Getting correct exposure

[Andy Lunn]

Thanks guys. Some good advice will put it in to practice.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Andy Lunn

Some very helpful advise thank you. I am using the xlh1 in full manual mode.

Then you should be seeing the exposure meter in the upper left portion of the viewfinder. That's an average though and you still have to constrain the contrast of the scene. Having zebras on when you get the meter centered will tell you what areas of the scene are too hot. This is where all the other advise in this thread comes into play. If the zebras are showing only small areas blowing out, you might elect to accept that. Otherwise, the grad ND is your friend (but that typically only works where you have a horizon line). Otherwise, add light to the shadow areas where possible and keep the hot spots just under zebra. Use the adjustable knee curve to compress highlights so that you can bring up the exposure while the camera squeezes the top end.

All of these things are what make image capture an art form. It would be sweet if cameras and recording media had the same latitude that our eyes do, but they don't and it's up to you to make the tool capture as much of what your eye sees that you possibly can.

-gb-

[Kell Smith]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Otherwise, add light to the shadow areas where possible and keep the hot spots just under zebra. Use the adjustable knee curve to compress highlights so that you can bring up the exposure while the camera squeezes the top end.
-gb-

I have the same question addressed by this thread as I am trying to get away from autoexposure and learn to manually expose.
What are you referring to with the adjustable knee curve?

Thanks