Simon, do you still shoot film, weather medium format or 35mm film or is it exclusively digital? If so or if not why? Thoughts. Sentimentally, the pentax K1000 holds a place in my heart as is was what I innitally learned photography with in the early 90's
Ex-Combat Photojournalist here! Your explanation of photography and camera techniques are exceptional. I appreciate you for reigniting my love for this medium enjoyed by many. The photo community thanks you.
This is BY FAR the best place to learn how to EFFECTIVELY improve photography skills. You, sir, are a true master of your craft and a clear/precise teacher.
This fundamental flaw in presenting histogram info on our camera screens has received very little TH-cam discussion and absolutely no mention in our camera manuals or camera reviews. As a Canadian I would like to see this channel grow because of Simon's 'cut-2-the-chase' approach in presenting issues we all face in our photography journey.
You mentioning this reminds me why I color correct my gaming videos, i learned about deep darks and whites many years ago, and that I should always be in between 17-235 and things like that. I adjusted since then and sorta like a cinematic color LUT profile for them, making it slightly warm without killing detail wherever else. I hope this wasn't confusing.
As a professional photographer with 35 years of experience, I can tell you, Simon is the best practical photography teacher I have learned from. He has real world experience and the keenest understanding of gear and how it works. He has masterful knowledge of photography both theoretically and practically, and clearly communicates how to use the gear we have to get what we all want: the perfect picture. In his videos, he covers everything from the foundational exposure triangle to the fine tuning of our images, both in camera and in post production using the “actually easy to understand” histogram. Through the years I’ve learned to master my craft in the classroom, from books, paid online courses, TH-cam, and, of course, from working as a photographer. Of all the authors, teachers and professional photographers I have learned from, Simon IS the best!
By far the best photography instructor on TH-cam. Simple and to the point. I love photography, but I'm not very good at it. I've already improved immensely by using your technics and instruction after a few weeks. Thank you!
Hey Simon, the topic is interesting and your explanation is spot on, but I think there are some extra recommendations that can help here. One is to choose a neutral as possible tone for your camera. The histogram is usually based on what the camera has set as final result, so it will differ between Landscape, Portrait, Vivid or whatever other modes the camera manufacturer chooses to name it. The other one is that the histogram will actually represent the data from the JPEG conversion the camera makes to show you the raw data on the screen. It is not representative for the raw data. Why does this matter? Well, based on the mode you choose to have your camera on, it might show you that the (JPEG) data is clipped, while the raw data from the sensor is not. Here, only testing can help, put your camera on a as neutral setting as possible, expose until the camera says it is over exposed and take some sample shots while exposing even more. This is how you find out when exactly the raw data clips and how much can you over expose until you start loosing data. The deeper rabbit hole is sensor technology and ISO invariance. This can maybe have it's own video :)
Fuji users should be careful with film sims/tone curve and the histogram for these reasons. I like to have a super flat profile when I know I’m going to edit the final pics due to exposure
Thank you for this comment! I have been struggling so much when I shoot in RAW because: 1. the histogram shows no blown out highlights 2. the image I am seeing on my LCD looks properly exposed. So then I look at my photos in Lightroom and my image is very disappointing. I have been trying to find the answer to this and I think this is it, thanks so much!
Still finalizing my testing but I’ve been finding from the point my LCD shows clipping I can add two stops+ of exposure and still have plenty of detail in the highlights after opening the raw file in LR. Definitely worth finding what your own cameras can do
As a retired photographer that shot film for 20+ years, and had to move to digital in the final years of business, making the transition to digital was quite a challenge. I wish I'd had the benefit of your teaching videos then. I have learned SO MUCH from you. The best instruction video's on You Tube for clear explanation about exposure. Thank you so much! You've taken the stress out of taking pictures, and made it fun.
Digital solution: Auto exposure (A), or Program setting (P) on the dial. Or, "Scene Mode" turn the selector to portrait, sports, pets, landscape, food, candlelight. More fun that way. 🙂
I've been taking thousands upon thousands of sports photos with my Sony a9 for years now and I'm the kind of person who just takes something and runs with it without reading the directions so I never knew what that histogram thingie was even for, till now. You have just changed my life! lol
I love how you included all of the major camera brands instead of just sticking with one. Most people only teach to the camera they have. You just got a new subscriber.
The Don of straight talking. Why is it other channels talk about the same thing and still don't know what they're talking about lol. You certainly make things Simple❤ great channel
I use the following criteria: 1 with prime lenses I use aperture priority. 2 with zoom lenses I use speed priority. 3 manual with both lenses, according to the type of event being photographed.
I swear any time I have a question about photography, one of your videos appears to save the day. It’s really quite amazing how many times it’s happened
Congratulations on 304K subs. That is awesome. Last upload 5 days ago you were 298K (I wrote it down because I've seen you skyrocketing). When I told my husband and son, they said 'Of course, he's the best.' We all love your videos, Simon. ATB from Western Australia.
