I think the camera got the uncompensated exposure exactly "correct". If
you inspect the histogram of the baseline image (1/125 second) you will
see that the tonal range of the image doesn't span the full range of the
histogram. The shadow and highlight ends don't quite reach to the
extremes. The whole histogram is quite nearly centered with both the
shadow and highlight ends balanced at about 1/3 stop from from full range.
The +1/3 compensation (1/100 second) has run the bright end of the
histogram right up to the verge of being blown out. That would also be
considered a "correct" exposure for one who follows the "expose to the
right" philosophy (as do I). But that assumes you fully intend to work
that image to extract something else from it and it works best with raw
because there may be significant exposure change in post processing.
But the difference in this case is only 1/3 stop and hardly worth
worrying about.
If you had set the exposure compensation to +0.5 or +1.0 you would have
had a lot of blown highlights. An exposure compensation of +2 might
have been required if (ala OM-4) you had spot metered the snow but, as
it is, the normal metering is picking up a lot of dark trees and
apparently making the right decision uncompensated.
So, what's the right exposure? Probably the baseline. The image is
improved by increasing the mid-tone brightness but that tends to push
the highlights toward the end. If starting from the +1/3 it would
probably be necessary to back it off a bit to keep the highlights from
washing out as the overall brightness is increased.
But I think the camera pretty much nailed it. Now it's only up to you
as to how you really want it to look.
Chuck Norcutt
Chris Barker wrote:
> Dear All
>
> Since we have just been discussing this, I have put a set of bracketed
> shots on this gallery:
> http://gallery.me.com/zuiko/100037
> I set the E-3 for 3 shots at 0.3EV intervals with a baseline of 0
> correction. It seems to me that the +0.3 has come out best, although
> I have had to adjust the White Balance (I have it set to Daylight all
> the time, rather than Auto). I used bracketing on purpose since I do
> not often see snow here and I wasn't sure how to adjust the exposure.
> I now see that I should have set it to +0.5 or +1.0 as baseline.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> The scene is in the Reserve of the Royal Society for the Protection of
> Birds (RSPB), not far from my home. My wife works there (for a
> pittance ... :-)).
>
> Chris
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