Photography ideas, camera & image editing

Photographing scenes with no midtone regions is tricker than usual as it is prone to incorrect exposure. By the way, midtone is defined as the region of the scene that displays average tonal values.

A scene with no midtone will have extreme light and dark areas. Under such a condition, direct meter reading will either lead to under or over exposure.

To overcome this problem, we can take a meter reading from the main subject and then apply a level of exposure compensation depending on the subject’s tonal condition.

For example, you can take a meter reading of an area that is lighter than the typical midtone. After taking the reading, we will need to apply positive (eg +1.5) stops exposure to compensate for the light tone.

Another method is to use a grey card. To do that, position the grey card in the same spot where it is in the same light condition as the subject. Take the meter reading from the grey card, instead.

An angle-finder is an addon accessories designed for low angle and waist-level photo taking. This equipment is not available for compact cameras. It is available for SLRs though.

Angle-finders often comes with magnification. They are useful for situations as photographing low-height animals such as birds and small animals. Angle-finders are not common. And because of their scarcity, they can be quite expensive to buy.