Reprint from Shutterbug, September, \t\t\t\t\t1995<\/p>\n
With so much that has been written about exposure, the big question still \t\t\t\t\tremains for many. What is “the” perfect exposure? I want to add my two cents \t\t\t\t\tworth, in answering this question. I feel the answer lies more within ourselves \t\t\t\t\tthan any exposure meter. I’ll try to lift what is for many, a tremendous \t\t\t\t\tburden – obtaining the perfect exposure for their photography!<\/p>\n
I think understanding the answer can be found in the definition of the \t\t\t\t\tword perfect. Webster defines perfect as “to finish or complete, so as to \t\t\t\t\tleave nothing wanting.” It goes on further in defining the word by saying, “to \t\t\t\t\tmake perfect or more nearly perfect according to a given standard, as by \t\t\t\t\ttraining or improvement.” These two definitions apply directly to photographers’ \t\t\t\t\tquest for “the” perfect exposure.<\/p>\n
From my point of view, there should only be two criteria for the perfect \t\t\t\t\texposure. First is how and what you want to communicate in your photograph \t\t\t\t\t(to finish or complete….). Second is what reproduces detail in either \t\t\t\t\tthe print or printed page (to make perfect or more nearly perfect…).<\/p>\n
We tend to lose sight of what photography is really about – communicating. \t\t\t\t\tWe don’t have brush strokes available to us to emphasize the subject. We \t\t\t\t\tcan’t give rise with a crescendo to bring drama to our subject. We can’t \t\t\t\t\teven add the perfect adjective to better describe the subject. What we have \t\t\t\t\tto communicate with is light and how we expose for it.<\/p>\n
Light is what gives life to our photograph, and exposing for it is what \t\t\t\t\tdefines our own personal perfect exposure. For example, we can tell from \t\t\t\t\ta photograph whether it was taken on a sunny day or overcast day. We weren’t \t\t\t\t\tpresent at the time of the exposure, but the quality of light and how it \t\t\t\t\twas exposed clues us in as to the time it was taken. But was that what the \t\t\t\t\tphotographer was trying to communicate or were they just following “the \t\t\t\t\trules?” A sunny afternoon can be underexposed to darken the scene and an \t\t\t\t\tovercast day overexposed to brighten the scene. All of a sudden we have \t\t\t\t\ttaken control of exposure making. We’ve now changed the scene to fit our \t\t\t\t\tdesire, we’re now communicating by finding our perfect exposure.<\/p>\n
There are a number of common situations that mess up the photographer’s \t\t\t\t\tmind when it pertains to exposure. The most common is snow. Oh my goodness, \t\t\t\t\tthe number of letters I’ve received on how to expose for snow. The rule \t\t\t\t\tso often quoted is overexpose by at least one full stop. I hate rules! “You” have \t\t\t\t\tto decide what’s the subject and then expose for it. If the subject is the \t\t\t\t\tsnow and you want to see detail in its crystals, then overexposure is called \t\t\t\t\tfor. But if the snow is a mere element in the photograph, overexposure is \t\t\t\t\tprobably not going to give you the perfect exposure for what you’re communicating.<\/p>\n
Now this holds true for other light subjects as well as dark subjects. \t\t\t\t\tThe white bird on blue water has to be the ultimate nightmare for the quest \t\t\t\t\tof the perfect exposure. But with my formula, it’s quite simple. If the \t\t\t\t\twhite bird is the subject, then overexposure is right. If the white bird \t\t\t\t\ton the blue water is just an element, then overexposure is not needed. And \t\t\t\t\twhen do you know which is correct? What is it you want to communicate?<\/p>\n
This is why I’ve put this discussion of the perfect exposure first, because \t\t\t\t\tit is the most difficult. There are no rules to go by. There are no formulas \t\t\t\t\tin which you can attach to a scene to decide what it is you want to communicate. \t\t\t\t\tYou, the photographer, the communicator, must make the decision on what \t\t\t\t\tit is you want to say. The disappointment many feel from their photographs \t\t\t\t\twhen it comes to exposure is not from detail missing in the highlights or \t\t\t\t\tthe shadows (to be discussed in a moment), but because it does not communicate \t\t\t\t\twhat we wanted about the scene.<\/p>\n
