42 Better Available Light Digital Photography
The perfect exposure
Why is it necessary to achieve this degree of exposure accuracy?
Remember, it’s better to get the exposure correct in the camera
than to waste time in postproduction. True, if you are shooting
in RAW mode (see Chapter 8 for a complete discussion of RAW
capture), you can miss slightly with the exposure, and still
correct it somewhat after the fact. It’s your time, so use it
wisely.
Many photographers use the camera’s built-in bracketing func-
tion for a wider exposure compensation solution. Bracketing is
a time-honored photo technique where multiple images of the
same subject are made at different exposure levels. The idea is
that one of them will be the best, and some may be acceptable.
Typically, in Auto Bracket mode, the fi rst frame is exposed with
no compensation, the second is underexposed, and the third is
overexposed. Activating these settings allows the camera to
automatically take several exposures simultaneously at different
exposure settings. Tip from Barry: be sure to hold the camera
steady as those additional images are automatically taken. This
method is quite practical for landscape, architecture, studio, and
still-life photography, because the subjects aren’t usually moving.
It’s not as practical for photojournalists or sports and wedding
shooters, who have only one chance to capture the moment.
As a budding newspaper photojournalist just out of college,
Barry learned to photograph with only available light. Adding
extra light via fl ash was frowned upon, downright outlawed by
several of his clients. Besides, those 20th-century fl ash units
were cumbersome at best. In those black-and-white fi lm days,
color balance wasn’t an issue, and the darkroom techniques of
burning and dodging were used to produce acceptable prints for
the paper. As publications moved into color photography, light-
ing had to be enhanced. The ISO rating of color fi lms was far
too slow for available light work. In fact, artifi cial lighting
(usually electronic fl ash units) was often used for good exposure,
even on location assignments. Newspaper and magazine photog-
raphers often traveled with full lighting kits, setting up light-
stands, positioning the lights, taking fl ash meter readings before
they began their “candid, unposed photojournalism coverage.”
Times and trends do change, and it’s much more acceptable now
to just add “fi ll light” to supplement the available light in a scene.
The key is to skillfully blend the fi ll light so it doesn’t look like
any fi ll was used. Flash fi ll, when used correctly, adds a bit of
crispness to the photograph. It’s possible to use one dedicated
fl ash on the camera acting as a master unit, remotely triggering
one or more similar speedlights aimed into the scene. Here’s a
homework assignment that will reveal a little secret: look through
books and magazines and study the photographs, specifi cally