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Exposure compensation
Exposure Compensation is an important tool that helps you control the amount of light entering the lens.
The human eye is capable of seeing detail in both dark and light areas of a scene. However, digital cameras have a more limited range. Under somelighting conditions a photo can be either under or over-exposed. In these situations, the Exposure Values can be changed to help improve the overall exposure.
Exposure Values (EV)
Selecting an acceptable Exposure Value helps preserve detail in both dark and bright areas of a photo.
In high contrast scenes, photographers usually under expose so the brightest areas are not blown out (ie. washed out and contain no detail). Dark areas generally retain detail better than bright areas. An under exposed image can usually be edited to pull out details in the darker portions of a photo.
Exposure Values are numbers that refer to various combinations of lens aperture and shutter speed. The values are measured in "steps," typically between (+) 2 EV through (-) 2 EV in increments of 1/2 EV or 1/3 EV.
Decrease the EV if photos appear too light (over-exposed). Increase the value if photos are too dark (under-exposed).
Exposure Compensation
Exposure Compensation can be changed manually using a digital camera's exposure compensation button or menu. This lets you to override the metered exposure by a value between a range of [-] 2 to [+] 2 EV.
How settings are adjusted varies according to a scene or the subject matter itself. The best way to learn about exposure compensation is to experiment.
Learn more about these settings in the Taking Photos section.