I too like to think of ISO as the volume control on my stereo. When playing an LP (for those of you who remember!), turning the volume control up or down has no effect on the amplitude of the sound inherent within the grooves of the LP, just as changing the ISO has no effect on the amount of light reaching the camera’s sensor. In a very soft musical passage, turning up the amplifier’s volume knob will also increase the level of the pops, ticks, and tape noise you will hear along with the music. If the level of music on the LP is very loud (you can actually see the grooves more widely spaced… analogous to having plenty of ambient light), you can turn down the volume and hear the music well without the surface noise of the LP being apparent.
Some cameras have dual native ISO or dual gain amplifiers and so they are more flexible in terms of noise management and thus dynamic range. Also you should expose to the right to minimize noise ratio participation in your image - same added amount of noise in dark and brights areas means the same added luminosity and color shift by amount but not by propotion - it affects bright areas way less than dark ones because you really dont need that much information to scramble your dark pixels.
This is a great tutorial! Giving you the like and sub as you deserve. Merci beaucoup. Recently, I've been trying to get my wife into basic photography (to increase WAF for G@S) and used the following analogy for exposure parameters in layman terms: You're trying to fill up a cup from a tap (faucet) - the size of the cup is the ISO setting, the amount you open up the tap/ valve is the aperture setting, and the amount of time taken to fill the cup up is the shutter speed. As she's totally new to photography settings, I've omitted ISO as a parameter to reduce the learning curve - instead, I just let her play with the aperture (in AV) for understanding its relation to DoF; and further explaining that sometimes we want to 'freeze' a subject in a shot and that's where Shutter Priority comes into play instead. I just want her to focus more on purely composition/ framing with DoF as the only parameter to 'tweak'. At this point, I'm considering buying her a cheap pre-owned happy snappy compact from the yesteryears like a Lumix LX2 (my preference would be an LX1 but those are hard to come by here). It'd allow for basic AV/ TV modes with adjustable aperture and let her focus on just purely composing shots. This is only possible in the more modern digital age because the technology has come so far that high ISO noise is less of an issue (as compared to when we were shooting in film and ISO 1600 was considered overly grainy for most). It also helps that (Matrix) metering are significantly improved these days that you could nail exposure rather well even with backlight shots (e.g. portraits against a bright background). When the time comes around that she gets to the point when we could touch on EV compensation, I'd probably set the camera to spot or center weighted to teach her about the importance of that setting - how I learnt about exposure back in the day when cameras only had center weighted/ spot metering.
And, if you're one of those rarities shooting a CCD sensor - take an initial test shot to generate a histogram. (Had to put that in because sometimes a couple of my cameras feel left out😪). Bonus comment sentence: thanks for the details re 'Why ETTR' - you filled a little gap in my brain. Have a good one, M. d'E.
Interesting. I heard completely different advice around 10 years ago - "Shoot darker because the camera gets more details in dark than in light". I still use it and yes, dace a lot of nosy images. Will try this approach.
The better post processing products, like Lightroom, get the less I see the need to obsess with getting 'perfect' shots in camera. Today I don't worry - within reason - about composition or exposure, in-camera. We have the 'Light' sliders for exposure. Shoot 'wide' and crop for composition. IMO - 'Focus', including stabilization, and 'lighting' in getting 'the' shot are most important.
This helped me so much, I'm self teaching myself and have had some great experiences already. I finally figured out how to control Aperture, shutter speed and ISO on my Rebel T7 while watching this video so this really helped me put it into practice
THANK YOU! I UNDERSTAND, I couldn’t find anyone with answers I needed and you answered almost every one of them. I’m a beginner as heck and you really helped me
This was fantastic info for me as a beginner. I had to replay all the sections several times for it to sink in as it was fast paced but after that it got clearer to understand. Thank you Simon 🙏👍
I love the fact that this video explained information that was once incomprehensible to me with ease, and within a short amount of time too! Great video!
In my opinion, ISO should ALMOST always be the third variable that we let the camera adjust. I can’t really think of a situation where depth of field and control of motion aren’t priority, but I say almost because I’m sure there is a situation. Thanks for the great video.
Thank you. I am new to all this and have learned today. I have just stared burden photography and small birds in woodland are very frustrating! Light conditions are sooooo variable. The birds move quickly from light to dark areas, partly obscured by twigs and leaves etc. A leaves can be really reflective of sunlight and confuse exposure, sometimes. It's a great hobby. Thank you, again. Jonathan
Well you finally gave me what I needed to understand about ETTR. I've always been hyper sensitive about blowing out my highlights so I under exposed. Going to get over my fear and ETTR. Thanks!
My understanding of photography has excelled since watching your channel, and I'm starting to see the results in my work. Another great video, thank you.
Timeline ⏱: 00:48 Exposure -The fundamentals 03:25 Revealing the histogram 03:56 Getting exposure right in Manual 06:10 Getting exposure right in A, S, Auto ISO 07:33 Getting exposure in Maual with Auto ISO 07:56 Troubleshooting - Too much dynamic range 09:00 Bonus tehnique - ETTR - expose to the right
As a definite beginner in the world of photography, I find your videos to be very clear, concise and very comprehendible. Thank you for creating such amazing videos that have helped my photography immeasurably. A true asset to the community ❤
Simon, you are one of the very best photographers on here. Your photography is of superb quality and your videos are short and concise and have more information in them than any of the long drawn out videos which I find boring. I learn something from everything you post. Keep them coming!
