Treat yourself to a little detour: follow the short path along the banks of the stream down into the courtyard of the Black Factory. Many photo opportunities await you there - especially the works of a blacksmith. However, many of these motifs are very dark in color. This can confuse the camera's light meter. Check the image brightness after each shot. Does the color of the image on your camera display match the color of the subject? The image will often be too bright.
If you take pictures using the camera's automatic function, almost every camera has a setting option for exposure compensation. Some cameras have a rotary control on which you can set values from -3 to +3. Some cameras have a button labeled +/- and some cameras have a menu item "Exposure compensation". (Tip: If you cannot find any of these three options on your camera, select P mode on the exposure program dial instead of fully automatic. Sometimes exposure compensation is not offered in fully automatic mode).
If your image has become too bright, set a negative value for the exposure compensation. -1 means that the image should only become half as bright. Accordingly, -2 means only a quarter of the brightness. Often -1/3 or -2/3 is sufficient.
Two more tips:
- Before you go any further, set the exposure compensation back to 0. Otherwise all further shots will be too dark.
- If you photograph very bright subjects elsewhere, they may appear too dark in the picture. You can also use exposure compensation in this case. In this case, simply set a correction with a positive sign.
Task:
Photograph details of the sculptures in the Black Factory Park in such a way that the color and structure of the material are optimally visible. Make sure that as little as possible can be seen in the background apart from the respective sculpture.
Share your results!
Would you like to share the images on social networks? Use the following #hashtag and compare your results with those of other photographers: #oberkirchenschwarzefabrik
