Digital Camera World - UK (2019-08)

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SUMMER SCENES

SUNSET

MIDDAY SUN

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com AUGUST 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^43

THE SUNNY 16 RULE

The ‘Sunny 16’ rule is a way to meter for a correct exposure during the middle of the

day without using your camera’s light meter. The idea is that, in daylight at an aperture

of f/16, the correct exposure can be achieved with a reciprocal shutter speed to the

ISO speed you’re using. For example, ISO 200 would require 1/200 sec. If the

conditions change, you just change the aperture, too.

EXPLAINED: KELVIN SCALE

The colour temperature of light hitting your camera sensor

will constantly change, both throughout the day and under

different cloud conditions. This is something to bear in

mind, especially when setting your white balance manually.

3 Low-angle sunsets
Around an hour before official sunset (the time that’s given on
weather apps) clear scenes suddenly appear bathed in golden
light. The colour temperature of this light is often even warmer
than at sunrise, as it’s scattered and diffused by a thicker
atmosphere. However, a low setting sun shining directly
into your lens can throw off the metering system completely
to give silhouettes or falsely bright results.
If this is the case, you could shoot bracketed exposures and
combine different exposures together in post-processing for a more
balanced scene. Alternatively, use the histogram to help you choose
the exposure settings, so that you capture as wide a tonal range as
possible. Provided you’re shooting in Raw mode, you’ll then be able
to bring back plenty of the tonal information back when editing.

2 Midday sun
In summer, the sun rises high
and fast in the sky. As morning
shadows quickly retreat, any
sense of depth in a landscape
is diminished. Contrast is also
a challenge for getting accurate
exposure – in Evaluative
metering mode, the camera
meter measures light intensity
across the whole frame to come
up with an average value, often
rendering your actual subject
too bright or too dark.
Switch to Spot metering
mode, take several readings
from points around the frame,
then shoot with the average
settings. You can then use the
histogram to check for clipping
of highlights and shadows.

The Auto White Balance

setting continuously adjusts

the camera’s colour temperature

over a range between

approximately 3,000 and 7,000K.

The white balance presets offer

a shortcut to specific settings

in the same restricted range.

Presets

Colour temperature

Light sources (Kelvins)

Sunrise/sunset

Flame

Light bulb

Midday sun

Overcast sky

Electronic flash

Clear blue sky

Shade on a

clear day

Shady: 7,000K

Cloudy: 6,000K

Flash: 5,900K

Daylight: 5,200K

Tungsten: 3,200K

White fluorescent: 4,000K