TeachMeToShoot blog » exposure modes

A Guide to Proper Exposure

Karl Peschel — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:55:20 +0000

While thinking about the upcoming Lunar Eclipse I started thinking also about exposure. Not the exposure to the cold I will experience, but proper image exposure.

A friend of mine recently acquired Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It’s an excellent reference for both digital and film users as the same principles apply to both mediums.

Amazon.com: Understanding Exposure

This book will guide you through a complete understanding of apertures, depth of field, shutter speeds, ISO and more. You’ll learn to recognize situations where your in camera meter will lie to you and how to compensate. You’ll see examples all through the book to help you fully understand how using different settings affect the way your pictures look.

Proper exposure is essential, especially to digital photographers. Digital doesn’t have the leeway that film does, and you can’t expect to rescue digital images in Photoshop. It doesn’t always work.

For a clear understanding of exposure, get this book. It’s a great addition to any photographers library.

Photographing Winter Snow Scenes

Karl Peschel — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:27:22 +0000

We’re coming into that time of year when your outdoor scenes are changing from nice fall color to winter snow scenes. Don’t pack away your camera! For the next few months you can get some spectacular pictures of snow scenes.

Whether you’re shooting the huge 6 foot snow drift in your backyard or that early morning snow capped mountain scene, getting the proper exposure can be a challenge. Back in May I wrote about proper exposure and when your camera can be fooled. Snow scenes are one of those times.

Since your camera’s light meter is calibrated for medium gray, your snow pictures may tend to be underexposed. The snow won’t be as bright as it should be. You’ll need to override your camera settings. Also, a UV filter will help remove that blue cast from the snow, especially at higher elevations.

If you’re lucky enough to have a Beach and Snow scene mode, use it. This tells the camera you’re shooting a bright scene and it adjusts the exposure accordingly. You can also use Exposure Compensation to add more light. Go to +1 or +2 compensation, depending on how much of your picture is bright snow. Better yet, take 2 shots using each setting.

Winter snow scenes are the type of photos where you need to be smarter than the camera. With a little experience, you’ll quickly be able to look at a scene and know just how much compensation is needed.

So go out and shoot something!

Have a Standard Camera Setting

Karl Peschel — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:12:56 +0000

How many times have you come across a great picture opportunity and had all the wrong settings on your camera? Too many? Yeah. Let’s fix that.

I was reminded of this as I read through some of the comics from the WhatTheDuck site. The author has a great sense of humor and most of the comics are centered around digital photography and computers. Here’s the one that spurred today’s post (click it for a larger image)

When I’m out shooting with my D70, I start with ISO 200, Aperture Priority, around F8 or F11, continuous shooting, and my 17-50 or 28-105 lens. It’s my basic setup and I do a pre-flight check before I step out of the car. If I change anything for a particular shot I always pause a moment and go back to my Normal settings. I’m always starting from the same settings.

Modern digital cameras have a plethora of settings for many different situations. You can easily miss a shot while fumbling for the right Scene Mode, or get a really bad picture by using the wrong one. Decide on a Normal group of settings and use it. Base it on what subjects you shoot most. Remember to reset to Normal after you change things.

You should find yourself getting more consistent results and you’ll have the ability to get grab shots better, knowing that you’ve got your camera set properly.

Exposure Modes Wrapup

Karl Peschel — Sat, 26 May 2007 15:57:00 +0000

This past week you’ve learned about all the different Exposure modes on your digital camera. Digital camera scene modes give you some basic control and allow you to “tell” the camera what type of picture you are taking. The Exposure Modes, Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority, and Manual all give you more and more control. Using them lets you graduate from picture taker to Photographer.

If you’ve followed along with this series of posts you learned what Shutter Speeds and Apertures are all about. You learned how they affect how your pictures look. You also learned about the 4 Exposure modes and how and when to use them.

If you’d like to read (or re-read) all of the posts just click on the ‘exposure modes’ link in the Categories listed under this post. You’ll get all of them together.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Do something fun and be sure to take pictures!

Exposure Modes - Manual Mode

Karl Peschel — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:51:00 +0000

I’ve encountered many people over the years who seem afraid of Manual mode. They worry their pictures will be all screwed up. Don’t be scared! Every picture you take comes down to a single aperture/shutter speed combination.

