Instruction manual

2322 | Get more from your digital SLR
Metering & assessment
B
oth multi-segment and centre-weighted
metering modes will often give poor results
when shooting a subject against a light or dark
background. If the background is very bright the
camera will underexpose, while a dark background
will cause overexposure. While you can use the spot
metering mode to overcome this, it’s not always the
simplest or quickest method, and you need to be able
to fi nd a midtone to meter from. Two more effi cient
ways to compensate for this are using either the
exposure lock or exposure compensation functions.
Both can be used in the creative automatic exposure
modes of most cameras, but not in the fully automatic
subject program modes.
Exposure lock
Meter from the main subject
This is the simpler of the two techniques for less
experienced users, as you don’t need to assess the effect
of the background brightness. This technique works by
metering from the main subject rather than from the
whole scene.
1
First set the camera to any of the creative
automatic exposure modes. To make sure that the
camera exposes for the main subject, aim the
camera so that it fi lls the frame, eliminating as much of
the background as possible.
2
With the camera framed as above press the auto
exposure lock button (AE-L or ). This will set the
exposure for the main subject, and lock this
exposure into the memory of the camera. On Canon
D-SLRs press the exposure lock button and release it to
lock the exposure. On most other manufacturers’ D-SLRs
you need to hold the button in.
3
With the exposure locked for the main subject you
can now re-frame the image and take your picture.
You’ll fi nd that the background will be recorded as
very dark or light, but the main subject should be
correctly exposed.
‹Exposure
compensation
You can also increase or
decrease the exposure
to compensate for light
or dark backgrounds.
This takes a little more
practise than the
exposure lock technique,
as you need to be able
to assess how much
exposure compensation
is needed for different
situations. As a rough
guide, if you’re shooting
a subject with a white
background you need to
dial in +1 stop, while for
a subject against a dark
background try using –1
stop. To access the
exposure compensation
on most cameras you
have to press a button
marked +/- then turn
the main input dial.
The exposure compensation
button is located near the
shutter release button or
the rear LCD screen.
Fill the frame
Using a 105mm lens we
fi lled the frame with the
model’s face, pressed the
auto exposure lock button
and re-framed the shot.
The resulting exposure
was 1/30sec at f/4.
-1 STOP
NORMAL
+1 STOP