Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

3. Take a series of pictures at different exposures. If your camera has a light
   meter, take a photo using its value, then take another picture that is overex-
   posed. Open up the aperture or decrease the shutter speed and then snap a
   pic. Afterward, underexpose by closing down the aperture or giving the cam-
   era less light and then snapping another picture. This is called bracketing.

If your camera’s meter says 1/60 of a second at f8, take a picture at that exposure

and then overexpose by taking another picture at 1/60 of a second at f5.6 (opening

up the lens one “stop”). Afterward, expose at 1/125 of a second at f8 (increasing

shutter speed one “stop”). Keep in mind that camera meters are not very good at

metering correctly, especially if the subject is bright (white) or dark (black). Take a

series of pictures at different exposures to compensate.

Overexposure and underexposure are tough to keep straight, so remember the

acronym WUBO—White Underexposes and Black Overexposes (see Figure 22.3). The

reason is that all camera meters think you are metering a subject that is a neutral

(called 18%) gray color. The camera meter cannot tell whether it is metering a sub-

ject that is any other color, such as black or white.

If the subject is close to white or is very bright, check the camera meter reading and

then add a few stops by lengthening the shutter speed (from 1/250 to 1/60, for

example) or “opening up” the lens (from f11 to f5.6 equals two stops). If the subject

is very dark, check the camera meter and then shorten the shutter speed (from 1/125

to 1/500, two stops), or make the aperture smaller (from f5.6 to f8, one stop).

CHAPTER 22 THE PORTRAIT 327

FIGURE 22.2
Window light
on a cloudy day
used with a
reflector can
often be the
best light for
portraits.