Improving Exposure Compensation

Classic example of over-exposing. Take a look at the subjects, the field and everything looks fine. But looking over the horses shoulders into the bright clouds on the horizon and you'll be blinded by the light. The trouble is it draws your eyes into it and makes a great photo a near total loss. Let's try cropping it.

Not much help, because though the horses are better viewed and with even better detail, you are not able to overcome the too high an exposure in the background. Maybe if we crop even more to focus our eyes on only the subjects within the frame. Let's see.

One could make an argument for a nearly acceptable shot, but when nothing is done to better prepare for exposing, the result is pretty much the same. How did this happen?

When looking into your viewfinder, and here I'm assuming your camera is a dslr (digital single lens reflex) you will see an exposure meter. The meter I saw was dead center, and I took the shot assuming the outcome would be perfect. What I didn't do was expose for the brightest area within my composition, the sky. If I had I might have had an under-exposed shot, but it would then have been easy to increase the exposure with a simple adjustment.

Your dslr will have a settings adjustment wheel or button to increase or decrease exposure compensation. If you are not already familiar with this setting, you will find that it should become on of your first tools when exposing for that first, half-depression of the shutter button.

Now let's take a look at a slight move of the meter to the right after exposing for the brighter background. What the camera did was to underexpose to counter that far too bright skyline, then I was able to within less than a second scroll the wheel for adding back exposure compensation.

Not only is there slightly better detail in the shadows, but the background while still being brighter than the immediate foreground is less blown out, making it easier to keep focused on the main subject of the photo, the draft horses and their gear. Location of you and your camera may not always be optimal, as the public needed to remain behind a wooden fence for safety, so lowering of your lens to help eliminate the bright background and exposing for the bright area, as well as slight increases in exposure can lead to much better shoots.