Author Archives: AJ Kessler

Proper exposure is the single most important feature of any photograph. It’s also the foundation of photography. You can be at the right place at the right time, but if you can’t properly expose the shot, you’ve got nothing. Today’s cameras do a pretty decent job of automatically selecting the proper exposure in most situations, but if you’ve spent any time shooting in the ‘auto’ mode, you know the camera rarely behaves exactly as you want it to. This article will teach you everything you need to know about exposure so that you can bend your camera to your will, making it do exactly what you want, when you want.

The first step in learning how to properly expose a shot is to learn what an exposure is, and how an exposure is made. Unfortunately, many looking to get into photography, and a surprising number of those who are producing very solid work, can be intimidated and confused when first learning about exposure due to the jargon photographers use to describe it. Luckily, exposure is an exceeding simple concept. Continue reading →