What is exposure about?

Exposure is about getting an image with good luminosity – not too bright or not too dark.

It may sound simple at first, but when you delve into it, a whole world of subtleties appear.

Fortunately for the beginner photographer you are, modern cameras are equipped with auto modes that do the exposure for you.

Auto exposure

If you are beginning and really don’t want to lose time learning exposure, just turn your camera in “P” exposure mode and the light metering mode to Matrix or Evaluative.

If the image appearing on the screen is too dark or too bright, most cameras have an option that allows you to correct that. In the menu or with a selector just adjust the exposure with the “+” if you want more brightness and the “-” if you want your image darker.

Why you should learn exposure

Exposure is a key concept in photography. It influences the rendering of your images and is related to other parameters (aperture, speeds, ISO) that affect the rendering.

Of course, if you use a manual film camera with no auto mode, you have to know how exposure work.

But even if your camera has a “P” mode that does everything for you, you still should learn it.
Because otherwise you’ll miss out on certain creative possibilities.

So, in the next section, we’ll see how exposure work in detail.