Saved this video to watch again and again! I got my start with photography as a teenager decades and decades ago when photography was "analog" and required all sort of films and chemicals and ISO (here in the States) was ASA! This video is so informative for this old retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer (shooting with a now-venerable Sony A58 (heyyy... it's only 10 years old, but in digital photography, that's almost prehistoric!). Wife and I are traveling to Japan again (my eighth trip), so I'll try to take some better vacation pics using it (that smartphone always seems like cheating!). I really enjoy all your videos, BTW! 😀
Simon your videos are the best I've ever used to improve upon the various aspects of my photography. Your explanations are straight forward and easy to understand. The impressive knowledge base you share is a tremendous asset to those of us who want to improve on our skills & enjoyment level. My wife & I will be in Canada June of 2023 on the western side of your beautiful country riding the Rocky Mountaineer train on a 2 week trip through the Canadian Rockies and look forward to capturing this wonderful scenery. Please keep these great videos coming as I enjoy them very much!
I am able to advance to a new level, now that you have explained how to use the histogram when shooting. I have turned on the blinkies! Back button focus, exposure compensation button/dial, and now with histogram info, I am off to the races...with some more practice, I think it will be more intuitive. Thank you so much, Simon
If you're not sure what to do in a situation, I personally recommend making your shot preferrably darker than brighter. It's a lot easier to get dark areas recovered than it is pulling back blown out highlights 👍👍
Hello, I'm an amateur hobbyist who got confused with your advice. It seems like the opposite of ETTR which Simon has discussed in the video. Do you mind explaining when to underexpose and when to ETTR? Big thanks
@@3lliexir If you're not sure if you're exposing your image too much, then for most styles of photography it makes sense to just underexpose it a little bit, instead of blowing out your highlights. Since your highlights mostly have something to do with your motive, and blowing them out makes you lose unrecoverable detail in areas that are most likely part of your subject. By underexposing them slightly, you give your camera less information for your background/shadows, but if you shoot in RAW, it is easier to rescue the shot by just turning up the exposure again in post-processing - that way the shot is not completely lost since overexposing is way more likely to happen to you than underexposing. Hope that helps 🙏
Just wanted to say that I found your videos on accident earlier in the week but the few I have watched have really helped me. Please keep up the great work!
Perhaps a new video suggestion: targeted suggestions for those of us shooting wildlife using a zoom. I shoot with the R5 and the 100-500 F 7.1 So there is no F 2.8 in my gear! I do fairly well with exposure, but do struggle in the early AM due to lack of light. So perhaps addressing this type of gear, settings, and techniques. There are likely a lot of zoom lens shooters out there with slower lenses. Thanks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share and educate on this topic. I’ve been a hobby photographer for a few years and am self taught. I have read and viewed so many books and videos on how to understand this concept and how the different pieces work together, or against one another. You have explained it so beautifully. I feel I FINALLY understand!
Genius tips, I’ve never had it explained so thoroughly & easy to understand. I’ve been starting to turn my passion for landscape/urban photography into something more. I’ve struggled with this, sacrificing f/stops or shutter speed to get exposure right. THANK YOU!!! Can’t wait to check out more of your vids!
There is one more important factor, the lens. Not always easy or even possible to change but especially in dark environments switching to a lens with larger aperture can do wonders. You might need to move to anther position and/or crop the photo but you got the photo you wanted! Myself I often prefer my photos to be a tad on the dark side but then I often take close ups of flowers and don't like post processing - getting the exposure right from the start is part of the fun for me.
I also prefer photos on the darker side, I do mostly nature and wildlife, but also hate post processing (never find the time). A darker photo automatically looks better compared to a lighter photo, but the tip to shoot as bright as possible as very useful.
so for aperture priority, when I use a manual lens, I select the "faster" auto ISO compensation to prioritize a higher shutter speed and bracket that shutter while setting the exposure compensation. I haven't had much issue with that other than not being able to keep/adjust this setting in manual when I'm in a city and switching between human and building shots. I get some flexibility with IBS, but without a lens stabilization I'm really keeping that fast priority in the back of my mind.
This is one of the precious gems from your videos I came across so far. Can't thank you enough for sharing your very well and easy to understand explanation of so advanced aspect about digital photography.
This definitely will help me. I primarily focus on motorsports and run into the issue of the race cars going from light to shadow which makes getting a consistent exposure a challenge for all photos for the day. A tip when adjusting outside of the camera, when adjusting the exposure, balance the contrast.
"theres no penalty for higher shutter speed" is game changer for me shooting in midday sun. I just naturally would stop in the hundreds by habit of not wanting images to be too dark. my 55-200 only drops to 5.6 on long end so I have to zoom for bokeh
This channel is the most straightforward when explaining its concise and informative i really appreciate your videos! And he also link out videos that are related to the topic! For example he’s explaining how to use the exposure triangle, he links out videos explaining purpose of each one and the use of it! Thanks simon!
