Exposure Compensation
Exposure compensation is what you can do to override the exposure settings set by the camera's metering system. The metering system in your camera measures the amount of light in the photo and tells you the aperture and shutter speed needed for a correct exposure. The examples below show the various results of using different exposure compensation settings. |
Multi-Segment Metering Strong backlighting conditions are where the amount of light on the background is far more intense than the amount of light on the foreground area. This usually happens when you shoot a subject indoors, with a brightly lit outdoor background. Ideal lighting conditions are where there is a similar amount of light illuminating both the background and foreground. Ideal lighting is where the camera's multi-segment metering does a good job. |
Spot Metering Alternatively, take an exposure reading with spot metering, note the aperture and shutter speed, and switch to manual exposure mode. This enables you to focus on a subject which isn't what you measured the exposure on. |
| Using Multi-Segment Metering | Exposure Compensation Setting | ||
| -2 EV | No compensation | +2 EV | |
| Ideal lighting conditions |  |
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| Strong backlighting, no flash |
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| For comparison
purposes. This setting shouldn't be used. |
Camera meter is fooled by the bright background sunlight. Background is correctly exposed but subject is underexposed. | Subject is correctly exposed with the photographer's exposure compensation. Background is overexposed. | |
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| Strong backlighting, fill-in flash is used |
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| For comparison
purposes. This setting shouldn't be used. |
Background is correctly exposed. Subject is correctly exposed with fill-in flash, which corrects the lighting imbalance. | For comparison
purposes. This setting shouldn't be used. |
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Recommended Reading 
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