Manual exposure shooting mode with live histogram display - a great way to operate your camera.

Chief Sw'kn'cut life-size statue at the waterfront park in Kelowna, BC.

Most people will tell you that they rarely, if ever, operate their camera in manual exposure mode.  The reason is simple:  too complicated, difficult to get good photos, and causes anxiety.  And yet, by learning a few simple tricks and turning on your camera's live histogram display, you can take better photos than ever before.

I took the above photo two days ago while visiting Kelowna's waterfront park.  I only ever shoot in manual exposure mode now, in both my DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.  The mirrorless cameras have a distinct advantage in that the digital viewfinder allows you to view the image with a histogram superimposed on the image.  The DSLR provides an optical viewfinder and so there is no live histogram available, but if you turn on LiveView and use the rear LCD screen, you can usually incorporate a live histogram display.

At the very least you can view an images histogram in the rear LCD by pressing the PLAY button and toggling the view until the chart is displayed.  If it doesn't show up, you may have to go into the camera's settings and select it as an option.  The same is true for live histogram displays; they are offered as an option and you have to enable the feature.

The other thing I rely on is the camera's exposure bar.  In manual mode, the camera will tell you what the current ISO, shutter speed, and aperture values are and show an exposure bar indicating how much the exposure is off by according to the built-in metering and exposure system.  The image below simulates an exposure bar in a viewfinder with a live histogram display.

Pied-billed grebe on Okanagan Lake.  The image was overexposed 
intentionally to compensate for the bright reflection off the water.

In the example above, if I had centered the exposure indicator (let 4/3s of a stop less light in) the image would have been underexposed.  I used the histogram and exposure bar to determine how much extra light the situation needed.  Also, the mirrorless camera provides a visual confirmation of what the exposure would look like.  I used the three pieces of information to determine the proper exposure.  I can correct for small errors in Photoshop.

Once you become comfortable with using this system, you will find that it makes a lot of sense and that you will end up with better shots.  You will spend a lot less time playing with exposure compensation or exposure lock settings in Automatic Exposure Modes and will start to understand light much better.

One of the great things is that, once you figure out the correct settings, you can often leave your camera set there as the light falling on your subjects doesn't change that much unless there is a significant change in weather or shade.  I use this all the time on all my cameras and is the only technique I now rely on to shoot.  Trust me, it's the best way to go.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more

Hang in there, things will get better.

Image
The Svendsen Family - Eric, Samuel, Leanne, Joshua (top row), Nora, Kathryn, Chanelle, Emma If I could go back, in my mind, to a day in my life when I was really down, it would be nice to be able to see into the future.  If could see things as they are today, with the many blessings that have been given to me, it would give me hope knowing that things wouldn't always be so discouraging.   The message here is we do not know what the future holds.  When things are bad, it is hard to raise your head out of the mire to see beyond the darkness.  There are no guarantees, of course, that things will be better, but I think it is true that fortunes ebb and flow as tides do.  The trick is to see beyond the low points and not be too haughty during the high ones.  I know that, at this moment, things are very good.  What the future holds is unknown, but low and high points are likely in the forecast.   This is why taking satisfaction from the moment ...
Read more