City Escapes Nature Photography: City Escapes Photography Newsletter

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

Newsletter

January, 2012

Exposure Compensation: Keeping Your Whites White and Your Blacks Black

No, we’re not talking about laundry here. We’re talking about keeping the snow white in those pictures of your fun ski trip, and the neighbor’s black cat truly black in those spooky photos you intend to scare your superstitious friend with. Let’s face it: many of us have lots of pictures where both the snow and the black cat ended up looking gray and muddy. The most frustrating part was that we had no idea why the images weren’t turning out properly, or how to fix the problem. It is worth noting that this discussion is relevant to any extremely light or dark objects, for example white clouds or dark brown bison, not just white snow and black cats. For the sake of simplicity, however, we will continue with the examples of the snow and the cat throughout the explanation.

The solution begins with understanding a little about your camera. A camera’s sensor does not “see” in the same way that our eyes see. We can look at a field of white snow and still see white, while a camera will look at a field of white snow and see gray. This is because a camera will turn the average color tone of everything it sees to a medium shade (known in the photography world as 18% gray). Thus, if the average tone is light, like snow, the camera will darken it to reach a medium tone, while if the average is dark, such as a black cat, the camera will lighten it. This does not simply occur with white or black tones, either; bright yellow can be turned to a dull, muddy yellow, while deep blue can be morphed into a lackluster blue-gray, etc. Fortunately this is an easy problem to fix, assuming that you have the proper adjustments available to you on your camera.

The first thing you have to do is understand what part of the scene your camera “meters” (measures light). While there are many different variations, generally cameras will meter one of three portions of the scene: 1) the entire frame; 2) a small segment of the frame, usually in the center; or 3) a point or “spot” in the frame. This matters because it is the portion of the frame that the camera meters that will determine how the photograph is exposed. For example, imagine you want to photograph that black cat lying on an orange rug, and the cat takes up half or less of the frame. If the camera is set to meter the entire frame, your photograph will likely come out properly exposed, as the camera is metering both the rug and the cat – an overall average tone. If the camera is spot metering only the cat’s black face, an overall dark tone, the image is likely to be underexposed, resulting in a gray, not black cat. Read your owner’s manual to understand your camera’s default meter settings and how to change them, if that option is available.

Once you know which parts of the frame your camera meters, you can proceed to change how the image is exposed. The basic principle is the same as for a dreary sky: to lighten a gray, add light; to darken it, decrease light. In other words, to return the gray snow to white, increase the exposure; to darken the gray cat to black, decrease exposure. Many digital cameras now have a nifty setting that allows you to do this quickly and easily: exposure compensation. This allows you to increase or decrease exposures with the turn of a dial or through a few menu selections. Usually the adjustments are in increments of 1/3 of a stop, though depending upon your camera, you may be able to adjust this as well. Each full stop increase allows for twice the light to be recorded, while each full stop decrease halves the light recorded. To return snow to white, start by increasing the exposure between 1 and 1.3 stops, then adjust as necessary to obtain the correct color while still retaining detail in the snow. To darken the cat to black, try decreasing the exposure by 2/3 stop. Again, adjust as necessary to obtain the correct shade while retaining detail.

On many if not most digital cameras, it is difficult to tell on the small screens whether the detail has been retained or not, so bracketing the exposure is always a good idea. Bracketing refers to taking a series of photographs of the same scene with different exposures: one at the presumed correct exposure and one or more on either side of that exposure. This series of images greatly increases your chances of nailing the exposure. In quickly changing scenes or with moving subjects, bracketing is not always possible, though many higher-end cameras allow for automatic bracketing in a rapid succession of images. In situations where bracketing is not viable, preparation (or experience) is important. Before the action starts, use the view screen to ensure that you are as close as possible to the proper exposure and if feasible, review the newest images periodically to make adjustments. (If you know how to use histograms, they can come in handy here. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s okay, too. Photographers were nailing exposures long before the histogram came along.) It is not uncommon for me to change my exposure compensation three or more times while photographing the same animal to adjust for lighting changes (clouds moving overhead, for instance) or the animal moving from one background to another (from bright yellow grass to a muddy river bed, or from the shadows into a brightly lit snowfield). Just don’t forget to return the exposure compensation back to zero when you are done, or you might have an under- or overexposed surprise the next time you are deemed the official photographer for the family get-together.

Happy playing!

Our Annual Donation to The Nature Conservancy

As part of our year-end administrative duties, every January we make a donation to The Nature Conservancy equal to one percent of the previous year’s gross sales. We have been proud to make this donation every year since our inception. We strongly believe in the preservation of the world’s wild places and the protection of its most vulnerable species; we very much want these species and their incredible habitats to be around in the future for our nieces and nephews to enjoy. We are extremely grateful for those in the past, such as those who created the National Park Service, whose foresight led to our own ability to enjoy a variety of spectacular places now. How awful would it be to have a strip mall on the rim of the Grand Canyon, or a fast food restaurant right next to Old Faithful? I shudder at the thought! The Nature Conservancy, which is not associated with the National Park Service but shares its vision of protecting significant natural habitats, operates worldwide to create wildlife corridors, easements, and otherwise protected areas so that these important, and often stunning, places will remain healthy and viable for many years to come.

We want to thank all of our wonderful clientele for joining us in supporting those organizations that focus on good environmental stewardship. With every purchase you make, you can rest easy knowing that not only do you have a wonderful print or set of greeting cards to enjoy, but you have also helped to protect these beautiful places. Hats off to you!

January’s Fun Facts

January 21^st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. Really -- we’re not pulling your leg. So in honor of that underappreciated celebration, this month we offer some tidbits about squirrels.

- The word “squirrel” is from the Greek word Skiouros, meaning “shadow tail.”

- There are between 200 and 365 species of squirrels (depending upon who is delineating the classifications). These include marmots, groundhogs, chipmunks, and prairie dogs.

- Due to the position of a squirrel’s eyes on the sides of its head, it cannot see directly in front of its nose. Thus, feeding a squirrel may result in an unintentional bite.

- Squirrels can run at speeds up to 12 miles per hour.

- Australia has no squirrels.

- The African Pygmy squirrel, at 2.5 inches long not including the tail, is the smallest squirrel, while the Ratufa is the largest at 3 feet.

- In Olney, Illinois, squirrels have the right-of-way on all streets and sidewalks. Harming a squirrel or otherwise violating Olney’s “squirrel protection laws” can result in a $750 fine – per offense.

- The largest concentration of squirrels in the United States is in, of all places, Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., across from the White House. (So many jokes, so little space…)