• Understanding SLR camera settings
• Tips for taking better photographs
• SLR tips for beginners

Simple green rule for exposing shots taken near nature

Whenever you take a photograph in or around nature, it's useful to expose on any part of the scene that is green, then underexpose it by two thirds.

For example, for the photograph below, the exposure was taken from the green leaves to the left of the flowers. I then underexposed the shot by 2/3, refocused on the flower and took the shot. As the camera was set on manual, the shutter speed (exposure) stayed as it was when exposed on the green leaves. Usually when you refocus on the subject you want to take a photo of, the camera will tell you the exposure is wrong. Ignore this and take the shot anyway. In most cases, it will result in a nicely exposed, detailed photograph.

If you're not sure what I am referring to by 'setting the exposure', you can find a good article on this at: Advantages of manual settings.

Note, this exposure tip will also work when you have your camera set on shutter priority. However, it won't work for automatic modes (such as landscape, portrait) or aperture priority, as the camera then sets the shutter speed for you.

Another time this exposure tip was useful, was during an outside photo shoot of my son. The first shot I'd taken was exposed on my son's face. Looking back on the LCD screen, I'd found there was a dark shadow over one side of his face. The shot was taken again, this time exposing (-2/3) on the green grass next to him. This helped to eliminate the shadow on his face.