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Exposure
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Exposure
by Philip
Greenspun
Home : Learn : Making Photographs : One Article
F/8 and Be There
If you ask a professional for some exposure advice, the typical
answer is "f/8 and be there." This is a bit of an in joke. The
"f/8" part of it sounds vaguely technical and useful, since f/8 is
an actual aperture that you can set on most lenses. But it
doesn't mean anything without an accompanying shutter speed
or film ISO. The "be there" reminds you that ultimately
exposure is pretty easy. The most important thing to have is
patience and dedication so that you're around when a great
photograph is happening.
There is no correct exposure
As I noted in the chapter on film, the real world generally
contains a wider range of tones than you can represent on film.
You have to make an artistic decision about where you place
those tones. Some detail will inevitably be lost as tones that
are distinguishable in the real world are mapped to the same
density on film.
This chapter will teach you how to control and predict which details are lost.
The Controls
Modern 35mm cameras have an intimidating array of buttons. It will please you to know that there are only three
controls that affect the image on film: focus, aperture, and shutter speed. The two controls that affect exposure
http://www.photo.net/making-photographs/exposure (1 of 13)7/3/2005 2:22:14 AM