4:20 Pentax cameras have a shooting mode called shutter and aperture priority. Then the camera adjusts the ISO for you. I got it on my first body, the legendary K10D, in 2006.
Lots of cameras have apreture and shutter speed priority. All the big camera companies have a setting that does this and not just on dslr or mirrorless but often bridge aswell. He explains that what he is doing is if you would be shooting in full manual.
Excellent lesson. I always learn so much from each one and I have been doing this a long time. It’s good to watch them a second time to make sure it sinks in. Repeating them down the line is also useful. Seeing beautiful Canada is just icing on the cake. Thanks.
My favorite exposure method is by using an grey card to get a parameter of what my camera is reading of the available light, and then, depending on what I am shooting, I decide if I need to under or overexpose a bit. For example: I always photograph my cat in the couch, which is pretty close to a big window, reflecting a diffuse lateral light; my cat is orange and white, the couch is black, so if I expose to the whites, they blacks get so dark; if I expose to the blacks, the whites get so bright - in this case, I prefer to keep the white details while having.a beautiful pure black background, so I rather prefer to underexpose a bit to get my cat well exposed while I don’t mind losing details in the blacks and some shadows.
Simon - Once again a numero uno video. Your tips are priceless. I remember there was another video of yours where you educated us about Auto ISO. I used that setting(Auto ISO) in M mode and cranked up the speed to around 1/2000 with f stop (cannot remember the number now) sometime last year and shot speed birds (aircrafts) taking off from Montreal airport. The pictures in my view were outstanding. You should consider creating a photography course (for intermediate users) and I would be your 1st patron if you do that. Many thanks for this priceless video, Simon.
Man, I gotta say - your videos have been absolutely stellar! Your content is a pure meat sandwich of goodness. It’s like a thick tomato bisque on a cold day. And I’ve watch a a lot of Peter McKinnon, Matty, etc… Thank you for all of these videos! 😊
One of the best explanations on the exposure triangle as it applies to camera settings and decision making I’ve ever seen. I have a friend just starting out in photography. I’m sending him to this 11 minutes of quality content! Keep up the good work!
Getting your metering right will help too! Check out my video on that. th-cam.com/video/cXpbzifLh88/w-d-xo.htmlsi=5QCAlxWHROqEFQNe
Simon, do you still shoot film, weather medium format or 35mm film or is it exclusively digital? If so or if not why? Thoughts. Sentimentally, the pentax K1000 holds a place in my heart as is was what I innitally learned photography with in the early 90's
@@atruceforbruce5388 I’m a strictly digital guy who learned in the digital era. It’s also convenient for me and flexible.
@@simon_dentremont much respect.
Very helpful.
IT IS OFFICIAL. You are the greatest photography teacher in the history of the world. 📸😃👍🏻
Haha that’s too kind!
@@simon_dentremont Just facts!
I cannot begin to thank Simon enough for his expertise!
lol, right
1000%
Ex-Combat Photojournalist here!
Your explanation of photography and camera techniques are exceptional.
I appreciate you for reigniting my love for this medium enjoyed by many.
The photo community thanks you.
nice!
How did you get into that line of work? Freelancer?
@@reckle556 he was probably in the military. Combat Camera MOS
I don’t know what I like better, your videos or reading the comments of the passionate community you are creating
I appreciate that
Every time I watch a video of Simon's, I feel like stopping what I'm doing and going out and taking photos.
This is BY FAR the best place to learn how to EFFECTIVELY improve photography skills. You, sir, are a true master of your craft and a clear/precise teacher.
Wow, thank you!
So many videos online on the latest expensive gear but this is the sort of important stuff we should all remember.
Your explanations are a lot easier for amateurs like me to understand. Thankyou
Glad to hear that!
Definitely, it's not that hard to understand. Pretty easy actually, but my Sony phone and my tiny camera's are not complex enough
This fundamental flaw in presenting histogram info on our camera screens has received very little TH-cam discussion and absolutely no mention in our camera manuals or camera reviews. As a Canadian I would like to see this channel grow because of Simon's 'cut-2-the-chase' approach in presenting issues we all face in our photography journey.
You mentioning this reminds me why I color correct my gaming videos, i learned about deep darks and whites many years ago, and that I should always be in between 17-235 and things like that. I adjusted since then and sorta like a cinematic color LUT profile for them, making it slightly warm without killing detail wherever else. I hope this wasn't confusing.
I love the way Simon makes me think again about things I already know. Thank you.
As a professional photographer with 35 years of experience, I can tell you, Simon is the best practical photography teacher I have learned from. He has real world experience and the keenest understanding of gear and how it works. He has masterful knowledge of photography both theoretically and practically, and clearly communicates how to use the gear we have to get what we all want: the perfect picture. In his videos, he covers everything from the foundational exposure triangle to the fine tuning of our images, both in camera and in post production using the “actually easy to understand” histogram. Through the years I’ve learned to master my craft in the classroom, from books, paid online courses, TH-cam, and, of course, from working as a photographer. Of all the authors, teachers and professional photographers I have learned from, Simon IS the best!
