Questions tagged [exposure]

Exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on a sensor or film during the taking of a photograph. This is determined by the exposure time (shutter speed) and amount of light admitted (lens aperture). Today, sensor/film sensitivity (ISO speed) is often also considered to be part of exposure.

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How do I get this "Washed out" effect for street photography?

I was browsing an unrelated question here and noticed this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparth/5730541580/lightbox/ I've seen countless street-photography shots with this kind of color effect ...
Aren's user avatar
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Capturing vapour or faint steam

I was trying to capture a scene that was in a dark area with a bright background. There was faint steam that I wanted to be the focus of the picture. I tried first by having a very large aperture and ...
Ramon Zarazua B.'s user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
4k views

Why are flash pulses so short?

I was surprised to learn that most flashes last only 1/1000s instead of lighting up for the entire exposure time. Why? If the flash were to light up before the shutter opens and turn off after the ...
clickbait's user avatar
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12 votes
8 answers
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Are RAWs in bracketed exposure (mostly) redundant?

When I my camera takes RAW+JPEG with bracketed exposure (-1/0/+1 EV), it seems to me that the only difference that could logically exist between the RAW images is the shutter speed. If I assume that ...
user541686's user avatar
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2 answers
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How did this note "19/65 21/90 22/130" help previous owner of this old Zenit 12XP film camera?

Camera info The camera in question is an old Zenit 12XP. It belonged to my passed-away father-in-law. It has shutter speed regulations: B, 30-X, 60, 125, 250, 500 "ГОСТ/ASA" (ISO): 16 * 32 * ...
zworek's user avatar
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12 votes
5 answers
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Photo of sprites in a clear dark sky, is this possible?

On Earth Science StackExchange (ES-SE) we recently discussed this question: Photo of sprites in a clear dark sky, how is this possible? A photograph of Red Sprites was captured by David Finlay (see ...
Joscha Fregin's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do the 11+ stops of dynamic range from a modern DSLR fit into the 10 stops of the zone system?

Adams's Zone System uses 11 zones. Zone 0 is pure black in the print and zone X is the tone (or “pure white”) of the paper without any additional density. The distance between each zone is one stop / ...
Undistraction's user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
13k views

What camera settings would make shooting easy in a darkish church?

I tried to take photographs in a church that was bright enough for human eyes, but I quickly realized the camera couldn't take it. Failing to anticipate this, I didn't bring a tripod. Since I don't ...
Kjeld Schmidt's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
4k views

What's the difference between "Fake HDR" and real, bracketed exposure HDR?

As I began to brush up on my landscape photography skills I came across the polarizing (pun intended) issue of HDR photography. More specifically, I came across a well written blog post titled "...
rubikscube09's user avatar
12 votes
11 answers
3k views

In situations where you aren't compelled to pick high ISO (low light/needing a high shutter speed), is there ever a reason to NOT prefer low ISO?

Given the same amount of exposure, sometimes you may prefer smaller or bigger aperture because you may want high or low depth of field. Similarly, sometimes you may prefer slow or fast shutter speed, ...
silverrahul's user avatar
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3 answers
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Why do my photographs taken with a film camera look so saturated?

I’m starting to shoot photographs using my Dad's old camera, an Olympus OM-4. I’ve noticed that in comparison with my friend's photographs mine are a lot more saturated. Why can it be? Here's an ...
Diego Asterio's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
4k views

How do I effectively photograph when the sun is in the frame?

I have been trying to get a good shot out of direct sunlight but my shots just turn out dark, even if I set my shutter speed to the 1000-4000 range at ISO 200. Another odd thing is that even if my ...
Ygam's user avatar
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12 votes
6 answers
2k views

How do I compensate for a bright sun with a point and shoot?

So I'm in the bright sun with no shade around. What can I do to minimize over exposure and shadows with just a regular point and shoot? Should I go into "manual" mode? If so, which mode and what do ...
Nick DeVore's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
10k views

What camera settings should be used to capture sky shots without over exposing the clouds?

I have spent some time photographing landscapes with blue sky and white clouds, but the clouds always come out overexposed. I have tried different settings and still have the same result. What should ...
Verity Gray's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
987 views

How do you photograph Christmas Lights?

How can you best photograph Christmas lights? I've had tons of problems, the auto-meters don't work at all, and I'm fairly clueless, other than to get a tripod and keep trying until something sticks......
PearsonArtPhoto's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to choose the correct exposure?

