I’ve said it many times on this blog – cameras are stupid, really stupid.  And here’s a case in point – if you are trying to photograph a dark subject against a bright sky, the camera will almost certainly get the exposure wrong.  The solution to his is to take what is called a substitute exposure reading.

Some time ago I was walking in Edale in Derbyshire and came across a helicopter collecting stone for footpath restoration.  The helicopter was dark, the sky was very bright.  Time to use a substitute reading to get the exposure correct.  Fortunately I had my video camera with me and was able to capture the the process.

Here’s a summary of the steps:

  1. Put your camera in manual mode, and select a suitable ISO and shutter speed.
  2. Point the camera at something that is a mid-tone eg grass and fill the frame with it.
  3. Adjust the aperture until the little pointer at the bottom of your view finder is set to zero
  4. Take a test shot
  5. Adjust the aperture up or down if necessary.

Here’s some of the images from the shoot:

You can find the full gallery of images here: http://photos.imb.biz/other/edale-helicopter

I started out by saying that cameras are stupid – really stupid.  Well I have to confess that so are photographers who try to photograph helicopters…. watch the video to the very end for the outtakes and you will see what I mean!

If you found the video useful and want more photography hints and tips like this then please subscribe to my YouTube channel and my free weekly newsletter.