Too kind, and means alot coming from an experienced pro. Many thanks.
What's a great teacher? He knows how to be succinct but get the message across quite accurately and very informatively
By far the best photography instructor on TH-cam. Simple and to the point. I love photography, but I'm not very good at it. I've already improved immensely by using your technics and instruction after a few weeks. Thank you!
Hey Simon, the topic is interesting and your explanation is spot on, but I think there are some extra recommendations that can help here. One is to choose a neutral as possible tone for your camera. The histogram is usually based on what the camera has set as final result, so it will differ between Landscape, Portrait, Vivid or whatever other modes the camera manufacturer chooses to name it. The other one is that the histogram will actually represent the data from the JPEG conversion the camera makes to show you the raw data on the screen. It is not representative for the raw data. Why does this matter? Well, based on the mode you choose to have your camera on, it might show you that the (JPEG) data is clipped, while the raw data from the sensor is not. Here, only testing can help, put your camera on a as neutral setting as possible, expose until the camera says it is over exposed and take some sample shots while exposing even more. This is how you find out when exactly the raw data clips and how much can you over expose until you start loosing data. The deeper rabbit hole is sensor technology and ISO invariance. This can maybe have it's own video :)
Great additions!
Fuji users should be careful with film sims/tone curve and the histogram for these reasons. I like to have a super flat profile when I know I’m going to edit the final pics due to exposure
Thank you for this comment! I have been struggling so much when I shoot in RAW because:
1. the histogram shows no blown out highlights
2. the image I am seeing on my LCD looks properly exposed.
So then I look at my photos in Lightroom and my image is very disappointing. I have been trying to find the answer to this and I think this is it, thanks so much!
@@gloriarenae Raw files are nearly always disappointing, the need to be developed. The LCD is displaying jpg, which has been developed automatically.
Still finalizing my testing but I’ve been finding from the point my LCD shows clipping I can add two stops+ of exposure and still have plenty of detail in the highlights after opening the raw file in LR. Definitely worth finding what your own cameras can do
As a retired photographer that shot film for 20+ years, and had to move to digital in the final years of business, making the transition to digital was quite a challenge. I wish I'd had the benefit of your teaching videos then. I have learned SO MUCH from you. The best instruction video's on You Tube for clear explanation about exposure. Thank you so much! You've taken the stress out of taking pictures, and made it fun.
Welcome!
Digital solution: Auto exposure (A), or Program setting (P) on the dial. Or, "Scene Mode" turn the selector to portrait, sports, pets, landscape, food, candlelight. More fun that way. 🙂
I tried to watch the video at 1.25x then I realized that 0.75x is better choice, Great Explanation.
The picture from second 17 is insanely beautiful and so .... unseen ... incredible
I've been taking thousands upon thousands of sports photos with my Sony a9 for years now and I'm the kind of person who just takes something and runs with it without reading the directions so I never knew what that histogram thingie was even for, till now. You have just changed my life! lol
I just love your "I know you can do it!", Simon 🤩You're a fantastic teacher, thanks!
Thank you! 😃
I love how you included all of the major camera brands instead of just sticking with one. Most people only teach to the camera they have. You just got a new subscriber.
I just got into photography, certified beginner, and I find these videos awesome
The Don of straight talking. Why is it other channels talk about the same thing and still don't know what they're talking about lol. You certainly make things Simple❤ great channel
I sort of knew this, but now I understamnd it. Thank you!
You're welcome!
Simon, you have a great way at explaining the subject. I'm teaching my girls but I'm happy to have them watch your videos instead!
Glad to help
I use the following criteria: 1 with prime lenses I use aperture priority. 2 with zoom lenses I use speed priority. 3 manual with both lenses, according to the type of event being photographed.
Nice tip to shoot brighter but not blown out then in processing make the image darker, I like that!
i am watching a series called Anne with an E right now and i can clearly say you are living in heaven mate. Amazing location for nature photography.
I swear any time I have a question about photography, one of your videos appears to save the day. It’s really quite amazing how many times it’s happened
Another great educational video to get the most out of the settings on my camera. Every beginner photographer should definitely watch your videos.
Congratulations on 304K subs. That is awesome. Last upload 5 days ago you were 298K (I wrote it down because I've seen you skyrocketing). When I told my husband and son, they said 'Of course, he's the best.' We all love your videos, Simon. ATB from Western Australia.
Thanks! Appreciate it!
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE 😂 queenslander here, if you couldn't tell
The best Photography channel on TH-cam. Thanks again!
Wow, thanks!
I too like to think of ISO as the volume control on my stereo. When playing an LP (for those of you who remember!), turning the volume control up or down has no effect on the amplitude of the sound inherent within the grooves of the LP, just as changing the ISO has no effect on the amount of light reaching the camera’s sensor. In a very soft musical passage, turning up the amplifier’s volume knob will also increase the level of the pops, ticks, and tape noise you will hear along with the music. If the level of music on the LP is very loud (you can actually see the grooves more widely spaced… analogous to having plenty of ambient light), you can turn down the volume and hear the music well without the surface noise of the LP being apparent.