I have a Canon 60D that I use for my primary hobby that is photography, but sometimes the pictures that I took are with the incorrect exposure like this: So I want to know how I can choose the ...
Nathan Campos's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

NIkon D5300 Flash problem plus getting different images with the same settings

I have two problems with my Nikon D5300 recently that are driving me crazy. The first problem is when I take pictures, focusing on the same object, I keep getting different images: one is too bright, ...
Moncef Ben's user avatar
11 votes
10 answers
8k views

Either background is overexposed or the foreground is underexposed. Are there possible solutions/approaches?

I use an Olympus EM-10 with a Panasonic Lumix MFT lens. No other accessories apart from the build in flash. I trained a situation in a restaurant to take a picture of the table inside with an outdoor ...
Ely's user avatar
  • 469
11 votes
6 answers
6k views

Why are my sky photographs coming out dark?

When I take pictures of objects in the sky (aircraft, birds, etc.), I frequently find that the entire sky looks underexposed. I typically take such pictures in Program mode ("P"), because ...
Michael's user avatar
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5 answers
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Sunny day in the shade - how to deal with white balance and exposure settings? [duplicate]

I was out doing an assignment about symmetric and asymmetric pictures (rule of third, golden mean, golden ratio). I could not figure out what is the best way to deal with the following setting: I am ...
Ely's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why does wider aperture make snowflakes look bigger?

Recently I went out to shoot when it was snowing. I was playing around with different aperture sizes and exposure times. What I have noticed that the wider the aperture, the more snow I can capture ...
Ruslan's user avatar
  • 819
11 votes
4 answers
918 views

How can I get the right exposure when parts of the scene are in the shade and others are in the sun?

Have a look at these snaps. On the first one the church has the right exposure but the tree is too dark. On the other hand in the second one the tree is perfect but the church is too bright. Is there ...
Abramodj's user avatar
  • 213
11 votes
3 answers
351 views

How sharp of an image should I expect at night?

I'm a beginner with my first camera (sony nex6 mirrorless). I was trying my first few night shots Using the kit lens but I wasn't able to find a way to take sharp images. I've done the following: ...
erotsppa's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
3k views

Am I wrong to judge my exposure using my smartphone?

Context: I recently purchased an Olympus OM-1 film camera. Upon receiving the camera, I realized the battery for the light meter was dead. I'm a (very) amateur photographer so, naturally, this is a ...
Alex Ritchie's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

How do I use the different shutter speeds my camera offers?

If I use a shutter speed below 1/30 on my Nikon P100, I get extremely dark images which are completely unusable. If I use the flash, it comes out fairly bright but just not natural. My camera ...
Matheus Moreira's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
14k views

What's the use of a very fast shutter speed, faster than 1/4000?

I am planning to buy a new DSLR and am comparing two models. One of them has a fastest shutter speed of ¹⁄₄₀₀₀th of a second while other has a limit of ¹⁄₈₀₀₀th. I know that a fast shutter speed will ...
Mandar Patil's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
16k views

How to calculate Lux from EV?

Instead of looking up a chart, how can I calculate Lux from EV?
ohho's user avatar
  • 233
11 votes
5 answers
8k views

What are good exposure and timing choices for time lapse photography?

I am shooting a time lapse and am doing some calculations beforehand to make sure I get everything right. I am shooting a road trip from the west coast to the east coast and am planning to compress ...
Walter's user avatar
  • 333
11 votes
2 answers
631 views

Why does exposure compensation have no effect with my hotshoe flash?

Taking photos with my Canon XTi and 550ex. Camera exposure compensation did not seem to effect the exposures. I figured out I needed to use the on-flash exposure comp. But the flash output is ...
Ken's user avatar
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11 votes
7 answers
10k views

How does TTL flash work when there are multiple flashes?

I've been watching a lot of deconstructing videos on how the light is setup. Often times there are 2-3 flashes at the studio. The photographer will say that they are all set to TTL. But how does that ...
erotsppa's user avatar
  • 3,288
11 votes
5 answers
884 views

For night photography with lots of unexposed areas, should I go with high iso and low exposure, or low iso and high exposure?

I have been doing so much research on iso, and for awhile I've been going with the theory that low iso= less noise, so I've been shooting at iso 100 and then adjusting my flashlights and increasing ...
jaredcphot's user avatar
10 votes
6 answers
6k views

Why would using higher ISO and faster shutter speed yield more noise than using lower ISO and slower shutter speed?

I'm trying to see how this answer correlates with practice. That answer basically says I need to let enough light into the camera and then use the highest ISO value and I'll get the lowest noise then. ...
sharptooth's user avatar
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10 votes
6 answers
616 views

Can photographers pre-visualize complete camera settings of a scene in their heads?

