Chapter 5. Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting

In This Chapter

  • Exploring advanced exposure modes: P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP?

  • Understanding the basics of exposure

  • Getting a grip on aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

  • Choosing an exposure metering mode

  • Tweaking autoexposure with exposure compensation

  • Experimenting with exposure Custom Functions

  • Using flash in the advanced exposure modes

  • Adjusting flash output

By using the fully automatic modes covered in Chapter 2, you can take great pictures with your Rebel XSi/450D. But to really exploit your camera's capabilities — and, more important, to exploit your creative capabilities — you need to explore your camera's five advanced exposure modes, represented on the Mode dial by the letters P, Tv, Av, M, and A-DEP.

This chapter explains everything you need to know to start taking advantage of these five modes. First, you get an introduction to the critical exposure controls known as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Adjusting these settings enables you to not only fine-tune image exposure but also affect other aspects of your image, such as depth of field (the zone of sharp focus) and motion blur. In addition, this chapter explains other advanced exposure features, such as exposure compensation and metering modes, and discusses the flash options available to you in the advanced exposure modes.

Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting

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