This is one of my favorite Thumbnails of all time
The last segment explaining the benefit of ETTR is the most helpful I've found yet to getting the best quality. Thanks.
Very welcome!
Some cameras have dual native ISO or dual gain amplifiers and so they are more flexible in terms of noise management and thus dynamic range. Also you should expose to the right to minimize noise ratio participation in your image - same added amount of noise in dark and brights areas means the same added luminosity and color shift by amount but not by propotion - it affects bright areas way less than dark ones because you really dont need that much information to scramble your dark pixels.
This is a great tutorial! Giving you the like and sub as you deserve. Merci beaucoup.
Recently, I've been trying to get my wife into basic photography (to increase WAF for G@S) and used the following analogy for exposure parameters in layman terms:
You're trying to fill up a cup from a tap (faucet) - the size of the cup is the ISO setting, the amount you open up the tap/ valve is the aperture setting, and the amount of time taken to fill the cup up is the shutter speed.
As she's totally new to photography settings, I've omitted ISO as a parameter to reduce the learning curve - instead, I just let her play with the aperture (in AV) for understanding its relation to DoF; and further explaining that sometimes we want to 'freeze' a subject in a shot and that's where Shutter Priority comes into play instead.
I just want her to focus more on purely composition/ framing with DoF as the only parameter to 'tweak'.
At this point, I'm considering buying her a cheap pre-owned happy snappy compact from the yesteryears like a Lumix LX2 (my preference would be an LX1 but those are hard to come by here). It'd allow for basic AV/ TV modes with adjustable aperture and let her focus on just purely composing shots.
This is only possible in the more modern digital age because the technology has come so far that high ISO noise is less of an issue (as compared to when we were shooting in film and ISO 1600 was considered overly grainy for most).
It also helps that (Matrix) metering are significantly improved these days that you could nail exposure rather well even with backlight shots (e.g. portraits against a bright background).
When the time comes around that she gets to the point when we could touch on EV compensation, I'd probably set the camera to spot or center weighted to teach her about the importance of that setting - how I learnt about exposure back in the day when cameras only had center weighted/ spot metering.
You really are the best teacher Simon. I am so grateful that I found you!
Happy to hear that!
Without a doubt, your photography videos are the most educational ones I have ever watched so far. Great work!
Thanks very much!
And, if you're one of those rarities shooting a CCD sensor - take an initial test shot to generate a histogram. (Had to put that in because sometimes a couple of my cameras feel left out😪). Bonus comment sentence: thanks for the details re 'Why ETTR' - you filled a little gap in my brain. Have a good one, M. d'E.
Just came to the comment section to say "Thank you". Your videos are very simple and extremely useful
Glad you like them!
Interesting. I heard completely different advice around 10 years ago - "Shoot darker because the camera gets more details in dark than in light". I still use it and yes, dace a lot of nosy images. Will try this approach.
The better post processing products, like Lightroom, get the less I see the need to obsess with getting 'perfect' shots in camera.
Today I don't worry - within reason - about composition or exposure, in-camera. We have the 'Light' sliders for exposure. Shoot 'wide' and crop for composition.
IMO - 'Focus', including stabilization, and 'lighting' in getting 'the' shot are most important.
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all your videos. Thank you for doing this.
You are so welcome!
This helped me so much, I'm self teaching myself and have had some great experiences already. I finally figured out how to control Aperture, shutter speed and ISO on my Rebel T7 while watching this video so this really helped me put it into practice
This was the most informative explanation about exposure that I've seen.
I tip my hat to you Sir!
Legendary photography teacher 💯
Great attitude so honest, only way to learn, be flexible, bend the rules and love the ethical mention!
You truly have a gift for teaching, your channel is a goldmine!
Wow, thank you!
THANK YOU! I UNDERSTAND, I couldn’t find anyone with answers I needed and you answered almost every one of them. I’m a beginner as heck and you really helped me
Glad I could help!
This was fantastic info for me as a beginner. I had to replay all the sections several times for it to sink in as it was fast paced but after that it got clearer to understand. Thank you Simon 🙏👍
You're very welcome!
Simon and Rob Trek are the best photography teachers 🧑🏫
I love the fact that this video explained information that was once incomprehensible to me with ease, and within a short amount of time too! Great video!
Glad it was helpful!
In my opinion, ISO should ALMOST always be the third variable that we let the camera adjust. I can’t really think of a situation where depth of field and control of motion aren’t priority, but I say almost because I’m sure there is a situation. Thanks for the great video.
This was an excellent video! No surprise coming from the best online teacher out there. Thank you again for all your hard work.
Thank you.
I am new to all this and have learned today.
I have just stared burden photography and small birds in woodland are very frustrating! Light conditions are sooooo variable. The birds move quickly from light to dark areas, partly obscured by twigs and leaves etc. A leaves can be really reflective of sunlight and confuse exposure, sometimes.
