If you have been taking photos for a while, you may have noticed a curious phenomenon: when you take photos in very bright conditions, like at the snow, they turn out too dark, and when you take photos in dark conditions, they turn out too light. So why does this happen?
Unfortunately, most people believe that they can just point and shoot their camera and reproduce a photo depicting exactly what they saw. However, this is not the case when a camera is in its automatic mode. This mode makes the camera decide for itself what the proper settings should be.
Unless your camera is manual, the one you are using will have to decide how much light to allow the sensor to be exposed to. In underexposed photos, too little light has been allowed making the subjects in the photo seem almost invisible. If the photo is overexposed, this means too much light was allowed and several areas of the photo may be completely white.
Basically, your camera makes this decision based on the fact that most scenes, most of the time, are a mixture of light and dark tones that average out about the same. This average is called 18% grey. It uses this rule of thumb to work out what combination of shutter speed and aperture to use. However, this breaks down in some situations.
A prime example to better explain this phenomenon is the classic photo of a polar bear in the snow on a bright sunny day. You will use your camera to reproduce this beautiful scene you viewed with your own eyes in a bright, perfect photo. However, because your camera is using its rule of thumb to determine the shutter speed and aperture, it is more likely your photo will depict the snow and polar bear as dirty grey.
The other situation is when you take a photo in dark conditions, perhaps a street at night lit by some streetlamps. Here you want most of the photo to be dark, with perhaps some lighter areas that were illuminated by the streetlights. Instead what you may get is dark areas that are dull brown rather than black, and lighter areas that are overexposed. Again, your camera has assumed this scene, like others, is 18% grey, and has exposed it accordingly.
To manage these situations, you will need to take over control of your camera. This means the camera will no longer be able to make its own decisions. One way to achieve this is to dial the 'exposure compensation' setting on your camera. A good rule of thumb to go by would be one stop forward for bright scenes and one dial back for darker scenes. An additional option is to turn your camera into manual mode. This will allow you room to play and experiment with settings as you view them in your LCD screen until you determine the exposure you are looking for.
Unfortunately, most people believe that they can just point and shoot their camera and reproduce a photo depicting exactly what they saw. However, this is not the case when a camera is in its automatic mode. This mode makes the camera decide for itself what the proper settings should be.
Unless your camera is manual, the one you are using will have to decide how much light to allow the sensor to be exposed to. In underexposed photos, too little light has been allowed making the subjects in the photo seem almost invisible. If the photo is overexposed, this means too much light was allowed and several areas of the photo may be completely white.
Basically, your camera makes this decision based on the fact that most scenes, most of the time, are a mixture of light and dark tones that average out about the same. This average is called 18% grey. It uses this rule of thumb to work out what combination of shutter speed and aperture to use. However, this breaks down in some situations.
A prime example to better explain this phenomenon is the classic photo of a polar bear in the snow on a bright sunny day. You will use your camera to reproduce this beautiful scene you viewed with your own eyes in a bright, perfect photo. However, because your camera is using its rule of thumb to determine the shutter speed and aperture, it is more likely your photo will depict the snow and polar bear as dirty grey.
The other situation is when you take a photo in dark conditions, perhaps a street at night lit by some streetlamps. Here you want most of the photo to be dark, with perhaps some lighter areas that were illuminated by the streetlights. Instead what you may get is dark areas that are dull brown rather than black, and lighter areas that are overexposed. Again, your camera has assumed this scene, like others, is 18% grey, and has exposed it accordingly.
To manage these situations, you will need to take over control of your camera. This means the camera will no longer be able to make its own decisions. One way to achieve this is to dial the 'exposure compensation' setting on your camera. A good rule of thumb to go by would be one stop forward for bright scenes and one dial back for darker scenes. An additional option is to turn your camera into manual mode. This will allow you room to play and experiment with settings as you view them in your LCD screen until you determine the exposure you are looking for.
About the Author:
Tobias Sterling is a keen photography enthusiast and featured writer on Clivir.com. His articles about Beginners Photography Tips and Female Body Sensual Photography can be found on Clivir.com.
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