Exposure - is it the simplest physics or the magic of creating a masterpiece?

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

In photography, it is generally accepted that exposure is the process of irradiating light from a photosensitive element in a camera. Both a matrix (for modern devices) and a film (for film ones) can act as this.

The correct exposure setting affects how much light hits the element - and depending on this, one or another result will be obtained. It is important not to overexpose, because too much light will result in an overexposed image, and too little will not allow the object to be drawn - the result may be a completely dark frame.

The amount of light that hits the sensor element is affected by the size of the aperture, the light sensitivity of the element itself and exposure. All this will inevitably affect the final result of the shooting.

What is exposure and overlay

Exposure with an overlay gives an interesting effect: an image of objects photographed at different times appears on the same frame. This technique was familiar to old-school film photographers, but with today's digital cameras,it is extremely difficult to implement, and exposure and alignment for cheap "soap dishes" is an impossible task at all.

You can do this technique today in various ways:

• using film cameras;
• using digital technology;
• by software methods on the computer.

Digital cameras

Only a few modern "figures" have the function of overlaying two or more frames. Such devices allow you to shoot in the "green" mode, that is, in fully automatic mode. And in this case, you may not even have any idea what exposure is. It is also possible to do this with the latest generation of "fancy" smartphones.

But even with the help of rather expensive digital "reflex cameras", and even more so with "soap dishes", such a technique as double exposure to overlay two or more frames in one cannot be done.

Film cameras

Setting the combination and exposure on film requires certain knowledge, skills and abilities from the photographer. The procedure for this will be as follows:

• the first frame is taken with all the necessary parameters - shutter speed, aperture, etc;
• then the film is rolled exactly one frame back (this is not possible in all cameras);
• the second shot is taken with such an aim that all the elements of the second frame fit exactly on the elements of the first one. This requires an accurate eye and a lot of experience fromphotographer;
• important point: to avoid overexposure of the film, you need to “underexpose” the second frame a little, setting the shutter speed a little less than under normal conditions.

The film is then developed and printed in the traditional way.

As an experiment, you can also simply "snap" the entire film first, and then wind it back into the reel and shoot again. Sometimes this results in really interesting shots.

A similar effect can also be achieved if two films are placed in the machine at the same time during photo printing - one frame will be superimposed on the other.

Programmatic method

Finally, all of the above can be done on a computer in many graphic editors. For example, in the well-known Photoshop. And for this you don’t even need to know that exposure is something related to light and photocells.

The procedure will be as follows:

• opens the first file;
• then drag and drop in the same window opens the second file for which you want to apply the overlay;
• if necessary, you can resize the second frame, rotate with special markers along the edges of the second image layer;
• then you should play with the blending and transparency options of the layer in the layer manager on the right.

No one argues that modern software "tools" allow you to achieve high-quality and creative photos, butprofessionalism of the photographer is too early to write off. Sometimes well-chosen shots and extensive shooting experience create truly masterpieces.