Technical or creative?

Don’t get caught up in technicalities

Every time we shoot, we aim for technical correctness. But don’t forget that photography is creative and your personal style is also important, so sometimes not have having a ‘technically’ correct exposure and aiming for a ‘creative’ exposure is best if it gets you the image you want.

Different strokes

You may prefer slightly more atmospheric images that have a ‘low-key’ look, which lend themselves to richer colours. This means that you would be technically underexposing your images, but it’s the correct ‘creative’ exposure. Conversely, if you like brighter ‘high-key’ images, you might be technically overexposing your images by maybe 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop to get the ‘creative’ look you want. In short, different approaches suit different subjects and shooting styles.

Utilize scene modes

If you have a camera with scene modes, some of these are designed to produce a low- or high-key look, without having to apply exposure compensation. For example, Beach/snow mode is designed to preserve the bright feel of a coastal or snow-covered environment. On the other hand, Sunset or Silhouette modes are aimed at producing intense colours.