The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography<\/em>, third edition says this \t\t\t\t\tabout the perfect exposure, “The correct exposure for a photograph can be \t\t\t\t\tdefined as an exposure that produces an image with the tonalities and colors \t\t\t\t\tthe photographer desires,…”. In this pursuit of communicating, technical \t\t\t\t\texpertise in exposure is important. Don’t get me wrong, you must know what \t\t\t\t\tyou are exposing for to communicate. But it is not the dominating factor, \t\t\t\t\tat least in my way of thinking, of the perfect exposure “….to leave nothing \t\t\t\t\twanting.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n top of page<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The math of the technically perfect exposure really isn’t that hard to \t\t\t\t\tspell out. Positive film (sorry, I can only speak for the film type I know, \t\t\t\t\tothers differ), has generally an exposure range of 2 1\/2 to 3 stops. This \t\t\t\t\tmeans that any highlights or shadows in the scene within this exposure range \t\t\t\t\tcontains detail. But this very phrase might create confusion for you rather \t\t\t\t\tthan clear things up, so let me elaborate.<\/p>\n A scene has a range of exposures for each and every element contained \t\t\t\t\tin it. The proper exposure for an element in a scene is when detail can \t\t\t\t\tbe seen in that element, detail such as leaves, ruffles in a cloud. etc.. \t\t\t\t\tFor example photographing a sunny scene (shutter speed for this example \t\t\t\t\tnot relevant though would be constant for all), to expose for the highlights \t\t\t\t\tsuch as a cloud, an f\/stop of f\/16 might be required. Proper exposure for \t\t\t\t\tthe shadows, the leaves at the bottom of a bush, might require an f\/stop \t\t\t\t\tof f\/5.6. If the highlights of the scene can be properly exposed at f\/16 \t\t\t\t\tand the shadows at f\/5.6, then they fall within the 2 1\/2 stop range and \t\t\t\t\tdetail is captured throughout the scene. In our photography we find this \t\t\t\t\tthe exception and not the rule. (Obtaining the exposure for this scene can \t\t\t\t\tbe derived in a number of ways and in itself is another article\/book.)<\/p>\n Generally, the exposure range of our scene is greater than the range of \t\t\t\t\tthe film. Depending where we place our exposure, either highlight or shadow \t\t\t\t\tdetail is lost because it falls outside this range. This means that either \t\t\t\t\thighlights are burnt up, washed, or the shadows are blocked up, black, neither \t\t\t\t\tholding any detail. When this occurs, these photographs are referred to \t\t\t\t\tas “contrasty.”<\/p>\n In the quest for the perfect exposure, solving the technical side is easy \t\t\t\t\tto answer. Typically, we expose for the highlights and pump light into the \t\t\t\t\tshadows to bring them up within the magical 2 1\/2 to 3 stop range. We have \t\t\t\t\tsuch tools as fill flash and reflectors to help fill in shadows. Their proper \t\t\t\t\tapplication when not detectable, lowers the exposure range of the scene \t\t\t\t\tso detail can be captured, while effectively communicating. (If you look \t\t\t\t\tclosely at my photographs, you’ll notice that I typically let shadows go \t\t\t\t\tdark in scenics while with wildlife, there is shadow detail. That’s just \t\t\t\t\tmy personal preference for the perfect exposure.)<\/p>\n Highlights can be tamed with polarizing and split graduated neutral density \t\t\t\t\tfilters. These are generally applied to large scenes where the shadows are \t\t\t\t\ttoo large to be filled in. By exposing for the shadows, these filters hold \t\t\t\t\tback the highlights by underexposing them. In this way, they are brought \t\t\t\t\twithin the range of the film’s exposure range. Now the polarizer will only \t\t\t\t\tdo this when properly used to eliminate reflections and not just turned \t\t\t\t\tto create blue skies. (I tend to overexpose by 1\/3 stop when using polarizers \t\t\t\t\tto bring up shadow detail just a tad.) The split graduated neutral density \t\t\t\t\tfilter underexposes an area of the scene by as much 3 stops. This means \t\t\t\t\ta scene with a 6 stop range can be condensed to fit within the 2 1\/2 to \t\t\t\t\t3 stop range of the film.