Getting The Right Exposure

Getting the right exposure is vital for a good photograph. No doubt your camera will have an auto-exposure function which will be good most of the time – but not always. The key is knowing how to help your camera get the best result. There are a few simple techniques you can use when lighting conditions are not ideal.

The easiest lighting condition to expose for is to have your subject lit from the front. For an outdoor scene having the sun behind you will be easy to expose for, but is likely to give a flat uninteresting texture. In sunny situations, position yourself so the sun is slightly to one side, giving your subject greater dimension. An average exposure of the highlight and shadow areas is likely to be correct.

Exposure meter readings work best on mid-tones, so get to know them – basically neutral shades. Learn to take the exposure from part of the scene in tricky lighting conditions. Use the center-weighted or spot-metering if your scene has extremes of light and shadow. Depending on the type of image you are taking, there will usually be a key tone – a face, a flower, a building, part of a landscape – which has to be right, so expose for that.

The most demanding lighting conditions make it difficult to get the right exposure. So when photographing against the light or high contrasting lighting, check the image and retake if necessary. Taking several images with different exposures isn’t going to cost you anything. It is sometimes better to under expose than over expose. Over exposure tends to wash out the image, whereas slight under exposure may actually give richer tones.

If you are shooting in poor lighting or if your subject is moving, you can reduce the exposure time by increasing the ISO setting. This increases the camera’s light sensitivity and allows you to use a faster shutter speed and still get the right exposure.

Some cameras have a bracketing facility. This lets you take, usually three, separate images at slightly different exposures. Hopefully, one of them will be right.

Have fun! Until next time.