checking exposure before you take the shot

[pasknucklehead]

Hi everyone,
On the nikon d-40, is it correct to say that you can't check the exposure if you choose auto, shutter or aperture priority or program mode? I want to start becoming more aware of how the lighting will affect my photos before I take the shot, but I don't see where you can check that while you are viewing inside the viewfinder. I wouldn't think you could only see that on the lcd panel, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Guess I'm just use to the my old "work horse" the pentax k1000
Thanks friends,
Darlene

[jerryph]

Not exactly...

In program mode, the camera makes all the decisions for you, but you can override this with the exposure compensation (EV) settings.

The main goal of learning photography... get that camera OUT of auto or P-mode and start taking control of your exposure situations yourself. You see, the cameras only generalize about how to get good exposure. All digital cameras know, is how to adjust the scene to 18% grey.

Us, as a humans can evaluate more precisely and make superior artistic judgments better than even a professional level camera.

All it takes is understanding exposure, how it works... and what to meter for in any particular scene. Now, having said that... there are photographers with years of experience that are still working on this one simple concept... because though easy in principal, is very challenging in practice to master.

A basic concept: If you use a film camera, you expose to the right (lightly overexpose everything and futz in the development stage to get the exposure you want). In digital, you expose for the mid-tones of the object that is the most important in your scene.

[pasknucklehead]

Hey, thanks for that quick response to my question. Okay, so actually the only mode I can shoot in to have complete control over my exposure is Manual? And if I were to say shoot in a bright sunny day at a little waterfall in the woods, would I still meter off the ground, press my shutter halfway and then recompose and take my shot of the waterfall?
As I'm doing this, I still need to adjust my meter in the camera?
thanks
darlene

[jerryph]

For me to be able to tell you what to meter off of, I would need to be there and see it myself. In any particular scene, depending on what your goals are and what the creative final results desired are, there could be anywhere from 1 to 20 different things to meter off of.

I would suggest that you google THE ZONE SYSTEM for digital cameras and learn it... this is the basis of how to decide what to meter off of and how to get proper exposure.

And yes, manual settings give you the most control over your exposure settings.

[pasknucklehead]

Thank you very much. I am going over to that site now..Thanks again. Darlene

[venturachristina]

ok Jerry a very stupid question probably but I checked out that site and I still don't understand how you get your exposure. for example I understand the snow should be a zone 7 and the foliage a zone 5, but what shutter/f stop do you put that at?

[jerryph]

Good question. You make those 2 decisions based on the situation. If I was shooting a moving deer in the woods, I would place emphasis on shutter speed, so something in the 1/250th and up shutter speeds. Aperture would be decided based on the shutter limitations and available light. This situation would force me to use a wide an aperture, something between F/2.8-F/4 perhaps (dark forests, the need for high shutter speed, fast moving deer).

However, if I was shooting with the camera on a tripod, and the goal was a landscape, I would want an aperture that would give me the deepest depth of field, so something between F/11 to F/22mcould be used and even if shutter speeds were in many seconds of duration, it would not make a difference. What would make a difference were the answers to the questions like:
- any shadows in the photo?
- are the shadows important to the photo?
- should I meter for the shadows or the brighter parts of the scene?
... and other related questions.

Make sense?