Exposure Digital Field Guide

Introduction

This Digital Field Guide is not camera specific or even brand specific, it is all about exposure, but what does that actually mean? Exposure is a very simple concept — allow the light sensitive sensor (film) to be exposed to the light that is reflected from the scene you want to capture. That's the basics of taking a photograph. When you press the shutter release the camera opens the shutter and the light travels through the lens and is allowed to reach that sensor and you have a photograph.

As photographers you get to control the amount of light that reaches the sensor by controlling how long the shutter is open and how big a hole the light enters through. You also get to decide how much the signal from the sensor is amplified and it is those decisions that are the essence to taking photographs and getting a proper exposure.

I get a lot of questions about photography both through my blog at www.alanhessphotography.com and in person when out photographing. Most of the time the questions are about how I managed to capture a certain image or what settings I use for my photos. The answer is pretty simple: I use the best exposure settings for the situation.

In this book, I start by covering exactly what an exposure is and what controls you have to adjust it. It explains how your camera measures light and what each of the settings mean, as well as which of the metering modes works best for different situations. It also covers the exposure modes found on most cameras and when ...