( Todays Photography )

Exposure is measured by how much light enters the lens, NOT the color of the light (that’s white balance – previous post). I will also discuss Metering this is how to measure the light that is coming through and the difference between Reflected light (the light that is coming of the subject) and Incident light this is the external light falling on the subject.

How to get your whites WHITER and your blacks BLACKER

Remember I am using the Nikon D90 so if you have your manuals this is definitely easier to find (pg90 exposure compensation) though I will include some pics of what we need to be looking at on the camera and of which buttons you should be pressing.

Turn your camera to M- manual and look through your view finder you should be able to see a little line inside with a 0 in the middle.

Lets do the exercise:

For this you will need a white peace of paper, some thing black and something that is 18% grey (if you have a camera bag with grey insides remove one of the Velcro pieces as this is 18% grey. I explain don’t worry 

OK…
Take a picture of your piece of white paper without changing any settings just get it in focus.

NOW…
Without moving from where you where standing to take the photo of white paper get your grey card and change your white balance.  You will need to bring the line inside back to 0, while looking through your view finder press the exposure button on the top this is the +/_ sign next to your right index finger. You can do this by moving your shuttle and aperture dials.

NEXT…
With your white balance on 0 while looking at your 18% grey card take the card away and look back at your white paper, move your white balance back to 0 again.
Now take a picture of your white peace of paper.

WHAT happened??
Your white is now whiter. Before – After

This may seem like a lot of in camera effort but once you have done it a couple of times you will see how amazing it is. Repeat the same as above for your black object.

WHAT happened??
Your black is blacker. Before – After

As you can see from my pics below it is a skill worth mastering.

**if you are out in the field and don’t have a grey card find the closest thing to 18% grey you can and set your camera for the area and objects you will be taking photos of.
You will really see the difference in your pictures very quickly.

Correct exposure
So we have found that your camera gets the correct exposure most of the time, although when taking photos of bright whites or black blacks the camera takes an average 18% grey and your colors don’t really turn out right.
When taking a photo in really bright situations you will want to increase your shutter speed and decrease your aperture. The opposite is required for darker situations.

Have a play