Photography

Correct exposure is relative

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In my morning haste, I have just enough time to grab the Canon Powershot G7 to capture the interesting very directional light from the morning sun.1/5 sec @f4 ISO 100
The preview on my Powershot G7 shows the histogram out of the camera for the normal exposure picture.

Mornings around the Phun house on a weekday is no different from the typical household with school age kids.

There is the usual yelling, “Time to get up”

Followed by “Light’s coming on”

“Move some body parts”

If the bathroom crunch doesn’t result in name-calling and neither my wife nor I have to yell, “Hurry Up,” then everyone gets to school and work without incident.

One recent morning I opened the front door, I found the picture below:

Intentionally under-exposing does two things: emphasizes the screen door's texture and forces you to not notice the outdoors and the distractions outside

The 7-ish morning sun transformed my hideous security screen door.

Suffice to say, I don’t look at my screen door the same way any more.

The same screen door but set to expose as the camera recommends. Notice how you can see the my neighbor's car in his driveway? There is a 3-stop difference in exposure between this and the other above.
Intentionally under-exposing but showing more of the scene to just emphasize the graphical elements

The preview of the back of my G7 shows what the histogram looks like when I intentionally under-exposed.

So, in the end, you shouldn’t think of your camera’s meter as inaccurate or off.

You are after all in control. Whenever you choose your subject, you need to think of how you want to expose your subject. If you’re after saturation of color, under-expose a little.
Peter Phun Photography

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2 thoughts on “Correct exposure is relative”

  1. You’re so kind Jo. As usual every morning, we are in a rush to get my kids to school. And the morning sun strikes the screen door for just the briefest of time.

    I’m glad the Point-and-shoot Canon G7 was handy.

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