Chapter 5

Taking Control of Exposure

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the basics of exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

Deciphering exposure meters and histograms

Picking a metering mode

Shooting in aperture-priority and shutter-priority autoexposure modes

Solving exposure problems

Taking a look at flash options

Getting a grip on the digital characteristics of your camera — resolution, file type, and so on — is critical. But don’t get so involved in this side of digital photography that you overlook traditional photography fundamentals such as proper exposure and lighting. All the megapixels in the world can’t save a picture that’s too dark or too light.

To that end, this chapter tackles all things exposure-related, explaining such basics as how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO affect your pictures and how you can solve common exposure problems. Also look here for information about flash photography, advanced exposure features such as shutter-priority autoexposure and aperture-priority autoexposure, and ways to manipulate exposure to meet your creative goals.

Understanding Exposure

Entire books have been written on the subject of exposure, which may lead you to believe that exposure is an incredibly complex issue. And you can get into lots of arcane details about the science behind how cameras turn light into photographs, if you're interested. But if you're not the science-y type, I have good news: You can take a huge leap forward in your photographic skills by familiarizing ...

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