Better Available Light Digital Photography, 2nd Edition

2   Basic exposure

 

 

In the good old days ofphotography, determination of exposure usedto be achieved by a combination of hard practical experience and asort of mystical intuition. The photographer would momentarilyretire into the silences of his soul and emerge with the message, “One twenty-fifth of a second at f/11”—which surprisingly oftenturned out to be right.

—William Mortensen

Mr. Mortensen wrote those words in 1950 but they could have just as well been written today! Whether shooting film or digital, one common factor remains important for both methods of capture: correct exposure is critical; maybe even more so for digital than ...