One of the four qualities of a strong landscape photograph is Optimum Exposure. (The other three are Appropriate Sharpness, Fantastic Light and Strong Composition).\u00a0 While all four qualities are essential to a strong photograph, the foundation is always and always has been a spot on exposure (did you catch the pun?).\u00a0 An optimum exposure starts in the field and ends in the darkroom.\u00a0 Here is an overview, a checklist if you will, of the camera skills you need.<\/p>\n
One of the greatest advances provided by the digital camera is instant exposure feedback on the photograph you just took.\u00a0 There are two settings that provide this.\u00a0 The first and most important is the Histogram.\u00a0 It can alert you not only to whether your image is over exposed, under exposed or exposed just right but can also alert you to serious exposure problems that require special techniques.\u00a0 (You can read the series of posts on the histogram here:\u00a0 Mastering Exposure \u2013 Histograms Part 4<\/a>.)\u00a0 So configuring your camera to display the histogram (and checking it after every shot) is one essential technique to have.<\/p>\n Related to the histogram is the \u201cblinkies\u201d or Highlight Warning.\u00a0 This setting causes any areas that have highlight clipping to blink when the image is displayed on the LCD screen immediately after it is captured.\u00a0 This provides instant warning of the most fateful flaw of all \u2013 highlight clipping.<\/p>\n Aperture Priority is the exposure mode I use more than 90% of the time when out shooting.\u00a0 There are times I use Shutter Priority and Manual but most of the time I turn to Aperture Priority.\u00a0 This is because depth of field is often the primary consideration (remember the second of the four essential qualities \u2013 Appropriate Sharpness?).\u00a0 And aperture priority is one of the key factors that affects depth of field.<\/p>\n When the histogram tells you that you have over or under exposed your image you need to correct and re-shoot.\u00a0 And to do that you need to know about Exposure Compensation.\u00a0 This control overrides your camera by increasing or decreasing the exposure your camera\u2019s light meter calculated.\u00a0 In this way if your camera has overexposed the image a little, you can apply negative exposure compensation to decrease the exposure.<\/p>\n ISO controls the sensitivity of the cameras sensor.\u00a0 Lower ISOs decrease sensitivity requiring more light for an optimum exposure.\u00a0 But the image quality is better.\u00a0 Higher ISOs increase the sensitivity which is good for low light situations because they require less light.\u00a0 But the trade-off is poorer image quality.\u00a0 I normally set ISO to 100 and only change it when I can\u2019t get the exposure I want.<\/p>\n There is one situation in particular that the camera simply can\u2019t handle.\u00a0 It is referred to as High Dynamic Range.\u00a0 This occurs when the dynamic range of the scene you are photographing exceeds the dynamic range that your camera\u2019s sensor is capable of capturing.\u00a0 When this occurs you have four choices.<\/p>\n 1. You can choose not to photograph the scene.\u00a0 This was a fairly commonly chosen option in the film days because there was literally no way of capturing the image without it suffering from highlight clipping.<\/p>\n 2. You can underexpose the image so that the highlights are rendered without clipping.\u00a0 This makes the shadows totally black and you end up with silhouettes, often times a very nice effect.\u00a0 You can use exposure compensation to accomplish this.<\/p>\n 3. You can use a graduated neutral density filter to darken the bright parts of the image without darkening the shadows.\u00a0 This works well when the sky is bright, the foreground is dark and there\u2019s pretty much of a straight line between the two.<\/p>\n 4. You can take multiple bracketed exposures that span the dynamic range of the scene and then blend them together in the darkroom on your computer.\u00a0 To do this you need to know how to set up Automatic Exposure Bracketing (or AEB) on your camera.<\/p>\n So here is a summary of the camera techniques you need to be able to do in order to achieve Optimum Exposures.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not familiar with any of these I suggest you pull out your camera\u2019s manual and look them up.\u00a0 Then go out and practice them until they become second nature to you.\u00a0 This way you can focus on the creative rather than the technical when out in the field.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more work to be done regarding exposure (and the broader subject of tonality) in the darkroom.\u00a0 But, particularly in the digital age, capturing a RAW image that provides the optimum information with which to work in the darkroom is the first and absolutely essential step.\u00a0 And by mastering these techniques you will avoid the disappointment of having to discard what would have been a great photograph because you didn\u2019t nail the exposure.<\/p>\n If you like this post please feel free to share it on Facebook or with your friends.<\/p>\n We always enjoy hearing from you so please leave a comment and share your experiences and insights with the rest of us.<\/p>\nAdvanced Exposure Controls<\/h2>\n
Summary of Camera Techniques<\/h2>\n
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