Mary Campbell

Camera Exposure Compensation 101 – Guidelines and Helpful Suggestions

For those new to the world of DSRL and camera that allow you to adjust the exposure here are a few guidelines to help you adjust the exposure for different subject colors:

Color | Effect | Exposure No. of Stops to Change
Light colors
White (snow/sand) | 2 stops lighter than the meter | Overexpose by +2

Pink or white people, Yellow, Lime, Sky Blue, Lavender, Tan | One stop lighter than the meter | Overexpose by +1

Medium Colors
Red (Barn Red/Fire Engine Red), Royal Blue, Gold, Kelly Green, Orange Purple, Milk Chocolate | Same as the Meter setting don’t compensate.

Dark colors
Maroon, Forest Green, Deep Purple, Burnt Orange, Dark Chocolate (Black People) | One stop darker than the meter | Underexpose by -1

Black | 2 stops darker than the meter | Underexpose by -2

Contrast (Dark to Light) – Spot meter between the lightest and the darkest shadow if it’s 4 stops between the lightest and darkest shadow elements in the scene then the suggestion is to wait for better light if you can but if you can’t then spot meter on the lightest portion and then Overexpose by +2

(*original source of guidelines came from: Outdoor Photography an Article by David Middleton (www.davidmiddletonphoto.com)

Other Notes:
Meters on different camera can vary. if you use the guidelines above you might want to
Spot meter for Wildlife, flowers, people and animals (ignoring the background)

Matrix meter (evaluative) if most of the scene is in the medium color tones like most landscapes, woods

Only use center weight metering if you have an older or cheaper camera that doesn’t have all the modern metering modes. Use the settings above but best to bracket the shots by +/- .5

When bracketing a shot by +/- .5 remember that light and contrast can change the scene . If you want a good picture don’t loose your highlights. So compensate for them 1st.

In digital camera, you can use the histogram feature on the camera to check contrast and highlights and the darkest areas. Then compensate according to the predominate readings on the histogram

Snow:
Snow scenes try spot metering on the brightest part of the snow. At sunrise / sunset when the snow is reflecting pink light overexpose by only +1 to 1.5 stops. Just 10 to 15 minutes after sunrise when the contrast is the greatest the light turns white then compensate by overexposing by +2 stops.

Backlit scenes – Sun in the picture: Try to take an overall meter reading, excluding the frame and then compensate according to the guidelines above, but bracket by +/- .5 to make sure you get a perfect exposure.

This is some guidelines I found helpful when learning. I made a little chart and kept it in my camera bag incase I needed a reminder.

Hope that helps all you newbies!