Advanced Exposure

Advanced Exposure

{Perfect Exposure by Michael Freeman}

Bare Bones

1. Settings• Metering Mode• File Format• Instant Review• Highlight Clipping Warning• Histogram

Bare Bones2. Metering Method

• Average• Center Weighted• Smart Predictive• Spot

Bare Bones3. What do you want?

• What is the photograph about?• What caught your eye?• Know how bright you want the shot to be beforehand• Know how the light should be distributed

Bare Bones4. Likely Problems

• Scan the scene for exposure issues• Is there a major hotspot?

• Is that spot going to blow out and does it matter if it does?

• Is the dynamic range too high for the camera to capture?

Bare Bones5. Key Tones

• What is the important subject in the shot?• How bright should that subject be?

Bare Bones6. Is clipping likely? Is there a conflict?

• Is there a conflict in how to expose?• You have a choice between changing the light or

composition OR making a compromise on your exposure OR relying on special post-processing

• For example: You are shooting a backlit portrait. You can have a silhouette, or a blown out background. What do you choose for that situation?

• Compromise means that you accept either blown out highlights or blocked up shadows.

• Post-Processing includes HDR, merging exposures, etc.

Clipping

Bare Bones

7. Apply Metering• Meter in your preferred method and take the shot

Bare Bones

8. Review, Reshoot• Review your shot on your LCD• Reshoot if necessary• Think about if you have time to sit and check your shots

on the LCD• Also think about zooming in on the LCD to check for

focus and exposure

Brightness and Stops Think of exposure in terms of how bright the image is Changing your stop increase and decrease your image

brightness– Stop refers to your aperture or shutter speed– Stopping up refers to slowing down your shutter speed or making

your aperture larger• This means you will have a brighter image

– Stopping down refers to increases your shutter speed or using a smaller aperture

• This means you will have a dimmer image

Exposure Terms Luminance

– The amount of light the reaches the sensor or eye Illuminance

– The luminous power from a light source Reflectance

– Effectiveness of a surface to pass on light Brightness

– The amount of light we see (the perceived luminance) Lightness

– Perceived reflectance Value

– In light measurement, value equals brightness Exposure

– In a camera, this is the amount of light allowed to fall on the sensor

Exposure Terms Over and Under Exposure

– More of less than ideal exposure Highlights

– The upper end of the tonal scale, the light areas Shadows

– The lower end of the tonal scale, the dark areas Clipping

– Total loss of information in a pixel because of extreme over or under exposure Black Point

– The point of a tonal scale that is completely black– R-0 G-0 B-0

White Point– The point on a tonal scale that is completely white– R-255 G-255 B-255

Dynamic Range– The ratio between the maximum and minimum luminance

Exposure Terms

Contrast and Contrasty– The ration between high and low luminance

excluding the maximum and minimum Key

– Which part of the brightness range is being used

– High or low key

Dynamic Range Low Dynamic Range

– Diffuse lighting– Thick atmosphere (smog, fog, smoke)– Shooting away from your light source

Medium High Dynamic Range– Intense light source casting sharp shadows– Backlighting– Light and dark surfaces together

True High Dynamic Range– Light source or strong reflection in the frame

Low Dynamic Range

Medium Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range

Contrast

Metering Reflective Light Meter

– Like the one in your camera– Measure the light reflecting off of the surface you are

photographing Incident Light Meter

– One choice on a handheld meter– Measures the light actually falling on the subject– Make sure to hold the meter very close to what you are

shooting

Metering Modes

Gray Card Gray cards reflect 18% of the light falling on a

scene which makes them average or mid-tone You spot meter on the gray card and use that

reading to expose Unfortunately your camera’s meter probably

meters at 12-13% which means your exposure with a gray card may be a bit dark

Bracketing

Stop up and down from your medium exposure

Bracketing