Measuring Exposure, Part Two - Scene One

My camera comes with a bracketing feature, where you choose a bracketing amount, and the camera will take three images in quick succession; one at the recommended exposure value, and one above and below by the amount specified. Unfortunately my model will not do this for five images, nor will it deal with half-stops, instead it will allow third or whole stops. I accomplished almost the same result as required by the brief manually, by choosing increments of a third of a stop, and turning the exposure compensation dial between each shot. This method is more cumbersome, and results in a series of images that aren't exactly lined up in relation to each other, but it does the job.

Council House - Birmingham

Best Exposure

18mm, f/5, 1/640, ISO 200

Exposure Compensation: +0.67

I chose this image as the best exposure as it most accurately portrays the lighting conditions at the time. All of the other exposures feel too dark, when I know the day to be cloudy but bright.

18mm, f/5, 1/800, ISO 200

Exposure Compensation: 0

 This image has the settings suggested by the light meter. The scene looks gloomier than it actually was at the time, and a lot of the fine details of the building are difficult to see clearly.

18mm, f/5, 1/1000, ISO 200

Exposure Compensation: +0.33

This is better than the default settings, but still the scene feels later in the day than it actually was.

18mm, f/5, 1/1250, ISO 200

Exposure Compensation: -0.33

This image is not an accurate representation of the day, in the image the sky has turned dark, and it looks like it's going to rain. Evidently then, underexposing an image can be useful for changing the mood of a scene, in contrast to the actual conditions at the time.

18mm, f/5, 1/2000, ISO 200

Exposure Compensation: -0.67

I don't know about council house, this looks more like haunted house! The whole scene is cast in darkness, you can barely see the figures standing in shadow just past the pillars, and the lack of foot-traffic in this scene enhances the sinister, creepy effect.

Overall Response

In this image I wasn't looking for any kind of special effect; I just wanted a nicely balanced image that was representative of the conditions at the time. Using only the camera's recommended settings I would have been left with an underexposed image that didn't really get across to the viewer that it was a fairly cloudy but bright day.