Why is exposure so confusing?
Jan 22, 2019 09:46:27 #
"If you learn about exposure on the first time you use a camera it's very simple." Yes Sir, it is.
I have read during my lifetime many books on exposure and the majority of them lost me in the first chapter. I began, years ago, to get hold of it when I bought my first book written by John Shaw, the well known nature photographer. At the time I had no help from other photographers or the Internet. Cameras were for the most part all manual except for the exposure meter that required a battery. I grabbed the concept given to me by Mr. Shaw and I immediately saw an improvement in the way I was now exposing the subject.
Years went by with more or less success exposing film and then digital takes over. First thing I learned was how sensitive was a digital sensor at the time. Exposures for the highlights were not that easy for me and my trusty hand held exposure meter was close to the exposure but not right on. I then learned that with digital it was like when I exposed for slide film, the highlights had priority. I remember that AA filters were pretty thick causing blurring of the image and making it difficult to some extent to bring back the original sharpness. I still remember the Nikon D100, a very good camera with a thick AA filter.
Then I discovered a book on exposure written by the late Brahman Farzad, freelance photographer and professor of photography at the University of Alabama. "The Confused Photographer's Guide to Photographic Exposure and the Simplified Zone System" was his first book on exposure and after I began to read it and practice his teachings I found that now my exposures were right on. It is a long title for a book that is fun to read, easy to understand and full of many tips on how to expose photographically. I found that after just one week I was better with my exposures and today I keep on doing what I learned in his book. His second book, "Confused Photographer's Guide to on Camera Spot Metering" is also superb and both can be bought for pennies today. Both books, as I said make it very easy to understand and learn photographic exposure.
It is when we get into complicated explanations on how to expose that we get lost.
I have read during my lifetime many books on exposure and the majority of them lost me in the first chapter. I began, years ago, to get hold of it when I bought my first book written by John Shaw, the well known nature photographer. At the time I had no help from other photographers or the Internet. Cameras were for the most part all manual except for the exposure meter that required a battery. I grabbed the concept given to me by Mr. Shaw and I immediately saw an improvement in the way I was now exposing the subject.
Years went by with more or less success exposing film and then digital takes over. First thing I learned was how sensitive was a digital sensor at the time. Exposures for the highlights were not that easy for me and my trusty hand held exposure meter was close to the exposure but not right on. I then learned that with digital it was like when I exposed for slide film, the highlights had priority. I remember that AA filters were pretty thick causing blurring of the image and making it difficult to some extent to bring back the original sharpness. I still remember the Nikon D100, a very good camera with a thick AA filter.
Then I discovered a book on exposure written by the late Brahman Farzad, freelance photographer and professor of photography at the University of Alabama. "The Confused Photographer's Guide to Photographic Exposure and the Simplified Zone System" was his first book on exposure and after I began to read it and practice his teachings I found that now my exposures were right on. It is a long title for a book that is fun to read, easy to understand and full of many tips on how to expose photographically. I found that after just one week I was better with my exposures and today I keep on doing what I learned in his book. His second book, "Confused Photographer's Guide to on Camera Spot Metering" is also superb and both can be bought for pennies today. Both books, as I said make it very easy to understand and learn photographic exposure.
It is when we get into complicated explanations on how to expose that we get lost.
Jan 22, 2019 09:50:38 #
rmalarz wrote:
A fun read. Exposure isn't that confusing. It's actually quite simple, until this sort of thing comes along. Nothing like obsfucating a simple topic.
--Bob
--Bob
You are correct Malarz. It is pretty simple when you understand what is happening.
Aperture is generally considered to be related to the diameter of the circular hole that the light can passes thru. Changing the setting one stop means you are doubling the light. To let twice as much light thru a hole you must double it’s area. To double the area of a hole you make the diameter 1.4 times bigger (I’ll let you do the math). The number 1.4 is the square root of 2. Aperture values are often shown related to focal length but if you are using the same camera you can ignore that part and just use the 1.4 factor.
Example: move 1 stop from 1.4, multiply 1.4 x 1.4 = 2
move 1 stop from 2, multiply 2 x 1.4 = 4
move 1 stop from 4, multiply 4 x 1.4 = 5.6
move 1 stop from 5.6, multiply 5.6 x 1.4 = 8
move 1 stop from 8, multiply 8 x 1.4 = 11, etc
As for each camera reading differently, blame it on to quality control. Any way who cares, it is a relative measurement for that camera. The more important question is, is it consistent?
Jan 22, 2019 09:56:57 #
WELL DONE.....someday...when I grow-up I want to be smart like you. Thanks
Jan 22, 2019 10:09:56 #
sloscheider wrote:
When you get the above common sense changes to take place your next assignment is to get us Yanks to move on over to the metric system! I’ll support your political party, just say the word. It’s only the US, Burma and Liberia left to go metric...
