:)

If u use spot metering and meter the face, the aperture will open wide and therefore the background will be massively overexposed. If u meter with center-weight, the strong backlight will stop down your aperture therefore your subject will be underexposed. pls read my compensation and flash settings above again. In either cases, there are at least 2+ stops diff. between your subject and the background. A fill-in flash is handy at here. But unlike the normal -1 stop fill-in flash setting, u should use a strong fill-in flash with +1~+2 stops to light up the face. u need to practise it by yourself (last time i flashed 20+ shots on my model to figure out a better settings).
 

Originally posted by street
man i am even more confused ...
what is your camera model ...
what u mean by see two meter in you r camera.
is ti inside the view finder?

i'm using s602z.. one is when i'm using manual, the other is either when using AP, SP or Program mode..

the manual one is proving quite simple.. but the exposure compensation is a little tricky.. maybe i just need more practice..
 

Originally posted by street
you will need to understand the film( slide ) canallow only 5 stops (correct if i am wrong) of light and negative has 7-8 stops of light(ccorrect if i am worng) . hence you cannot have everthing at your ideal exposure. hence one way is to cheat by adding artifical light whcih is flash so that all the subjects will more or less lie within the range that your silde/negative can allow for.
reagrding harsh shadow maybe an omnibounce will save the day
my 2 cents

i cannot have everything at my ideal exposure? ok..

hmm... omnibounce... but what if the surrounding is like a big open sheltered area? nothing to bounce off... filters will help ?

you mean those flashes that bounces light off plastic reflectors attached to the flash unit?



i remember a shot posted in ClubSNAP showing a landscape shot taken over the plains and green hills with a lone sheep in the foreground.. the sky was as blue as the grass is green.. the sheep wasn't overexposed too. Anyone remember that photo?

so how to get that kind of exposure?
 

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