Can an experienced photographer walking down the street with no equipment visualize exactly what settings would work with a particular lens/body to capture a scene at that moment in time? Similarly ...
dpollitt's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is the white balance wrong in these field poppy pictures?

Yesterday I went out to take some pictures of a field of poppies next to my home. There seems to be something wrong with the color in most of the pictures. The first one of the following 3 pictures is ...
antonro's user avatar
  • 203
10 votes
4 answers
1k views

Do any other manufacturers other than Canon use the terms Av and Tv?

Canon uses "Av" (aperture variable) for the automatic exposure mode that entails the user choosing the aperture and the camera body choosing the shutter speed. This mode is called "A" by Nikon, and I ...
gerikson's user avatar
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10 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why are my film photos coming out so dark, even in bright sunlight?

I shoot with an Olympus OM-1n, 50mm Zuiko lens on Kodak Gold 200 film. It was a bright, sunny day so I was shooting with the following: Aperture: f/16 Shutter speed: 1/1000 ISO: 200 The photos were ...
turnip's user avatar
  • 203
10 votes
5 answers
7k views

Should I use Manual or (semi-)automatic mode for timelapse in changing light?

I'm planning a long road trip (east coast to west coast, about 45 hours of driving) and am thinking about shooting a time-lapse video of my drive. As I can expect the light levels to change pretty ...
Evan Krall's user avatar
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10 votes
4 answers
695 views

Are the aperture, ISO and shutter speed stops perfectly interchangeable?

Imagine you have an scene with shutter speed 1/60, f/8 and ISO 200. Then you change the configuration to get an equivalent exposure: speed 1/120, f/5.6, ISO 200 (plus one stop in speed, minus one stop ...
rodripf's user avatar
  • 225
10 votes
5 answers
6k views

How does software raise exposure in post-processing?

Does anyone know of any algorithms or can explain mathematically how brightness (EV) is executed in post-processing? Does it adjust the level of brightness/RBG/contrast for each pixel? Does it relate ...
BBking's user avatar
  • 2,765
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the "Sunny 16" rule of thumb?

I've heard of the "Sunny 16" rule. What is it? How, and in what situations, can I use it?
Michael C's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are three different exposures enough for a good HDR image?

I am a newbie to photography and shoot with Canon 550D ( Rebel T2i ) that can take 3 bracketed shots at a time. I want to know whether 3 shots are typically enough to capture the different lightings ...
Pavan Manjunath's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
20k views

How do I use the manual exposure setting in the new Google Camera app?

In April 2014, Google revamped its Android camera app. In the settings menu under "Advanced", there is just one option: Manual exposure. It defaults to off, but after turning in it on, I can't find ...
mattdm's user avatar
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10 votes
6 answers
2k views

What are typical situations where you should use auto-exposure lock (AE-L)?

What are the typical situations where you should use AE for locking exposure?
Kreker's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
619 views

How can I expose a waterfall scene correctly?

Last day, I was photographing a waterfall. It was a bright day and I was shooting around 2-3 in the afternoon. I set aperture to f/11 and took the meter reading pointing camera towards the sky. ...
Navaneeth K N's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
722 views

Why is the earth not overexposed in this star photo from the ISS?

The NASA Image of the day on August 6, 2020, is this picture titled "A Starry Sky Above the Earth's Atmospheric Glow": (Source and full resolution Image) When looking at this photo, I ...
jng224's user avatar
  • 1,608
10 votes
2 answers
807 views

What is "photometric exposure"?

What is "photometric exposure," and how is it related to what is commonly called "exposure" and "exposure values"? I have also seen the term "radiometric exposure" used to describe a similar property....
Sean's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
2k views

How could some old film cameras without electronics set exposure?

I once had a film compact camera, but I was too young to understand anything else than "click". I'm much more familiar with digital photography, and setting exposure has always been a possibility in ...
clabacchio's user avatar
  • 2,209
9 votes
5 answers
22k views

What's the difference between exposure and shutter speed?

Is there a difference between exposure and shutter speed, or are the terms interchangeable? I read that "If you use a quick shutter speed, you can just raise the exposure to compensate." Is this ...
J. Walker's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
2k views

What causes this dark halo around the sun?

I took a series of photographs just before sunset, directly into what was a very weak, watery sun - barely made you squint to look at either with the naked eye or through the viewfinder. To the naked ...
Tetsujin's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
717 views

Lighting variances on sport mode

I’m trying to shoot continuous movement indoor im Sport Mode. The room is well lit but the photos come out with drastically varying lighting so some photos in the sequence are well lit while others ...
Jaide's user avatar
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