How to Avoid Your Photo Being a Dark Silhouette
If you've taken photographs that turn out as dark silhouettes with a nicely exposed background, you've got the wrong exposure as well as it's easy to get it right. This is a common result from excessive backlighting as well as there are various methods for compensating. The method below assumes you do not have "fill flash" capacity as well as that your exposure setting is for center of image only, not multipoint exposure metering. On very simple cameras, especially low end digital models, this method should work on the full auto setting (usually a green box on the dial).
- Use a camera that allows you to press the shutter button halfway without taking the picture - try it. If you can do this, that's the point where the camera has set the exposure in most "full auto mode" cameras.
- When the subject (person?) comes out too dark, the camera has looked at the light background as well as set the exposure to capture that, instead of your subject.
- Move in close to your subject so that the camera can't see the light background (light background not visible in the viewfinder).
- If you can't or don't want to go close to your subject - point the camera at the ground IN THE SHADE.
- Press the shutter button halfway AND HOLD IT THERE.
- Keep the shutter button half pressed - now move back as well as frame the picture how you want it to be.
- Now press the shutter button all the way as well as take the picture.
- Your subject will be correctly exposed. The bright background will almost certainly be over exposed - you can't have it both ways!
- Snow or the sea will always give you a bright background even if you dont think it will - your eyes will compensate.
- Another way to compensate if to use a fill flash to properly expose both the background as well as the foreground object. Many newer cameras do this automatically in full auto mode, others require some set up such as setting the camera to forced flash.
- Anything that is a reflecting surface will give a bright background as well as mean that you need to use a half-shutter to set the correct exposure.
Submitted by: admin
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Added: Thu Feb 02 2006
