Exposure Compensation

Exposure Compensation

Exposure Compensation allows photographers to override the exposure selected by the camera’s light meter to make the image brighter or darker. As we learned previously, camera meters work by evaluating light reflected off subjects and are standardized on 18% reflectance otherwise known as middle gray (zone 5 to all of you Ansel Adams fans). When a camera is pointed at a very dark subject the meter will tend to brighten up the exposure. In contrast, pointing a camera at a lighter subject will cause the meter to make the exposure darker. This is done in order to get as close to the middle gray as possible, so that the resulting image is not too dark or too bright. Although this works well in many cases, a photographer might experience overexposure or underexposure in more challenging lighting conditions. With Exposure Compensation the photographer can manually take control of the brightness of the image and override the camera’s meter.

How to Use Exposure Compensation?

To use Exposure Compensation on a traditional DSLR camera you must be in one of the advanced shooting modes such as aperture priority, shutter priority or program mode. Many newer mirrorless ICL cameras allow you to utilize Exposure Compensation in the auto mode or any other “scene” mode that will allow exposure adjustments. Unless one has Auto ISO turned on, exposure compensation will do absolutely nothing in Manual mode. Once the proper camera mode is selected it will be possible to adjust the brightness of the image by using the exposure compensation feature of the camera.

So where do you find the exposure compensation feature on a camera? Unfortunately, it can vary by camera make and model. While most cameras will have a dedicated button on either the top or the back of the camera, some cameras might have this feature available only through a dial or menu. Identifying the exposure compensation button on a camera is usually easy – look for a button that has plus and minus signs similar to the following illustration:

While holding down this button find the dial that will allow you to change the exposure to lighten or darken the image. If your camera has a touch screen you may be able to adjust the exposure with a slider on the LCD. If you are not sure where to find the Exposure Compensation function on your camera consult the camera manual.

Note: If you are using a mirrorless ICL camera or a DSLR with exposure simulation in live view you will be able to see the changes you make directly on the LCD before taking the photograph. On older or more traditional DSLR cameras you will have to review the image after you take it to see the effect of the exposure compensation.

How Exposure Compensation Works

Exposure compensation works by adjusting one or more of the exposure variables, depending on what camera mode you are using. For example when shooting in Aperture Priority mode, the photographer sets the camera’s Aperture and the camera will set the Shutter Speed according to the reading from the camera meter. In this  case, when you adjust the exposure via exposure compensation you are overriding the shutter speed set by the camera. When you are in Shutter Priority you will be overriding the Aperture (f/stop) chosen by the camera.

Tip: Remember to set the Exposure compensation back to zero when you are done using it or subsequent images may be too light or too dark.