Quick Shots With Exposure Compensation

Posted by Marc on August 15, 2012.

OH MY GOD!!! There are a pair of eagles plummeting to the ground while mating in mid air in front of a rainbow above the Bridal Veil falls during a fabulous Yosemite sunset. What shooting mode do you want to be in?

For me, I will want P (program) mode. In the split second I have, I will first try acquire the target and get a focused shot--any shot. Then I will possibly modulate brightness with the exposure compensation control dial and take a few more shots.Finally, if time allows, I will modulate the aperture/shutter speed to my liking.

How can I do all that in less than three seconds? It’s easy; stay in program mode and use both of the control dials. You say that you don’t have two control dials on your camera--then you’re screwed.

After selecting the framing and focusing your image, there are two basic decisions you need to make.

Do you want the image to be lighter or darker than the camera’s suggested metering.
Do you want to modulate aperture (depth of field) or shutter (motion blur).

With the answer to these two questions you use one control dial (typically at your thumb) to set exposure compensation (lighter or darker) and then the other control dial (typically adjacent to the shutter release) to cycle through the resulting aperture/shutter combinations until you get the one you want. Then, you press the shutter button.

Photography remains a set of tradeoffs, and there are many variations on this approach that will enhance your results, but with this basic technique you can temporarily free yourself from the distraction of operating the camera so that you can worry about other things like tracking and focusing on those plummeting, copulating eagles. Add Your Comments (0)