Understanding Your Camera's Metering, Exposure Compensation and White Balance Settings

Recently, I wrote a post on understanding light, which touched upon different types of light and the color of light. While I briefly referenced white balance and metering in my previous post, I thought it would be best to explore these settings in greater depth because you must understand metering, exposure compensation and white balance in order to properly account for light. Therefore, below you will find an explanation of the metering, exposure compensation and white balance settings on your camera and how to use each setting.

Metering

Metering is how your camera determines what the correct shutter speed and/or aperture should be depending upon the amount of light that enters the camera. Every camera usually has three different metering options, generally referred to as "center-weighted," "spot/partial," or "matrix (Nikon)/evaluative (Canon)." Each option works by assigning a relative weighting to the light in your scene.

Photography Books: How to Photograph Everything

One of my favorite photography books is How to Photograph Everything: Simple Techniques for Shooting Spectacular Images from the editors of Popular Photography. I enjoy this book because it combines beautiful photographs with simple tips on how to photograph over 40 different subjects. Specifically, the book offers suggestions on how to photograph fireworks, the night sky, food, abandoned spaces, concerts, and museums and aquariums. It also contains a brief introductory section on the basics of composition, color, exposure and lighting. If you are new to photography (or just do not use your camera frequently), you might consider investing in this book as it is certain to help you improve and expand your photography skills.

Know Your Rights: What Can You Photograph

Greetings world. Sorry for the posting hiatus, I've had the craziest couple of weeks -- moving + unpacking + trying to sell all of the extra stuff that would not fit into my new place has occupied most of my time. However, now that things are organized in a way that suits my OCD, I am ready to get back to writing!

In light of some of the articles in the news this week, I thought it would be good to write a post on what you can (and cannot) photograph. Knowing what you are and are not allowed to photograph is extremely important for every photographer, however, you should always remember that just because you are allowed to take a photo does not necessarily mean that you should.