- Messages
- 8
- Name
- sello
- Edit My Images
- Yes
how can i correct underexposed subjects?
A little more information is required: Are you asking how to adjust the camera, how to lift exposure in post-processing or how to get more light on your subjects?
You can get more light by creating more light. If your photos are inside, this is possible with additional normal light sources like lamps. You could also use additional light sources like flash - either dedicated units, or smaller units that mount on your camera. In fact, your camera may have a pop up flash.
You can get more light by opening the aperture, also known as the f number. Your camera manual should tell you how to do this. If it doesn't, you may have an automatic camera that doesn't allow you to change it. Also, lens apertures will only open so far, so once it's open as wide as it will go you're out of luck getting more light unless you use a different (usually more expensive) lens that has a wider aperture.
You can get more light by slowing the shutter speed. Your camera manual should tell you how to do this. If it doesn't, you may have an automatic camera that doesn't allow you to change it. Slower shutter speeds have a side effect of introducing blur through either subject movement or camera movement. Most people use a tripod to fix the latter. Nothing you can do apart from the former other than tell it to be still which works with some subjects, but not others.
You can kinda get more light by dialling up your ISO. Your camera manual should tell you how to do this. If it doesn't, you may have an automatic camera that doesn't allow you to change it. This doesn't actually let more light in, it just makes the sensor better able to deal with the limited light available. The side effect to this is noise, or grain in the image. This can be desirable or not depending on you, and the camera.
Finally, there is usually an "exposure compensation" feature (back to your manual) that allows you to "tweak" and exposure up or down with a simple dial and without having to worry about the above three options.
Hope this helps!
One last thing. If you are using flash, then the shutter speed is often* largely irrelevant in controlling the light coming into the camera because the superbright flash delivers a ton of light in an extremely short time. Just make sure your shutter speed is no faster than the sync speed (manual time again) and you'll be ok. Control the amount of light with aperture and flash power.
*at slower speeds you risk the ambient light being revealed as well as the flash illumination which may or may not be something you want