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Photography vocabulary · Exposure

Exposure compensation

Meaning in photography, with examples

nounCommon term

In photography, exposure compensation means: A setting that tells the camera to make its automatic exposure brighter or darker, usually in steps of a third of a stop, shown as +1 or −0.7.

In Turkish: pozlama telafisi, pozlama düzeltmesi, pozlama kompanzasyonu

How it is used

Used in aperture priority, shutter priority and program modes, usually with a dial marked +/−. Common in snow, beach and backlit scenes, where the meter gets it wrong. You dial in plus or minus exposure compensation.

Example sentences

  1. On snow, add about plus one exposure compensation or everything will look gray.

  2. I keep exposure compensation at minus a third to protect the highlights.

Common collocations

  • dial in exposure compensation
  • positive exposure compensation
  • negative exposure compensation
  • exposure compensation dial
  • meteringThe way a camera measures the light in a scene to decide the exposure. Different metering modes look at the whole frame, the center or a small spot.
  • aperture priorityA semi-automatic mode, marked A or Av, in which you choose the aperture and the camera chooses the shutter speed for a correct exposure.
  • exposureThe amount of light that reaches the camera's sensor or film when you take a picture; it decides how bright or dark the final image looks.
  • stopA unit for changes in exposure. One stop more doubles the light and one stop less halves it, whether you change the aperture, shutter speed or ISO.
  • overexposedToo bright because too much light reached the sensor, so light areas lose detail and may turn completely white.

More terms: Exposure

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