SUMMARY
Exposure compensation is a camera control that allows photographers to manually adjust the brightness of an image beyond what the camera's automatic meter suggests. Cameras aim to render scenes as a medium gray, which can lead to underexposed dark scenes or overexposed bright scenes like snow. By using positive compensation (+EV), photographers can brighten images, and with negative compensation (-EV), they can darken them. This feature is crucial in semi-automatic modes like Program, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority, and can also be used with Auto ISO in Manual mode. Common scenarios where exposure compensation is vital include photographing snow, backlit subjects, and dark backgrounds.
TAKEAWAYS
Exposure compensation overrides the camera's light meter, which aims for a middle gray tone.
Positive compensation (+EV) brightens the image, while negative compensation (-EV) darkens it.
It is essential for correctly exposing scenes dominated by bright elements (like snow) or dark elements (like silhouettes).
Exposure compensation functions in Program, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes, and with Auto ISO in Manual mode.