Hi
I've quite a few questions about exposures which I would like to ask the experts here.....
1) What does the exposure compensation REALLY do? My guess is that by toggling the exposure compensation, we are really asking the camera to change the aperture size fstops or the shutter speed (or both) to gain the desired exposure. (since without the ability of the camera to select ISO speeds in the AE modes, these are the 2 main determinants of exposure)
Am I correct in my assumption, even though the EXIF info does not reflect the changed values of aperture size and shutter speed, instead displaying the exposure compensation separately, with its own unit of measurement....
2) Exposing correctly for both bright AND dark subjects is a problem for me. For example, I have this scene of a statue that is brightly illuminated with floodlights at the base. I wanted to take a picture of this statue at night, composing it in such a way as to include the surrounding building and a bridge.
However, the building and bridge are poorly lit compared to the statue. When I expose for the building and bridge to bring out the details, the statue gets overexposed and burnt out; when I expose correctly for the statue, I can hardly see the bridge. Spot metering doesn't work here (how to judge a middle tone at night?) and it's always either the statue gets overexposed, or the bridge gets underexposed.
What do you pple do in such situations?? I know the trick to do a double exposure and then overlay the images in photoshop, but is that really the ONLY way to get a nice picture?? Is there really no way to "get it right" when you take the picture? How do traditional film cameras manage such situations?
I seem to encounter such situations very often. Maybe I need to rethink my composition?
3) I am having some difficulty achieving shallow depth of field for protrait shots like those I've seen in traditional film photography. I know the basics
- zooming in to increase focal length
- using macro mode if possible
- selective focus by manual focusing
- throwing the aperture wide open (frankly speaking, I can hardly tell the difference using this oft-quoted method!)
Are there any other tricks? (other than Photoshop)
4) Since day 1, I have started using the G1's full manual mode to take pictures (even though I was a complete newbie to photography). What I did was to toggle the aperture and shutter speeds until the image "appears right" in the LCD. There are only 2 variables to worry about with this method, and it seems easier, rather than having to worry about compensation, spot metering etc etc....
Since in manual mode, spot metering, exposure and flash compensation are disabled, does it really mean that we can achieve the same quality and desired effect by just controlling the aperture and shutter speeds? Does it mean, as long as you're in full manual mode, you don't miss out on anything? (ie you don't need the metering modes at all) My guess is again yes, if one is experienced enough to "judge the light". Is that a right assumption? In the absence of a LCD, how does one judge with a 35 mm film camera? Even with on-board metering, how does one compensate with the 35 mm film camera without instant image feedback?
Is there a proper workflow for exposing shots with a G1? like a blow by blow account of how to perform exposure with a G1?
Lastly, thanks for reading so far 
hope I haven't bored anyone here with my questions ;P
