Understanding exposure is crucial for your work as photographer.
It is a good start to get familiar with f-stops and how aperture, shutter speed and ISO is connected.
If you start thinking in f-stops, it makes your life much easier:
A full stop always doubles the light (or cut in in half), and at the same time your exposure changes only by one step.
It is also important to undertand the difference between the measuring of the object (this is how the light meter in your camera works) and measuring the light itself (what only can be done with an external light meter): if your subject is mainly dark, your camera will tend to overexpose, if it is mainly light, your camera will tend to underexpose. In these situations you can
- use your exposure compensation
- use manual settings
- use large greycard and measure the light on this area instead of your subject
- use an external light meter
Your assignment
- use auto exposure on your camera and decide whether the exposure is correct
- if not, use your exposure compensation to get it right
- switch to manual mode and use the latest combination of shutter speed, aperture & ISO
- use an external light meter to check your manual settings
- repeat in another spot