It's a great hobby.
Thank you, again.
Jonathan
You can do it!
Well you finally gave me what I needed to understand about ETTR. I've always been hyper sensitive about blowing out my highlights so I under exposed. Going to get over my fear and ETTR. Thanks!
The best teaching on exposure!
Wow, thanks!
I'd heard about "expose to the right"... but nobody explained why before. THANK you.
My understanding of photography has excelled since watching your channel, and I'm starting to see the results in my work. Another great video, thank you.
Great to hear!
Nice one. Expose to the right is the technique that I should be doing more often apparently. 🤷🏻♀️
Timeline ⏱:
00:48 Exposure -The fundamentals
03:25 Revealing the histogram
03:56 Getting exposure right in Manual
06:10 Getting exposure right in A, S, Auto ISO
07:33 Getting exposure in Maual with Auto ISO
07:56 Troubleshooting - Too much dynamic range
09:00 Bonus tehnique - ETTR - expose to the right
Thanks to the control ring in RF lenses, exposure compensation I am able to change easily
What a great tip getting histogram on my display. While exploring that I found I can also show live view exposure and the exposure scale.
As a definite beginner in the world of photography, I find your videos to be very clear, concise and very comprehendible. Thank you for creating such amazing videos that have helped my photography immeasurably. A true asset to the community ❤
Simon, you are one of the very best photographers on here. Your photography is of superb quality and your videos are short and concise and have more information in them than any of the long drawn out videos which I find boring. I learn something from everything you post. Keep them coming!
Thank you for all of your help. I recently went to Scotland, and my photos were overall much better because of your videos. Thanks!
Great to hear!
I watched a lot of videos trying to learn what’s the best way to control these three things and this One has helped me the most thank you so much🙏🏻
Glad it helped!
Saved this video to watch again and again! I got my start with photography as a teenager decades and decades ago when photography was "analog" and required all sort of films and chemicals and ISO (here in the States) was ASA! This video is so informative for this old retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer (shooting with a now-venerable Sony A58 (heyyy... it's only 10 years old, but in digital photography, that's almost prehistoric!). Wife and I are traveling to Japan again (my eighth trip), so I'll try to take some better vacation pics using it (that smartphone always seems like cheating!). I really enjoy all your videos, BTW! 😀
First video I saw or better to say first person ever I came across capabale of explaining how exposure compensation is working. Thanks a million!
Glad it was helpful!
Simon your videos are the best I've ever used to improve upon the various aspects of my photography. Your explanations are straight forward and easy to understand. The impressive knowledge base you share is a tremendous asset to those of us who want to improve on our skills & enjoyment level. My wife & I will be in Canada June of 2023 on the western side of your beautiful country riding the Rocky Mountaineer train on a 2 week trip through the Canadian Rockies and look forward to capturing this wonderful scenery. Please keep these great videos coming as I enjoy them very much!
I am able to advance to a new level, now that you have explained how to use the histogram when shooting. I have turned on the blinkies! Back button focus, exposure compensation button/dial, and now with histogram info, I am off to the races...with some more practice, I think it will be more intuitive. Thank you so much, Simon
If you're not sure what to do in a situation, I personally recommend making your shot preferrably darker than brighter. It's a lot easier to get dark areas recovered than it is pulling back blown out highlights 👍👍
Agree. ETTR is good for image quality, underexposing is “safer”.
Hello, I'm an amateur hobbyist who got confused with your advice. It seems like the opposite of ETTR which Simon has discussed in the video. Do you mind explaining when to underexpose and when to ETTR? Big thanks
@@3lliexir If you're not sure if you're exposing your image too much, then for most styles of photography it makes sense to just underexpose it a little bit, instead of blowing out your highlights. Since your highlights mostly have something to do with your motive, and blowing them out makes you lose unrecoverable detail in areas that are most likely part of your subject.
By underexposing them slightly, you give your camera less information for your background/shadows, but if you shoot in RAW, it is easier to rescue the shot by just turning up the exposure again in post-processing - that way the shot is not completely lost since overexposing is way more likely to happen to you than underexposing. Hope that helps 🙏
Just wanted to say that I found your videos on accident earlier in the week but the few I have watched have really helped me. Please keep up the great work!
Perhaps a new video suggestion: targeted suggestions for those of us shooting wildlife using a zoom. I shoot with the R5 and the 100-500 F 7.1
So there is no F 2.8 in my gear! I do fairly well with exposure, but do struggle in the early AM due to lack of light. So perhaps addressing this type of gear, settings, and techniques. There are likely a lot of zoom lens shooters out there with slower lenses. Thanks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share and educate on this topic. I’ve been a hobby photographer for a few years and am self taught. I have read and viewed so many books and videos on how to understand this concept and how the different pieces work together, or against one another. You have explained it so beautifully. I feel I FINALLY understand!
You're very welcome!
I found your channel only recently. You explain everything so beautifully and your photos are breathtaking. Thank you.
Glad you like them!
