21 thoughts on “Exposure Compensation and Spot Metering: Fixing Underexposed and Overexposed Pictures”

  1. I don’t understand. Why can’t we just decrease the shutter speed (to the
    point it doesn’t get blurry), increase ISO one or two stop, or open up the
    aperture to introduce more light? Why exposure compensation?

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  2. I’m an amateur so I’m totally for looking at the histogram, but I have a
    though! What photographers did back in the days without digital metering
    and when cameras didn’t show the histogram? Maybe it’s a silly question but
    I wonder, if they were able to do photos without viewing the histogram was
    ’cause they were better than today’s photographers?

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  5. Very good video. I have a problem with my camera or shooting technique. I
    ran into the same situation. Background is fine but face is nearly black.
    So i push the compensation a little. The image is fine, however i get a lot
    of noise on the face. Also, it seems that my camera always underexposes the
    image and the histogram never touches the right side. It is a crop sensor
    camera. Could it be because of the crop sensor limitations ?

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  9. Hi Tony- Thanks for your video. Quick question. I just got the 5D mark
    III (I’m a Nikon shooter). On Nikon, you just click on Exposure
    Compensation and change it. It seems like I have to hit the EC button,
    then halfway click the shutter button before I can get the EC to “set”. Is
    this true? 

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  10. hi tony great demo . but can you tell me how i can get the histogram in
    live view so i can see before i take picture. or is this not possible
    cheers john

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  17. Thank you for your great videos. One thing that confused me though: in this
    video you don’t recommend to use spot metering when shooting flying birds.
    In your video “How to Photograph Flying Birds” however you recommend spot
    metering. Can you help me here?

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  18. good video. Thanks for this. Definitely appreciate watching videos that are
    easy to understand and hear and watch. (and… to anyone looking into the
    book. I own it. Worth a read!!)

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  19. The only way I used exposure compensation is when using aperture/shutter
    speed priority or program modes. I use my camera on manual… Guessing my
    only option is to increase ISO, lower shutter speed (which I don’t go too
    low to avoid camera shake) or open my aperture. Should I start shooting
    more often on program mode? 

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  21. When You shoot RAW all you need is ISO100, because there is no magic in ISO
    value. When You have ISO 100 You know how to expose to the right to obtain
    maximum dynamic range for the camera. Introducing ISO values makes
    impossible to have any idea what sensor sees… ISO is only a digital
    amplification of underexposed RAW image to get properly generated JPEG and
    discard RAW.
    When You have live histogram You need to know if it is postWB – JPEG output
    based or preWB sensor – RAW based. With former one You need to fix WB to
    look green in the same proportions as sensor gets (it is R:G:B in 1:2:1).
    This is why digital photography changed from analog. We can no longer
    blindly base our exposure on lightmeters (white light) but on sensor
    greenish output to evaluate optimal settings while looking at histogram
    (expose to the right). Using internal lightmeter is never going to give You
    optimal results.
    BTW RAW material of this photo overexposed on trees is probably going to be
    better than initially properly exposed. There is much more information in
    highlights than in any other area of dynamic range. Just compensate it down
    later. Then it is possible to push the contrast up without any
    posterization and get wonderful colors.
    

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