Kristen here – Simone touched on something in her tips that I really want to work on (and hope to learn how to from this blog!) and that is how to use the Exposure Value (EV) setting with my camera. I’m going to challenge myself to start playing around with those settings more!
Photo Title Recipe Link: Cherry Clafoutis
Blog Name & Link: Junglefrog Cooking
Equipment Used: Canon Eos 5D, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens
Technical Details:
Shutterspeed: 1/6s
Aperture: f5.6
ISO 50
EV +1/3
No flash used
I always shoot in RAW
Photo Editing: I edited in Lightroom 2.4 first.
Exposure value was +0.55
Clarity +17
Vibrance +25
I then edited the settings a bit further in photoshop to enhance the contrast a bit more.
Setup Details: I shot this in my living room with natural light coming from the left. (I have a window that is facing north-east, so no direct sunlight)
I used a white foamboard with some aluminium foil to bring out the shadow details on the right.
Props: White plate, little rustic oven bowl, some flowers and a little ramekin in the background
Additional Tips: I do try and get the exposure as well as the cropping as good as possible in-camera. Adjusting a lot of settings on the final photo will usually result in more noise. A lot of people do not use the exposure value compensation a lot but change the levels later in photoshop. Try and experiment more with the EV value, as that will ultimately result in cleaner photos and will save a lot of time in photoshop work later.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I became aware of the existence of the EV botton just a few days ago. Could you exlapin more how do you determine if to use a (-) value or a (+) and how much? Any rule/s of thumb?
If you’re not sure what to use it is always best to try and look at the histogram. Most histograms show up if you are in display mode on your camera screen and press the ‘display’ button. You will at some point see a histogram (the graph). In a histogram the information on the right is the white tones, the info on the left the black tones. If you’re histogram is positioned to the left while – for instance – you are shooting something on a white surface you can be sure that your image is underexposed. If you then add a bit of exposure by going to the + side of your EV button, you will consequently see the graph move a little more to the right and your photo should appear a little lighter. It’s always tricky to judge a photo by the preview on your camera and using the histogram will give you a more accurate picture. It does take some time to learn though. What you can do is exposure a regular photo and then start playing around with the EV settings, so you see what it does.
I found this online explanation including photos which might help!
http://digital-photography-school.com/ev-compensation-explained
Simone (junglefrog)´s last blog ..Spaghetti with crushed tomatoes
Get a handheld light meter and learn to use it.
All you are doing by messing with the EV is correcting for the excess of white in setups like this.
If you can’t afford a light meter, get an 18% Gray Card and base your exposure on that by putting it in the shot and metering it. Then lock in your exposure or simply switch your camera from Auto to Manual and setting the f-stop and shutter speed to what the Gray Card exposure was.
Just because one is using a digital camera is no reason to not know how to properly expose. (And less work in Photoshop!)
Terry
Not everyone wants to use a lightmeter or knows how to use it (or a gray card for that matter. Using the EV is a simple way to get to understand how the camera works and correct in camera and not in photoshop!
Simone (junglefrog)´s last blog ..Spaghetti with crushed tomatoes
Not everyone wants to use a lightmeter or knows how to use it (or a gray card for that matter. Using the EV is a simple way to get to understand how the camera works and correct in camera and not in photoshop!
Simone (junglefrog)´s last blog ..Spaghetti with crushed tomatoes
Should write excellent post. Looking forward to seeing the next one!