It doesn’t matter if you arrive there in Program or Auto mode or Manual. A shot at 1/125th and F11 in Program mode is the same as a shot at 1/125th and F11 in Manual mode. Manual mode just requires a little more work on your part.

In Manual mode your camera will have some sort of indicator to show if your exposure is good or bad. There will be a Zero in the middle and Plus and Minus on either side. Your camera may use a needle or LEDs or display a scale with blocks. (Consult your camera manual to see what you’ve got.) Your goal is the change the aperture OR shutter speed to move the indicator to Zero. Simple!

I use Manual mode for some of the following reasons.

Consistent exposures - the settings are locked in
I can intentionally under or over expose
Excessively bright or dark subjects fool the meter
My OCD kicks in occasionally

When you use Manual mode you need to check your settings when the lighting conditions change. I suppose that’s why many people use some sort of Auto mode. Manual mode requires that you engage your brain a lot more.

We’ve been discussing Manual Exposure mode. It is independent of your Focus mode. You can still use Autofocus when shooting in Manual mode, or any other exposure mode. If you really want to be old school, you can go manual focus and Manual exposure. If you do, I’ll be so proud.

*** Thoughts Aside ***

Sony manufactures all camera products. Many of their cameras use high quality Carl Ziess camera lenses. However, Sony my not be your first choice for a cheap digital camera. For the budget conscious, look at a Fuji digital camera. Although many less expensive models don’t have a Manual mode, many digital camera reviews rate the Fujis quite well.

Sony and Fuji make the capture chips used in some electronic access cameras, as they have the facilities to manufacture all types of technical camera parts.

Exposure Modes - Aperture Priority

Karl Peschel — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:58:00 +0000

Similar to Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority is the other semi-automatic exposure mode. Here you’ll be able to preset the Aperture and let the camera pick a shutter speed to go along with it. The big letter ‘A’ on your exposure dial is Aperture Priority. Again, you Canon users will be looking for something different. Canon uses ‘Av’ for Aperture Value.

By controlling the aperture you’ll be controlling the Depth Of Field (DOF) in your pictures. Remember that Depth Of Field is the amount in front of and behind your focus point that is also in focus. Smaller apertures give more DOF, larger apertures give less DOF.

The Portrait and Landscape scene modes do this for you “auto-magically”. Aperture Priority gives you more control and lets you use your brain instead of the cameras. By using Aperture Priority and precisely selecting your focus point you can maximize or minimize DOF. This is important in portrait photography, where you want the background to be blurred and not distract from your subject. It’s also useful in macro photography when you need to maximize your DOF.

As always, I encourage you to experiment the next time you’re out shooting. Try Aperture Priority. Use a couple different apertures on the same subject. Look at the images on your computer screen when you get home. Personally, I use Aperture Priority about 60-70% of the time. The rest of the time I shoot in Manual. We’ll get to that tomorrow.

Exposure Modes - Shutter Priority

Karl Peschel — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:25:00 +0000

Look at your exposure dial for the big letter ‘S’ and you’ve found Shutter Priority mode. If you’re a Canon user you’ll be hunting for ‘Tv’ on the dial. Canon calls it Time Value just to be different.

Shutter Priority allows you to preset the shutter speed and the camera will pick the correct aperture for proper exposure. Sports and action photographers are most likely to use this mode. They need to make sure the shutter speed is high enough to stop the action they are shooting. You could also use Shutter Priority to preset an appropriate sync speed when using your flash. Great for those times when using fill flash outdoors.

Depending on your lighting conditions, it is possible to try to set an unusable shutter speed. Your camera will give you some sort of Error message in the viewfinder. My Nikon D70 displays a ‘Hi’ or ‘Lo’ to tell me I’m outside the usable range. The solution is to change the shutter speed until the error goes away. Sometimes, like in low light conditions, you may have to bump up the ISO in order to get an appropriate shutter speed.

Whereas Sports mode tries to push the shutter speed as high as possible, Shutter Priority lets you use the full range. You get to decide whether to use a sow or fast shutter speed. Try Shutter Priority the next few times you’re out shooting and see if it’s a useful tool for your style of shooting.