<\/p>\n Now means of metering to determine the proper exposure for various elements \t\t\t\t\tor scenes can vary. Preferences for exposing for the highlights or shadows \t\t\t\t\tcan likewise vary, but the fact that we have this 2 1\/2 to 3 stop range \t\t\t\t\tremains. The technical question of the perfect exposure lies within and \t\t\t\t\toutside this range. It is a question you can answer by simply applying the \t\t\t\t\tmany tools available to us effecting exposure. Understanding where to base \t\t\t\t\tyour exposure to capture this range can be accomplished by lots of trail \t\t\t\t\tand error, or doing my Teddy Bear Test<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just to provide you food for thought, when you have a photograph where \t\t\t\t\tthe highlights and shadows are within this range, you have the perfect exposure \t\t\t\t\tfor prints or the printed page. I still contend this might not be the perfect \t\t\t\t\texposure for the scene or what you want to communicate, but it will render \t\t\t\t\tthe perfect print. This includes providing the ultimate in sharpness. There’s \t\t\t\t\tno doubt that sharpness of an image is at its greatest when the exposure \t\t\t\t\tis within this range “….according to a given standard… ”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n top of page<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But you’re saying, “Moose, how do I know what I want or what happens when \t\t\t\t\tI apply a filter or underexpose?” Experience is still the best teacher because \t\t\t\t\twe all see differently and communicate differently, but I can provide you \t\t\t\t\tsome insights as to what I do.<\/p>\n An example is shooting on overcast days. This to me is a magical time \t\t\t\t\tfor photography. The exposure range is generally within the 2 1\/2 to 3 stops \t\t\t\t\twithout having to mess with flash or filters. Now if the scene has a definite \t\t\t\t\tmood to it, such as a stormy coastline or trees in fog, I expose as the \t\t\t\t\tmeter advises. This generally underexposes the scene creating a darkened \t\t\t\t\timage. This creates a dark mood to the scene, communicating the mood I felt \t\t\t\t\twhile making the exposure.<\/p>\n But I have found I can take this same overcast light and change everything \t\t\t\t\tby simply overexposing. Photographing in forests, or other normally contrasty \t\t\t\t\tplaces, are best when it’s overcast. But by exposing for the mood, the scene \t\t\t\t\tbecomes very dark and gloomy. This is not what I want to communicate in \t\t\t\t\tmany instances. So simply by overexposing by 1\/3 to 1 stop, I can change \t\t\t\t\tthe scene dramatically. How dramatic? You won’t even know by looking at \t\t\t\t\tthe scene for example, that it was raining because it looks so bright. The \t\t\t\t\tthing that gives the technique away is that the highlights and shadows still \t\t\t\t\thold detail.<\/p>\n Changing the exposure range to communicate what you want affects other \t\t\t\t\telements in the photographic equation. Beware that for every action, there \t\t\t\t\twill be an opposite and equal reaction. By changing the exposure to obtain \t\t\t\t\tyour perfect exposure, such things as contrast and color changes. Underexposing \t\t\t\t\ta scene generally saturates colors more where overexposure washes them out. \t\t\t\t\tThe rich greens of a forest like the underexposure where the pastels of \t\t\t\t\ta field of flowers like the overexposure. And of course, the exact opposite \t\t\t\t\tmight be what you like to capture.<\/p>\n So where have I led you in this discussion of the perfect exposure? Hopefully \t\t\t\t\tright back to where I wanted, to you. I want you to understand that the \t\t\t\t\tperfect exposure is what you like. You are the final judge as to what is \t\t\t\t\tperfect or not. You and only you know if what you saw in the scene is what \t\t\t\t\tyou captured and communicated successfully. And you will know this not only \t\t\t\t\tfrom your own reaction to your image, but by the reactions of others. Anyone \t\t\t\t\tcan master the technical side of exposure. Heck, most modern cameras can \t\t\t\t\tobtain the correct exposure for 90% of the scenes we encounter. But the \t\t\t\t\treal pro, master of one’s craft of communicating, must reach down deep inside \t\t\t\t\tto master one’s own perfect exposure. You won’t find the answer to the perfect \t\t\t\t\texposure in my words, but only in your photographs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reprint from Shutterbug, September, 1995 With so much that has been written about exposure, the big question still remains for many. What is “the” perfect exposure? 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\nThe Technically Perfect Exposure<\/h2>\n
\nObtaining Your Perfect Exposure<\/h2>\n
Where Can You Find the Perfect Exposure?<\/a><\/blockquote>