Genius tips, I’ve never had it explained so thoroughly & easy to understand. I’ve been starting to turn my passion for landscape/urban photography into something more. I’ve struggled with this, sacrificing f/stops or shutter speed to get exposure right. THANK YOU!!! Can’t wait to check out more of your vids!
There is one more important factor, the lens. Not always easy or even possible to change but especially in dark environments switching to a lens with larger aperture can do wonders. You might need to move to anther position and/or crop the photo but you got the photo you wanted!
Myself I often prefer my photos to be a tad on the dark side but then I often take close ups of flowers and don't like post processing - getting the exposure right from the start is part of the fun for me.
Yep, lens with a wide aperture play a BIG role here. With the kit lens that came with your DSLR (and mine too ) you're very limited.
I also prefer photos on the darker side, I do mostly nature and wildlife, but also hate post processing (never find the time). A darker photo automatically looks better compared to a lighter photo, but the tip to shoot as bright as possible as very useful.
so for aperture priority, when I use a manual lens, I select the "faster" auto ISO compensation to prioritize a higher shutter speed and bracket that shutter while setting the exposure compensation.
I haven't had much issue with that other than not being able to keep/adjust this setting in manual when I'm in a city and switching between human and building shots. I get some flexibility with IBS, but without a lens stabilization I'm really keeping that fast priority in the back of my mind.
I like your explanations, simple and easy to understand. I'm sending a link of your channel to my niece who is starting out.
This is one of the precious gems from your videos I came across so far. Can't thank you enough for sharing your very well and easy to understand explanation of so advanced aspect about digital photography.
Glad you enjoy it!
I like how you say your last name ☺️☺️☺️
D’Entremont should be French.
This definitely will help me. I primarily focus on motorsports and run into the issue of the race cars going from light to shadow which makes getting a consistent exposure a challenge for all photos for the day.
A tip when adjusting outside of the camera, when adjusting the exposure, balance the contrast.
"theres no penalty for higher shutter speed" is game changer for me shooting in midday sun. I just naturally would stop in the hundreds by habit of not wanting images to be too dark. my 55-200 only drops to 5.6 on long end so I have to zoom for bokeh
This is absolutely great stuff here. Period.
This channel is the most straightforward when explaining its concise and informative i really appreciate your videos! And he also link out videos that are related to the topic! For example he’s explaining how to use the exposure triangle, he links out videos explaining purpose of each one and the use of it! Thanks simon!
Glad you like them!
I love the ETTR tip. I started in B&W film using darkroom processing 30 plus years ago. This process is so different. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
4:20 Pentax cameras have a shooting mode called shutter and aperture priority. Then the camera adjusts the ISO for you. I got it on my first body, the legendary K10D, in 2006.
Lots of cameras have apreture and shutter speed priority. All the big camera companies have a setting that does this and not just on dslr or mirrorless but often bridge aswell. He explains that what he is doing is if you would be shooting in full manual.
i always -2.they make more shutter speed,this is helpful.
Excellent lesson. I always learn so much from each one and I have been doing this a long time. It’s good to watch them a second time to make sure it sinks in. Repeating them down the line is also useful. Seeing beautiful Canada is just icing on the cake. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
My favorite exposure method is by using an grey card to get a parameter of what my camera is reading of the available light, and then, depending on what I am shooting, I decide if I need to under or overexpose a bit. For example: I always photograph my cat in the couch, which is pretty close to a big window, reflecting a diffuse lateral light; my cat is orange and white, the couch is black, so if I expose to the whites, they blacks get so dark; if I expose to the blacks, the whites get so bright - in this case, I prefer to keep the white details while having.a beautiful pure black background, so I rather prefer to underexpose a bit to get my cat well exposed while I don’t mind losing details in the blacks and some shadows.
One of your best videos. I’m going to watch again and take notes.
Awesome! Thank you!
Very well explained. You are a very good educator.
I always learn something useful when watching your videos. Thank you.
Glad to help
This video explains the fundamentals so great. In my opinion all you need to take great photos and you did an amazing job at showing the concepts
This video is gold to me. It answers several questions i had. Thank you so much.
You’re an amazing Teacher. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Simon - Once again a numero uno video. Your tips are priceless. I remember there was another video of yours where you educated us about Auto ISO.
I used that setting(Auto ISO) in M mode and cranked up the speed to around 1/2000 with f stop (cannot remember the number now) sometime last year and shot speed birds (aircrafts) taking off from Montreal airport. The pictures in my view were outstanding.
You should consider creating a photography course (for intermediate users) and I would be your 1st patron if you do that.
Many thanks for this priceless video, Simon.
Man, I gotta say - your videos have been absolutely stellar! Your content is a pure meat sandwich of goodness. It’s like a thick tomato bisque on a cold day. And I’ve watch a a lot of Peter McKinnon, Matty, etc… Thank you for all of these videos! 😊
Wow, thanks!
One of the best explanations on the exposure triangle as it applies to camera settings and decision making I’ve ever seen. I have a friend just starting out in photography. I’m sending him to this 11 minutes of quality content!
Keep up the good work!