[ Back
Photo Art
McKaso
Photography By: Steve Sullivan
TM
[ Back
Photography is all about light and how you control your camera to record that light. There are four things you must control to obtain a properly exposed photo.
First you must understand your light meter modes. The light meter wether in camera or hand held measures the amount of light that will fall on the sensor. Personally, I have grown to prefer the center-weighted average metering mode and the spot meter. Since my camera does not have the spot meter mode I use a hand held Minolta M Spotmeter. The different metering modes include; Multi-Segmented or Evaluative Metering. This type of metering breaks the frame into several segments and the meter evaluates the optimum exposure for the entire frame. Center Weighted Metering, which emphases reading the center of the frame and will also average a reading across the whole frame. Partial Metering, which evaluates about 10% of the center of the frame and finally Spot Metering, which measures only a very small spot in the center of the frame. Usually only about 2 to 3 % of the frame.
Secondly, the film speed will affect the exposure. The higher the ISO number the less light is needed to capture the image. Most DSLR sensors have a sensitivity of ISO 100 to 1600 and maybe 3200. Also keep in mind that as you increase the ISO you will increase the amount of digital noise.
The third element used to control exposure is the shutter speed. The shutter speed is the length of time that the sensor will be exposed to light. A long shutter speed equals more light and a shorter shutter speed equals less light.
The fourth element that controls exposure is the aperture. The aperture is like your pupil and it is opening in which light passes through. By setting the aperture or f-stop you control how big of an opening the light will pass through. The smaller the f-stop such as 2.8 the larger the opening and the larger the f-stop such as 22 the smaller the opening. All four of these work together to properly expose the photo.
Another important consideration is to bracket your exposures. Once you have metered a scene and settled on a single exposure you can bracket your exposure. Normally it is one f-stop above and below, but it can be a half f-stop or even two f-stops above and below. This is not just a guess to get the right exposure, but a procedure to insure you get several exposures to cover the entire range of light. Many times these three exposures are later combined to insure that the detail within the entire scene is captured. Detail from the deep shadows to the bright highlights. Personally, I bracket most of my exposures.
A great item to carry with you to assist with exposure setting is the Black Cat exposure guide and an excellent article on how to use the guide can be found on Jim Doty’s website. Jim Doty also has a more in-depth article on understanding exposure.
First you must understand your light meter modes. The light meter wether in camera or hand held measures the amount of light that will fall on the sensor. Personally, I have grown to prefer the center-weighted average metering mode and the spot meter. Since my camera does not have the spot meter mode I use a hand held Minolta M Spotmeter. The different metering modes include; Multi-Segmented or Evaluative Metering. This type of metering breaks the frame into several segments and the meter evaluates the optimum exposure for the entire frame. Center Weighted Metering, which emphases reading the center of the frame and will also average a reading across the whole frame. Partial Metering, which evaluates about 10% of the center of the frame and finally Spot Metering, which measures only a very small spot in the center of the frame. Usually only about 2 to 3 % of the frame.
Secondly, the film speed will affect the exposure. The higher the ISO number the less light is needed to capture the image. Most DSLR sensors have a sensitivity of ISO 100 to 1600 and maybe 3200. Also keep in mind that as you increase the ISO you will increase the amount of digital noise.
The third element used to control exposure is the shutter speed. The shutter speed is the length of time that the sensor will be exposed to light. A long shutter speed equals more light and a shorter shutter speed equals less light.
The fourth element that controls exposure is the aperture. The aperture is like your pupil and it is opening in which light passes through. By setting the aperture or f-stop you control how big of an opening the light will pass through. The smaller the f-stop such as 2.8 the larger the opening and the larger the f-stop such as 22 the smaller the opening. All four of these work together to properly expose the photo.
Another important consideration is to bracket your exposures. Once you have metered a scene and settled on a single exposure you can bracket your exposure. Normally it is one f-stop above and below, but it can be a half f-stop or even two f-stops above and below. This is not just a guess to get the right exposure, but a procedure to insure you get several exposures to cover the entire range of light. Many times these three exposures are later combined to insure that the detail within the entire scene is captured. Detail from the deep shadows to the bright highlights. Personally, I bracket most of my exposures.
A great item to carry with you to assist with exposure setting is the Black Cat exposure guide and an excellent article on how to use the guide can be found on Jim Doty’s website. Jim Doty also has a more in-depth article on understanding exposure.
Good Luck and Happy Shooting :-)