Nothing makes common sense anymore....just turn on the TV for a while or just plain look around ! As you well know one or possibly more of our space mishaps occurred because of bad conversion; Our system is antiquated and inefficient but no one listens or even cares. Just look at this discussion which should be a basic understanding of a few principles.... Pundits have gotten so far into the weeds that the original intent has been obscured. Cheers, Bob
Jan 22, 2019 10:17:47 #
I am so confused.
rmalarz wrote:
A fun read. Exposure isn't that confusing. It's actually quite simple, until this sort of thing comes along. Nothing like obsfucating a simple topic.
--Bob
--Bob
Jan 22, 2019 10:22:39 #
Way to much info for anyone new just attempting to learn Digital Photography. "Baby-Steps", if this was real food, that Baby would have choked to Death.
Jan 22, 2019 10:23:10 #
I copied and pasted your last two tutorials on exposure. Good read and a lot of good information for people like me who are searching for information that is easy to comprehend. Thank you. Kerry
rmalarz wrote:
A fun read. Exposure isn't that confusing. It's actually quite simple, until this sort of thing comes along. Nothing like obsfucating a simple topic.
--Bob
--Bob
Jan 22, 2019 10:23:21 #
kerry12 wrote:
I am so confused.
I'm not sure why this is such a hotbed of discussion and confusion. The question of how light is halved or doubled (or units in between) using shutter speed, aperture, and ISO should be, perhaps, the first thing an owner of a DSLR learns. How changing one and altering another can, effectively, give one the same exposure yet have an affect in other ways upon the end result is what photography is all about.
Jan 22, 2019 10:44:15 #
Dannj wrote:
No offense but it’s hard to accept “fun read” and “obfuscating” in the same comment😊
Actually I find “obfuscating” = "fun" pretty much 90% of the time.
Jan 22, 2019 10:46:44 #
Exposure is simple, complicated only by those who go out of their way to make it seem so.
There are three elements:
Amount of light adjusted through the size of the aperture known as the F-Stop.
Amount of time the light goes through the aperture adjusted by how long the shutter stays open, or Shutter Speed.
Sensitivity of the medium (film or sensor) the light is hitting known as the ISO.
*** note - sensor ISO is simulated through electronics.
Adjusting any of the three independently will make an image lighter or darker.
Adjusting any two equally in opposite directions will not change how light or dark the image is, but will affect the image in other ways.
Those "other things" are not exposure and should be addressed separately, after exposure is understood.
IMHO
--
There are three elements:
Amount of light adjusted through the size of the aperture known as the F-Stop.
Amount of time the light goes through the aperture adjusted by how long the shutter stays open, or Shutter Speed.
Sensitivity of the medium (film or sensor) the light is hitting known as the ISO.
*** note - sensor ISO is simulated through electronics.
Adjusting any of the three independently will make an image lighter or darker.
Adjusting any two equally in opposite directions will not change how light or dark the image is, but will affect the image in other ways.
Those "other things" are not exposure and should be addressed separately, after exposure is understood.
IMHO
--
Jan 22, 2019 11:04:56 #
Jan 22, 2019 11:12:36 #
Jan 22, 2019 11:32:07 #
IDguy wrote:
I believe you are confusing logarithms with algorithms. ....
Absolutely not! The post is 100%* correct.
The only problem is that many people are not comfortable with logarithms exponents. They are simply the inverse of each other.
For example, in base 10, the logarithms for 0.1 1 10 100 are -1 0 1 2. Raising 10 to the -1 0 1 2 power (exponent) gives us 0.1 1 10 100.
In base 2, the logarithms for 0.5 1 2 3 are -1 0 1 2. Raising 2 to the -1 0 1 2 power (exponent) gives us 0.5 1 2 3.
Exposure is essentially a function of base 2 logic.
* Not quite 100%. ISO 100, 200, 400 ... is DIN 21, 24, 27, 30 ...
Jan 22, 2019 12:12:09 #
BebuLamar wrote:
Back in the old days there was no confusion because one typically had to know about exposure before even took one shot. Today it is confusing because one can take pictures for years before having to think about exposure.
I believe that is the source of confusion. If you learn about exposure on the first time you use a camera it's very simple.
I believe that is the source of confusion. If you learn about exposure on the first time you use a camera it's very simple.
Absolutely correct! For me I only got about 2 paragraphs into the OP, and then my eyes rolled back in my head. But I was really bad at math. I, like some of us, learned f stops and ASA/ISO numbers and shutter speeds when I satrted in photography, long before digital. But with film and much much simpler cameras, I learned more about photography than about camera spec sheets. It was a better time.
Jan 22, 2019 12:21:22 #
Bipod wrote:
It time someone talked about WHY exposure is so co... (show quote)
It appears, exposure is confusing to you (while not to others), because of the suggestions you put out! There is nothing labeled wrong, but in a logical sepuense! I guess you haven't noticed, that the openings are based on pie!
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