As I have mentioned before, there is no absolute when it comes to getting the correct exposure of an image. That is the beauty of using a DSLR camera. We can make daylight shots look like night time and evening time look a lot earlier in the day.
You can take a look at our silhouette with the flower girl and the bride. In this image, one exposes for the outside and turns off the camera flash. Typically this appears several stops below the recommended exposure of this image. The camera must be on manual setting and you must check the view finder until you are happy with the image. Yes, this is a special effect image which we try to capture when ever the location allows us to. Each camera Stop reduces or increases the amount of light hitting the digital sensor. For example, if we are shooting at 1/60 sec and go to 1/125 sec that is one stop. The same is going from 400 ISO to 200 ISO and going from F 2.8 to F4.0 are all one stop less. When shooting with no flash, just keep reducing the shutter speed until you get the desired results. Here, the composition is striking. We have the classic "image with in a frame. The expression on the flower girls face is priceless. It is a reminder of the classic paintings done by the "Masters" (please exclude the pun). Very little touch-ups in Photoshop are required. The blurring of the window glass will focus attention on the subjects and removal of unwanted objects to the right finish off the image. It would be very difficult to get this lighting effect in Photoshop alone.
Getting the Correct Normal Exposure
I started shooting photography over 25 years ago with a SLR film camera. Every thing was manual. ASA or what we now call ISO was normally fixed to the film being used. This limited us to say 100 or 400 ASA. Now we adjusted the F-stop for depth of field and brought the exposure to the recommended value using the shutter speed. This was a good way to learn about exposure.
We still had the in camera exposure meter that was setup for a 18% grey body. Nothing much has changed there. We still had to look at the scene and expose for the proper grey body. Film did however give you some latitude, during processing.
Exposure with Digital Cameras
We have several options, like: Automatic : Shutter Priority: Aperture Priority : Manual Exposure: ISO: Hand Held Light Meter
The in camera light meter still meters for a 18% grey body. Nothing changed here. The ISO now can be changed for every image, plus it's range can go from 50 ISO to well over 6400 ISO. What ISO should we use? We always try to use the lowest ISO (50-100) . The reason is because the image quality is the best at the lower ISO's. Image quality is dependent on dynamic range, color, and noise. Every image has some noise no matter what camera is being used. The good thing is that we can't normally see it and or we can remove it with the modern noise removal software.
Today, we can effectively shoot at 800 ISO or higher and achieve an excellent image quality, especially when using fill flash. As a rule of thumb, the highest ISO setting from the manufacture minus two stops, normally will give very good images. Expect to be able to shoot at 12,800 in the near future with the newest cameras (two or more stops from the top setting). By shooting at 800 ISO, verse 100 ISO, you reduce your camera flash power requirements by about 3 stops.
For the correct exposure we can use the histogram and the built in camera "blinkies" to achieve the desired exposure. As a Canon user, the histogram is divided into 5 sections. Exposing in the first 1/3 of the farthest right section normally yields perfect results. Check the exposure for the "blinkies" on the wedding dress or subject. If present, reduce exposure via off camera flash power, shutter speed, ISO and lastly F-stop. In wedding photography, every thing moves a rocket speed, so getting that perfect exposure is very important. Also, for those critical images, shoot in camera Raw as it will help you with post processing the exposure and white balance. Remember, not all images fit the perfect histogram curve. A dark image will be properly exposed to the left side of the histogram while a bright window or light in the background can move the histogram to the far right, throwing the blinkies on the bright areas in the background.
If time permits, and you are in a constant light setting, you can set the exposure using a grey card and adjust your camera's settings in manual mode. When using off camera flash, we normally reduce the back ground exposure by one stop to help saturate colors and to make the subjects pop off the image. Very few photographers use a hand held light meter unless you want to set up studio lights.
Visit here to know more about Windsor Ontario Wedding Photographer
You can take a look at our silhouette with the flower girl and the bride. In this image, one exposes for the outside and turns off the camera flash. Typically this appears several stops below the recommended exposure of this image. The camera must be on manual setting and you must check the view finder until you are happy with the image. Yes, this is a special effect image which we try to capture when ever the location allows us to. Each camera Stop reduces or increases the amount of light hitting the digital sensor. For example, if we are shooting at 1/60 sec and go to 1/125 sec that is one stop. The same is going from 400 ISO to 200 ISO and going from F 2.8 to F4.0 are all one stop less. When shooting with no flash, just keep reducing the shutter speed until you get the desired results. Here, the composition is striking. We have the classic "image with in a frame. The expression on the flower girls face is priceless. It is a reminder of the classic paintings done by the "Masters" (please exclude the pun). Very little touch-ups in Photoshop are required. The blurring of the window glass will focus attention on the subjects and removal of unwanted objects to the right finish off the image. It would be very difficult to get this lighting effect in Photoshop alone.
Getting the Correct Normal Exposure
I started shooting photography over 25 years ago with a SLR film camera. Every thing was manual. ASA or what we now call ISO was normally fixed to the film being used. This limited us to say 100 or 400 ASA. Now we adjusted the F-stop for depth of field and brought the exposure to the recommended value using the shutter speed. This was a good way to learn about exposure.
We still had the in camera exposure meter that was setup for a 18% grey body. Nothing much has changed there. We still had to look at the scene and expose for the proper grey body. Film did however give you some latitude, during processing.
Exposure with Digital Cameras
We have several options, like: Automatic : Shutter Priority: Aperture Priority : Manual Exposure: ISO: Hand Held Light Meter
The in camera light meter still meters for a 18% grey body. Nothing changed here. The ISO now can be changed for every image, plus it's range can go from 50 ISO to well over 6400 ISO. What ISO should we use? We always try to use the lowest ISO (50-100) . The reason is because the image quality is the best at the lower ISO's. Image quality is dependent on dynamic range, color, and noise. Every image has some noise no matter what camera is being used. The good thing is that we can't normally see it and or we can remove it with the modern noise removal software.
Today, we can effectively shoot at 800 ISO or higher and achieve an excellent image quality, especially when using fill flash. As a rule of thumb, the highest ISO setting from the manufacture minus two stops, normally will give very good images. Expect to be able to shoot at 12,800 in the near future with the newest cameras (two or more stops from the top setting). By shooting at 800 ISO, verse 100 ISO, you reduce your camera flash power requirements by about 3 stops.
For the correct exposure we can use the histogram and the built in camera "blinkies" to achieve the desired exposure. As a Canon user, the histogram is divided into 5 sections. Exposing in the first 1/3 of the farthest right section normally yields perfect results. Check the exposure for the "blinkies" on the wedding dress or subject. If present, reduce exposure via off camera flash power, shutter speed, ISO and lastly F-stop. In wedding photography, every thing moves a rocket speed, so getting that perfect exposure is very important. Also, for those critical images, shoot in camera Raw as it will help you with post processing the exposure and white balance. Remember, not all images fit the perfect histogram curve. A dark image will be properly exposed to the left side of the histogram while a bright window or light in the background can move the histogram to the far right, throwing the blinkies on the bright areas in the background.
If time permits, and you are in a constant light setting, you can set the exposure using a grey card and adjust your camera's settings in manual mode. When using off camera flash, we normally reduce the back ground exposure by one stop to help saturate colors and to make the subjects pop off the image. Very few photographers use a hand held light meter unless you want to set up studio lights.
Visit here to know more about Windsor Ontario Wedding Photographer
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