6 Exposure and lighting

The previous chapter dealt mostly with the way digital cameras are instructed to approach pictures by their in-built programming. Attention here turns to the user-controlled side of things, and goes on to look at basic lighting techniques and the various considerations that apply particularly to digital cameras.

In film photography, there are two schools of thought regarding exposure. One says that the amount of light hitting the film – the prevailing combination of exposure time (shutter speed) and lens aperture – should be such as to provide a fully toned negative. This means that if you hold the negative up to the light, there is detail in every part of the image. The second approach says that the exposure need only ...

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