For this activity, we explore “Exposure Compensation”. This is typically displayed as an icon like this +/-. Above are some examples of where you might find it on your camera. The exposure level can be seen on display or in the viewfinder and is displayed as pictured below.
Ok cool, but what is it? Exposure compensation is an in-camera tool that allows us to easily brighten or darken our image before we take the picture at the shooting stage. Most cameras will allow you up to 3 stops in either direction, minus indicating a lower or darker exposure and plus being a higher or brighter exposure. Every camera is different so I won’t go into detail about where it is, I just suggest getting to know your own camera layout by researching it in your owners manual or online videos or just play with it and work it out as you go. I shoot with an older Canon EOS1100D so it’s on the back display in “Live View” mode or in the viewfinder at the bottom of the frame.
For this activity, I have put my camera in “Program” mode and chose an ISO of 400. I have taken multiple shots of the same scene, each at a different exposure value so we can examine the difference it makes to an image. First, we start with no compensation. This is the exposure level the camera has set to take the image.
Next, we will decrease the exposure compensation one step at a time down to three stops.
Ok, so now let’s do the opposite and increase the exposure compensation one step at a time up to three steps.
With this image, I can see the exposure levels get better in the background when the compensation is decreased and better in the foreground when increased. The background is out in the cloudy sunlight so it’s bursting with highlights while the foreground is under the shade of the roof above. To me, the ideal exposure would be between 0 to +1, however, either image could be fixed a little in post-production editing to get a nicely exposed image. A little something else I learned while playing around with exposure compensation is the artistic capabilities it brings to the table. An everyday image can become something amazing when the exposure compensation is used to your advantage. Below are some examples of my use of exposure compensation.
On the left, we have an under-exposed image that was bumped up in Photoshop giving an almost painted effect. On the right, we have an over-exposed image that I just so happened to like. Truth to the image on right is I wasn’t paying attention to my settings while shooting in manual mode on a photoshoot, luckily after a couple of shots I looked at my display and histogram and realised I was still shooting from settings I had set in the shade. Upside, I liked this shot and wouldn’t have captured it if I didn’t make a mistake. Moral of the story is…… mistakes are what help us learn and grow and I encourage everyone to make them 🙂 you never know what you might learn!
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