Understanding Exposure
A Helpful Guide
 Proper
exposure is one of the least understood aspect of photography today. With
all the new cameras and technology, one assumes you just have to point
and shoot and bingo you have the perfect picture. In a lot of cases most
people will be happy with their results along with the equipment they
used to get the shot.
If some of your shots are a little to dark (under- exposed) or a little
to light (over-exposed) some help might be in order. Now I'm talking
about SLR cameras that allow you to change settings to: manual, aperture
priority, shutter priority, not the point and shoot kind. Your camera's
metering system wants to judge everything as a middle tone color, as in
18% grey. So what do you do if the subject or the background is very light
in color? Or the subject is dark or in a dark background?
One of the best ways to learn is to get a good book on the subject. But
it's hard to remember all that stuff and who wants to carry a book
when you go out shooting? Here's a helpful alternative - order the Pocket Field Guide to Evaluative Metering
Systems by Arthur Morris. It's an extremely useful guide for
Canon shooters that you can put in your pocket and take with you when
out shooting. The guide is laminated, making it extra tough when used
in the outdoors. It's filled with sixty (60) different situations
of light that you can match up as close as possible to your shooting situation.
Then all you need to do is adjust your exposure compensations accordingly.
This is to be used as a “guide”. It's not the answer
to every situation. Mr. Morris with his extensive knowledge and experience
put together situations that cover a wide range of shooting possibilities.
Practice makes perfect! Learn from this guide, it will help you understand
exposure better and put taking pictures in a whole new light!
For ordering information, visit Arthur
Morris's web site.
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