 | Point and Shoot Month Round 2 - Self Timer & Exposure Compensation by Russ Burden Russ Burden continues Point and Shoot Month Number 2 with points on how to use the self timer and exposure compensation, which is helpful with backlit situations Article rating: 9.75 |
For those of you who are regular readers of my weekly photo tips, you know the vast majority are written for users of 35mm SLR’s. Last July I deviated from this trend and presented a month’s worth of tips for all you point and shooters. It was so well received, I’m doing Round 2 for the month of October. Now before all you regular readers grab the mouse and click on another link, read on. Isn’t it about time you had some fun with a point and shoot? Wouldn’t it be nice to get some great shots and not have to lug around your 35mm equipment? Haven’t you thought about getting one or using the one you already bought that is reserved for the others in the family? So spread the word to your point and shoot friends, spouses, and significant others to read the tips each week in October. I also encourage you to look into classes sponsored by the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy. They offer an array for all levels, including one solely dedicated to teaching students how to use their digital point and shoots. Check out www.digitalphotoacademy.com for more information.
Two cool features every point and shooter should know about are the self timer and the exposure compen sation setting. The self timer is most frequently used when the photographer needs to be included in the picture. The camera is placed on a tripod or other steady surface, the timer is set to a ten second delay, and the photographer runs into the composition. But did you ever wonder why one of the options in setting up the self timer allows a two second delay? Most people joke that the photographer needs to be very fast and wind up never using it. The reason it’s there is it allows the photographer to get sharp images when creating a picture with a long exposure. Quite often, picture sharpness suffers when a long exposure is required. The simple act of pressing the shutter creates camera movement and the photo is doomed from the start. Setting the two second delay allows the camera to settle down before the shutter opens. So the next time you encounter a situation that dictates a long exposure, place the camera on a steady surface, set up the self timer to postpone the exposu re for two seconds, and then press the shutter. You’ll be amazed at how much sharper your images can be.
The exposure compensation setting allows you to acquire better exposures in tricky lighting situations. Backlighting is the most common culprit that fools a meter into thinking there’s too much light resulting in an image that’s too dark. Another is when there is a lot of bright overcast sky with a darker foreground subject - see accompanying image. A third is night time photography - see accompanying image. Dialing in PLUS or MINUS compensation into each of these circumstances provides better images. Let’s take a look at the image of the kiter and the night scene .
Sky and Kite: The main subject is the person flying the kite. But the camera sees fifty percent of the image as bright sky so the meter gets fooled and the resulting image shows a dark foreground with a properly exposed sky - not the intended scenario for the picture. To create an exposure that reveals detail in the kiter and foreground, the meter has to be over ridden biasing it to the PLUS side - PLUS for MORE exposure so the foreground doesn’t go dark. In the photo seen here, I set the exposure compensation to plus 2/3 of a stop to make the overall image brighter. When I looked at the LCD of the picture without the compensation, the kiter was too dark. Dialing in PLUS 2/3 solved the exposure problem. Check your camera manual to see how to access the Exposure Compensation setting on your camera. On my point and shoot, there’s a button the back that has plus and minus icons. Selecting the button allows access to the setting.
Night Scene: The scene is predominately black with store lights mixed in. In that black dominates, the meter tells the camera to create a longer exposure than necessary to compensate for all the dark tones. The problem this creates is the blacks go dark gray and the lights on the stores are over exposed. The solution lies in the Exposure Compensation setting . Biasing the exposure to the MINUS setting tells the camera to create a darker exposure which results in blacks that are true black and the lights still have detail. To obtain the exposure seen here, I set the camera to MINUS one stop compensation. Again, check your camera manual to see how to access the Exposure Compensation setting on your camera. On my point and shoot, there’s a button the back of the camera that has plus and minus icons. Selecting the button allows access to the setting.
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more inform ation. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.