visual Exposure Compensation primer

[MediaMagic]

There have been a few asking about exposure compensation as of late. The best way to understand it is to take a look at some shots (and then practice, practice, ad infinitum). Here's a little primer I put together for the dSLR beginner. Comments, corrections, or gift certificates to my favorite coffee shop welcome :twisted:.

Maybe a visual approach with minimum of photpgraphy "lingo" will get you going in the right direction.

http://www.mediamagicnw.com/ectest/ec.htm


David

[jyrgen]

Well done! If you got time, maybe add another example with some dark stuff and a third one with a person with light or dark clothes (a real life example so to say), then it would be perfect!

I use EC extensively myself and find it one of the most valuable features and very easy to use on 10D, looking at histogram and turning the big wheel.

[MediaMagic]

Well done! If you got time, maybe add another example with some dark stuff and a third one with a person with light or dark clothes (a real life example so to say), then it would be perfect!

I use EC extensively myself and find it one of the most valuable features and very easy to use on 10D, looking at histogram and turning the big wheel.

Thanks! I should go ahead and put your suggestions into practice.

The idea for the quick visual came from talking to someone taking pictures of this white fountain in a local park with a brand new DRebel. I was surprised that she had no clue that she could easily correct the for the drab look of the fountain. She thought it was just how the camera takes the picture (well, i guess that much is true without intervention). She said something like (paraphrasing) "Most of the time it takes very beautiful pictures, but sometimes it doesn't. Maybe I should take it back."

Since we have such a wide gamut of experience here, perhaps there are some beginners here with that brand new DRebel or 10D in the same boat she was, not realizing how easy (and important) compensation is to the quality of their shots.

[IanD]

David,
Excellent post. Many thanks for the wor.k it putting it together

[Tom W]

Nice example, David.

And I might add that if one shoots in RAW, they can play with the exposure compensation themselves in the File View Utility, if the original exposure is well within the range of the histogram chart.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Wow,. thanks for that David. :)

Did you post this in the "all the best links" thread?