Posts Tagged ‘photos too dark’

Exposure compensation is a handy feature built into most cameras that allows you to adjust the exposure when taking a photo. Applying positive exposure compensation results in a brighter image, while negative exposure compensation will give a darker image.

Although cameras often get the exposure right in automatic shooting modes, sometimes an image can turn out too bright or too dark. By adjusting the exposure compensation and taking another shot, you can get an image that is exposed just how you want it.

Although the auto exposure of modern cameras is pretty good, they doesn't always get it right. This is especially true if there is a large difference in brightness between your subject and the background.

For example, a person in a dimly lit room with the sun shining in through a window behind them. You'd probably end up with a photo where the person is a silhouette, but the window is exposed correctly. Great if this is what you wanted, but not so great if you were trying to capture the person's portrait.

IMG_0870.JPG by busbeytheelder on flickr (licensed CC-BY-SA)

There are a few different things you can do to fix this. We'll first look at the camera settings etc. you can use to fix the problem on location. Then we'll look at options for fixing existing shots using image editing software.