Exposure compensation in Landscape photography?

[Red_D]

Hey guys,

I am new here and hopefully someone can help me out with my inquiry.
Whats the relation of exposure compensation in landscape photography?
I mean I never really thought of adjusting it when I shoot landscape. I just noticed here in this forum when the members post their images with its corresponding setting and the EV adjuted. Some of the guys here even asked the person who took the shot on whats the EV he used.

Hope to learn from everyone.
thanks

Red
Manila, Philippines

[zona5101]

First off, welcome!
EV is exposure value. Each whole number change in EV is 1 stop.
Exposure compensation can be measured in EV

For example an ev of 11 would correspond to 1/60 @ f5.6 or any of these other combinations that equal the same amount of light: 1/30@f8; 1/125@f4; etc.

So for a given scene metered at ev11, if you underexposed the shot by 1 ev (-1ev) you would have selected one of these combinations: 1/60f8; 1/30f11;1/125/5.6

a simple way to remember it in terms of exposure compenstion is to substitute "stop" for "ev" eg: "i shot it at -1ev" or "i underexposed it by 1 stop"

As far as an application in landscape photography, it is the same as any area, you use exp comp when you want to override the meter reading.

[Red_D]

Thank you for the welcome Bruce = )
Sorry but I am a newbie and this topic is alien to me. I am still trying to digest everything that you posted.

anwyay, will it matter if I set the EV to 0, aperture to f8 and shutter of lets say 1/100 as against EV to +1, aperture of f8 and shutter to 1/125? I think since I bump up the EV to +1 I need to compensate and adjust the shutter so I can have a correct exposure. Is that the way it is? Or the shot will be different?

I think I have to try it myself to understand this further.

[dakwegmo]

If you're shooting in full manual mode, dialing in an EV of +1 usually won't have any effect on the shot. The EV dial usually only works in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Program modes. If you're shooting in aperture priority at f/8, and the metered shutter speed is 1/100, then dialing in EV+1 means the camera will attempt to let in one full stop of light more than was metered, which would result in a shutter speed of ~ 1/50th. If you have the same metering and dial in EV-1 then you'll get a shutter speed of 1/200th.

Or if you're in shutter priority and have it set to 1/100th and the camera meters to f/8, then dialing in EV+1 means the aperture gets set to f/5.6, and EV-1 changes the aperture to f/11.

This assumes you're controlling ISO manually. If you have your ISO setting to auto, then your camera may attempt to adjust the ISO to get the correct exposure with the set EV compensation.

In full manual mode, you have to adjust your shutter, aperture, or ISO to under- or over-expose the image based on the camera's meter reading.

[Red_D]

I shoot manual 100% of the time when I do landscape photography so it means I shouldn't be bothering understanding EV at all. That's a relief

[zona5101]

There is a lot of good info right here in DPS.
Check out some of these links that will give you a introduction into exposure to ensure you have a solid foundation to build upon...
Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials

[LeeR]

Welcome to DPS, Red_D. I would strongly advise you to spend a little time reading up on the Zone System. I don't think you have to master it, but learning to place certain values into a particular zone can put this all in perspective for you. Don't spend a lot of time on it, just get the concept enough to put some of the prinicipals to work.

[dakwegmo]

You'll never hear me endorsing not learning something. It could be useful to know if for no other reason than to have a point of reference in photography discussions where it comes up. Also, it's good to understand when you would want to over-ule your camera's meter, whether you're shoot manual or semi-manual.

[kencaleno]

Here is my simplified introduction to the Zone System:

Edward Weston/Ansel Adams developed the “Zone System”
To control exposure and contrast for black and white film photography
And To pre-visualize finished image after post processing in the darkroom,

There are11 zones black to white-each zone represent 1 EV (exposure value) stop:

0 Total black

I Almost black-no detail

II Dark grey-black -very dark detail in shadows

III Very dark grey-shadow detail-dark animal fur

IV Medium dark grey-dark green foliage, shadow side of Caucasian face
Dark stone-landscape shadow-dark skin-details plainly visible

V Medium grey-green grass-grey stone-dry tarmac-excellent detail

VI Rich mid-tone grey-Caucasian skin in sunlight-light stone and sand

VII Bright light grey-white with texture-silver hair

VIII Almost white-Delicate texture-no detail-reflected highlights on Caucasian skin

IX Nearly pure white

X Absolute white


Each zone is a tone between black and white

Each zone is either half or twice the exposure of it’s neighbour, depending on whether you are going up or down, For example Zone III is 2 stops darker than zone V, and zone VII is 2 stops lighter than zone V-As you move your exposure one stop (ev) say, from f 8 to f 11,or from 1/60sec to 1/125sec, you will have moved the exposure one zone

Although developed for black and white film, it can still be useful for digital imaging, and once you get used to using it, your resulting images will be superior to anything you have done before..

It can be difficult to understand that when working in color, that black and white and tones of grey can apply. Your camera’s meter sees in black, white and tones of grey in between.

So to help you understand:

Your camera’s built-in meter will average everything it sees as mid-grey (18% or 13%-whichever you believe to be correct) > ZONE V!

To prove that this is so, try this experiment:

Get a piece of white paper and a piece of black paper ( A4 sheets) take separate photo of each sheet, filling the frame, in the same lighting conditions, using the camera’s meter - Surprise, Surprise! They both came out mid-grey. This is because the camera’s meter averages out the scene, giving an average exposure for the scene at ZONE V.

The camera’s light meter will measure and average everything it’s pointed at

So it becomes necessary to switch to spot metering-a spot meter will measure only a very small angle (1-2 Degrees)-spot metering will let the camera know the most important part of the scene in front of it.

Ok. Let’s assume you have a Caucasian model against a relatively dark background-So you assess the scene before you, and decide that the model’s face is the most important part of the scene.

Usually Caucasian skin registers at Zone VI or Zone VII, (Even though we are looking at a color scene, the camera only sees light and dark.) When we spot meter for model’s face, this will register on camera as Zone V

We have decided to rate the model’s skin at Zone VII, and this means we must open up 2 EV stops to achieve this:

If we are in manual shooting mode, this will require us to either a) Decrease the shutter speed from, say 1/250th sec to 1/60th sec, or b) 0pen up aperture from, say F8 to F4.

If you are in auto mode/scene exposure mode, set exposure compensation to +2

Always do a final check using your histogram: In some situations, by placing the subject at a certain zone, could result in other areas of the image being under or over exposed.


regards, Ken

[LeeR]

Wow, Ken, you've done a great job of putting the Zone System in a very succinct manner that anyone can understand. This really should be must reading for anyone who wants to take photography seriously! Any chance of doing a tutorial with illustrations?