Using Exposure Compensation

Getting the Gray Out!

On most point-and-shoot digital cameras, exposure compensation is located on one of the menus. It is located on the Shooting Menu on the Nikon Coolpix 3200 I keep in the overhead compartment of my van for those quick shots. On the Canon 20D single lens reflex, it is accessed by setting the Mode Dial to any of the creative settings Tv, Av, P (except manual). You should consult your Camera's User's Manual on how to access it on your particular model.

OK, but what does It do?

It allows you to control the aperture (f-stop) setting and or shutter speed of an automatic (meaning I know what's best for you and I'll make the decisions on what will make this photograph exceptional) camera. Most of the time the image will be great, but there are times you need to take control to get the best image.

If the camera has, in it's infinate wisdom, chosen an aperture setting of f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/500sec to properly expose the image and the image comes out too dark, you could change the Aperture to f/5.6, reduce the shutter Speed to 1/250sec or select an Exposure Compensation setting of +1.

What Just Happened?

Depending on the type of camera you are using and what mode you have selected, by an Exposure Compensation setting of +1 the Aperture was opened to f/5.6 and the Shutter Speed was left unchanged, or the Aperture was left unchanged and the Shutter Speed was was decreased to 1/250sec. Either combinations of settings would let in twice as much light as the original setting of f/8 at 500/sec making the image lighter.

If the image was too light, and a setting of -1 was selected the opposite would occur, which lets in half as much light resulting in a darker image. Don't worry if you don't totally understand these concepts now, the camera does! The relationship between f-stop and shutter speed will be addressed on the Relationships Page.

White Not Really White!

Have you ever taken a picture of a snow covered scene, and when you viewed the image the snow had a grayish cast? Here is what happened. The light meter in your camera, or any light meter is calibrated to produce a neutral image. If the scene you are taking a picture of is brighter than what the meter preceives to be correct, it will adjust the aperture and or the shutter to let in less light. The light meter has been fooled by the brightness of the snow and the snow is rendered neutral gray, as in the left photo.

If the scene is extremely bright the light meter may be fooled by the brightness and the snow is rendered neutral gray, as seen in the photo on the right.

By setting the compensation to +1, the image was over exposed by one stop rendering the snow white as seen in the photo on the left. A setting of -.5 may have been a better choice since this image seems a little too bright.

Now It's Your Turn

You ARE the photographer. You decide how You want the image to look! Experiment with different settings. The more you can get right in the camera, the less time you'll spend editing your images. Before you know it, you will be making these adjustments before you take the picture.

You can use the same technique in reverse, to darken an image. If you know something in the image is really black, or the overall image apears lighter than you want it to be, set the exposure compensation to -.5 and shoot again. Take lots of images.

As your skills improve, your pictures will improve and the more FUN you will have with photography.

Happy Shooting!

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