Exposure

Exposure, is basically, the amount of light that hits the sensor of a digital camera or the film in a film camera. The main reason for correct exposure is to have the photo correctly balanced to the way the eye actually sees the moment captured. There may be some reasons why you would over or under expose a photo, but the most important aspect to a good looking photo, other than composition, would be the exposure.

In a digital camera, such as my Nikon D80, there is a light meter that reads the input of the light. This meter, wants to automatically adjust the light to a 18% gray scale (white balance). This is the auto calibration, and when it sees something, it automatically wants to adjust it to that color. This has to be manually adjusted in most instances, because the camera does not know what the subject is.

The exposure in a camera can be helped determined by using different apertures in the lenses, different ISOs or light sensitivity that the sensor can detect, and the shutter speed. By adjusting all of these, a correct exposure can be found. For example, in lower lights, you will most likely use a longer shutter speed, with a wider aperture, and quite possibly a higher iso. While in brighter lights, a quicker shutter speed can be used with lower ISOs and a smaller aperture if necessary.

My Nikon D80 has manual controls and automatic controls to make the adjustments made easier for the photographer. The A, S, and M modes are most used on my D80. The A mode, allows the aperture to be adjusted, while the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed. The S mode adjusts the aperture, while you adjust to shutter speed to create a properly exposed photo. The manual feature, is probably the hardest to use on the camera, but it gives complete control to the photographer. By using this mode, the exposure completely depends on the photographers take on the light and how they feel it should be represented.

Exposure is a very important part of photography and must not be overlooked. By knowing the basics, it is easy to come up with a good photograph with good color, tones, and detail added to it.