As seen on screen

QIs looking at the LCD screen a reliable way to judge exposure?

Chris Ball

ANo. You can use it to interpret how the exposure has worked out – but for an accurate assessment, you always need to refer to your histogram.

When you’re using Live View, you can see the screen and histogram at the same time, but in very bright conditions, it may not be that easy for your eyes to pick out all the detail you need. Conversely, in a dark interior, your eyes might see the image as brighter than it actually is. Remember, on most cameras you can alter the brightness of the screen to make life easier for you when you assess images.

Add or copy

QI am confused about importing images into Lightroom, as there are several options. Which one should I use? Lucy Rendall

AThe simplest way to import is to tell Lightroom to reference where you have stored the folder of raw images. I always save my images onto external hard disks in named folders; on import I tick Add so the images are brought into my Catalog but the original raw files remain on that original hard disk. If you want to make a copy of your images in a different location, tick Copy but if your destination folder is on your computer’s hard disk, it will eventually fill up and affect your computer’s performance.

Bounce flash

QWhat does bounce flash mean, and can I use it with my camera’s built-in flashgun? Jon Lee

ABounce flash is simply the technique of directing the flash off a secondary surface such as a wall, ceiling or reflector. It can help to spread the light and give a more flattering result than direct flash. It’s not really possible to do it with a fixed built-in flashgun, but easy with an external flashgun with a tilting head. Light bounced off a surface might pick up some of the colour of that surface, so it’s a technique best used where there is a neutral surface to fire the flash on to.