MEASURING EXPOSURE

Exercise-

Take a sequence of images which are either lighter or
darker than the correct exposure and explain why

Take six different images with exposures over and
under by 1/2 , 1 stop, over by half, 1 stop and one average.

This series of wide angle shots of tower bridge

shows the succession of exposures over and under

the ideal exposure chosen via TTL aperture priority

exposure setting

The average exposure selected with shutter speed

1/60 sec was f 14.

This image is fine as a general exposure but the sky is

too light and looses some of the detail

f11 2 stop under is too light

f 18 2 stops under is my ideal exposure as

it captures the general exposure but also captures

the detail in the sky.

f20/f22 are too dark

note that the tones and colours change with the

added f stop and are less washed out.

The final image is f18 image processed in

photoshop with some contrast added and

some light to the foreground.

The next sequence of images of a glass clad building

on the south bank.

The average shot is f9 1/40 sec

My ideal choice is f11 1/40 sec which is 2 stops

under, as it captures more reflection detail in the glass.

it also deepens the blue tones in the glass

the Final image is f112 stops under the average with

contrast and some fill flash added.

The next sequence of images I changed the shutter

speed rather than the aperture.

the average exposure at f 8 was 1/40 sec

again I prefer the image that is one stop under

at f8 1/50 sec

I think the tone level is better than the average

selection.

These indoor sequence of the turbine hall at

Tate Modern.

At f.45 aperture 1/125 sec was the average exposure.

In this limited lighting condition I think this is the ideal

exposure level as the under exposure levels are too dark

and the 1/2 stop under at 1/100 is too light

Take four to six images that are deliberate darker
or lighter than the suggested exposure and explain
why.

iso 800 f4.5 1/160 sec,

I saw this image from above a stairwell. I noticed that
the people were silhouetted in the light from outside the
building. I experimented with exposure levels and
felt that the image was improved by under exposing the
foreground so the detail is lost and all you can see
is the shape and form of the people. I added some fill
flash the the image in photoshop to capture some of the
reflection in the image.

iso 200 f22 1.30 sec

This image is not excessively over exposed but is an
example of bracketing. I took this image and bracketed
the exposures. I chose to work and process the image
that was one stop over exposed. As this image was taken
at the end of the day I wanted to keep the image light and
keep the colours soft and not too contrasty. A darker image
would have lost some of the soft tones in the foreground and
also create more shadows and therefore more contrast.
It was important to bracket the exposure not to over
expose the light area in the foreground

iso 200 f9 1/90 sec. Sync with remote flash.

Silver reflector.

This portrait was pre planned before shooting. I had

wanted to capture a very dark image showing only

a few details of the face and more capturing

the light falling on one side of the image. I set

the exposure levels so that I limited the amount

of light that I captured on the side not illuminated

I used a silver reflector to bounce some light back

so that the image was not too flat on the dark side.

I really like this image but have had some negative

feedback about it as a few people do not like that

the eye is obscured on the dark side, and that you

should see some of the eye detail? I did plan the

image not to see the the eye detail..

This is an full exposed image of the Pantheon in Roma

I loved this location to experiment with exposure

levels.

iso 800 f 4.5 1/40 sec





iso 800 f5 1/50 sec

The above images show the same location taken at exposure

levels below the suggest exposure reading the image has

become more contrasty and more dynamic by making

the shadows darker and reducing the highlight tones.

It has also changed the colour levels and toned down

the gold colour tones and again added to the dynamics

of the final image

iso 1600 f4.5 1/50 sec

Whilst walking late at night in Rome in March I

saw this image. I did not have a tripod so set the iso

to 1600 and started to shoot. I measured the expose

level from the avail light around the lamp. I then bracketed

the exposure and actually choose the exposure which was

1 stop below the suggest exposure level.

The under exposed image gives more contrast to the

image and creates a sense of drama in the final image.

iso 200 f10 1/200 sec

iso 200 f14 1/40 sec

I shot this series of images in London on the day that

I was photographing images for this assignment.

I wanted to try to capture the contrast between light

and dark and use them creatively in composition.

The series of shadow and people feet was taken in

Trafalgar Sq, I set the exposure to aperture priority

and then set a bracket level on the camera for 1 stop

over and 1 stop under. I chose the final images from the

under exposed sequence as it captured the shadow detail

more and made the final image more dramatic.

It also reduced the highlight areas that could have been

burnt out by the bright sunlight.

The second sequence was taken walking over Waterloo

bridge. I again experimented with exposure levels

as I wanted to capture the highlighted area but did not want

to loose all of the detail in the shadow area.

Again I bracketed the images, but this time I choose the

"average" exposure image as it allowed me to capture

the detail of the traffic light in the foreground and not

over expose the highlighted area.

Comments.

bracket exposure so that you can choose a series of

exposure to process.Use exposure as a to enhance an image.

Over or under exposure to create drama in the final image.