Exposure Modes - Program Mode

Karl Peschel — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:32:00 +0000

Would you like to just point and click and take decent pictures? Then use the green (or red) Auto mode. If you’d like to control your flash or have more control over your cameras menu options, Program mode is one choice for you.

The big letter ‘P’ on the dial, right next to Auto mode, is Program. The camera still picks the Aperture and Shutter Speed for you. It goes for an average combination and is suitable for general photography. The best thing about Program mode is all the menu options that will be opened up for you.

Besides being able to force your flash on or off there’s also a number of other settings you’ll have access to. (These will vary so check your camera manual to see what you have available.) Some of these settings are:

Changing the ISO
Shooting in Single or Continuous mode
Changing the White Balance
Exposure Compensation (forcing the camera to under or over expose the picture)
Program Shift (changing the aperture/shutter speed combination used)

Having more control over your camera means having more control over how your pictures turn out. As I discuss the other Exposure modes you’ll discover when to use them and why. Stay tuned…

Exposure Modes - Proper Exposure

Karl Peschel — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:10:00 +0000

Over the years, the best analogy I’ve found to describe Proper Exposure is a full bucket of water. Using a garden hose will take a long time to fill the bucket. But using a fire hose will fill it in a fraction of a second. Same end result.

Your Aperture is like the hose. Your Shutter Speed is the time it takes to fill the bucket of Proper Exposure. A small Aperture of F11, 16 or 22 will require a longer time (slower Shutter Speed) as opposed to a large Aperture of F1.4, 2 or 2.8 needing very little time (fast Shutter Speed) to get the Proper Exposure.

Remember that each step in Aperture or Shutter Speed will halve or double the amount of light. For any given picture there are a number of combinations that will work. Shooting at 1/500 and F8 or 1/250 and F11 or 1/125 and F16 or 1/60 and F22 will all result in the same amount of light hitting the film. The difference will be in how much Depth of Field you get and how well action or movement will be stopped. It’s up to you to decide which is best for the subject matter you are shooting.

I know that for some people this is heady stuff. It took me a while to understand it all. Once you get a good grasp of how Aperture and Shutter Speed change how your pictures look, you’re on the way to creating images the way you see them in your minds eye. Be patient Grasshopper! As I cover Exposure Modes (P,A,S,M) during the next few days all of this will become clearer.

Would you like to have a complete understanding of Exposure? You’re in luck. Bryan Peterson has written a comprehensive book on just this subject. Check out his book Understanding Exposure right now.

Exposure Modes - What is Shutter Speed?

Karl Peschel — Sat, 19 May 2007 16:11:00 +0000

The second part of the Exposure combination is Shutter Speed. The shutter stays closed until you decide to mash the button. It opens for a fraction of a second (usually) to let the light hit the film or sensor and capture that magic moment in time.

If you remember from yesterday, the Aperture controls how much light comes through the lens. The Shutter controls how long that light hits the film or sensor. Proper exposure = just the right combination of the two. As you might imagine, there are a number of combinations of Aperture and Shutter Speed that result in proper exposure.

Shutter Speeds are expressed as fractions of a second. When you see 15 or 60 or 250 in your viewfinder it’s really 1/15th, 1/60th or 1/250th of a second. Exposure times of one second or more are normally indicated by the letter ‘S’ next to the number. 1s, 2s, 4s would indicate one, two or four full seconds.

Just as with Apertures, each step up and down the scale of shutter speeds will halve or double the amount of light. Shutter speeds are as follows:

1s, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 and so on.

How do Shutter Speeds affect how your pictures look? They control how action and movement are recorded. Fast shutter Speeds (1/250, 1/500, 1/1000) will stop action. A golf swing, a tennis racket or baseball bat, a race car, or any other sport are times for using high Shutter Speeds. On the other hand, slow Shutter Speeds will blur movement. The most common use is for waterfalls and flowing water to get that smooth, milky look to the water.

Tomorrow I’ll start discussing how Aperture and Shutter Speed work together. Then we can jump into Exposure Modes and how you can best use them to achieve great pictures.