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Photography vocabulary · Exposure

Underexposed

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˌʌndərɪkˈspoʊzd/adjectiveCore term

In photography, underexposed means: Too dark because not enough light reached the sensor, so shadow areas lose detail and brightening them later adds noise.

In Turkish: az pozlanmış, düşük pozlanmış, karanlık kalmış

How it is used

Common in feedback and editing talk. Photographers sometimes underexpose on purpose to protect the highlights and then lift the shadows later, especially with RAW files. The noun is underexposure.

Example sentences

  1. Half the reception photos are underexposed because the venue was so dark.

  2. I deliberately underexposed by one stop to keep the detail in the sunset.

Common collocations

  • slightly underexposed
  • underexposed by a stop
  • badly underexposed
  • underexposed shadows
  • overexposedToo bright because too much light reached the sensor, so light areas lose detail and may turn completely white.
  • noiseRandom specks of color or brightness that make a photo look grainy, especially at high ISO or in shadows that have been brightened.
  • 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.
  • histogramA graph that shows how the tones in a photo are spread out, from pure black on the left to pure white on the right.
  • 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.

More terms: Exposure

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