For the purpose of this blog, I have generally only discussed the alternatives that showed some potential, and I have not included the outright rejects.
Image 1: Princess Street after rain
Nikon 18-70mm at 18mm: Iso 100 f8 for 1/320th second - Original with no exposure adjustment
Version 2 - exposure adjustment minus 0.5 stops
Version 3 - exposure adjustment plus 0.5 stops
The sun had come out in the late afternoon after a rain shower. I thought that there could be an interesting photograph in the way that the light reflected off the road surface and the facades of the buildings.
This is a high contrast scene, with bright and dark areas more than mid-tones. The dark areas predominate however. The buildings on the left hand side of the frame, and the corresponding shadow reflection on the road surface seem larger than the bright areas of sky and road surface on the right.
In the original exposure with zero exposure adjustment, the detail in the building facades looks reasonably natural, but detail is being lost in the texture of the road surface and the clouds. I prefer the version 2 where the exposure has been reduced by half a stop. The detail of the building facades is still visible, but the road surface and clouds are less blown out. (The building facades became too dark when the exposure was reduced by a full stop.)
Increasing the exposure compensation by 0.5 stops as in version 3 is to my mind less satisfying visually. The buildings are brighter and more prominent in the frame but these do not have particular visual interest. Furthermore, the silhouettes of people and buildings in the distance become less apparent in version 3.
Version 2 also gains over the others as it was at this moment that a group of pedestrians crossed the road in the middle distance, making a nice silhouette.
Image 2: Ramparts of Edinburgh Castle
Nikon 18-70mm at 35mm: Iso 160 f8 for 1/500th second (Original with no exposure adjustment)
Version 2 Exposure adjustment plus 0.5 stops
Version 3 exposure adjustment plus 1 stop
I was attracted to this view because the morning sun was brightening the grass between the two ramparts and it was also catching the edges of the buildings. I took five bracketed shots at half stop intervals centred around the camera meter's exposure measurement.
The scene is reasonably high contrast, and looking at the histogram, the original exposure was quite evenly balanced. There are just small spots in the shadows which are blown out. Reducing the exposure by a half or a full stop reduced the ramparts to a dark silhouette except for the sides of the buildings and buttress lit by the sun.
I preferred the two higher exposure photos version 2 and version 3 shown above. With 1 stop over-exposed, the stone structures seem to attract more attention, but the contrast against the green grass and the sidelit buildings is reduced. I therefore would choose version 2. In this photo, the ramparts are still reasonably dark and foreboding. Also, the contrast of light and dark is retained.
(Note: The photos of the castle were adjusted to correct some distortion of vertical perspective)
Image 3: Rooftops at twilight
Nikon 18-70mm at 18mm: Iso 400 f6.3 for 1/6th second (Original no exposure correction)
Version 2: exposure adjustment plus 0.5 stops
Version 3: exposure adjustment plus 1 stop
Walking up a side street to the Golden Mile at twilight, I noticed how the rooftops of the curved street created an interesting shape of sky edged by the jagged rooftops. The scene is another with very high contrast, and I bracketed the camera meter's measurement at half stop and full stop intervals on both sides. (I placed my camera on the floor on a bean bag to take these photos as I had no tripod with me).
I have not included the two photographs with less exposure as these had no particular benefits that I could see.
The two photographs with increased exposure (versions 2 and 3) reveal some of the detail of the frontage of some of the buildings as well as parts of some vehicles and people in the street. Previously, I thought that such detail enhanced the visual interest of the photographs. I preferred Version 2, as I did not like the confused detail in the right hand bottom corner ofVersion 3.
However, on looking at these photographs again before writing this up, I have decided that I like the simplicity of the original photo. In this version the absence of detail in the frontage of the buildings draws attention to the skyline, and the curve of twilight in between. There is a calmness and stillness in this version, whereas the lighter versions are"busy" and the skyline and sky are downplayed as visual elements in the frame.
(Note: The photos of the skyline were adjusted to correct some distortion of vertical perspective)
Image 4: Ruined vault Drochil Castle, near Peebles
Nikon 18-70mm at 18mm: Iso 400 f9 for 1/5th second (exposure adjustment minus 0.5 stops)
Version 2 - exposure adjustment minus 1 stop
Version 3 - exposure adjustment plus 0.5 stops
Drochil Castle is a partly completed medieval castle that was next to the very good B&B that we stayed at close to Peebles.
The ruins are surrounded by trees and hence there is little light inside, even on a sunny day. The camera's exposure meter was affected significantly if there was a small area of sky visible between the trees or through a gap in the walls. In order to successfully bracket photos whilst hand holding the camera, it was important to make sure that the extent of sky or light in the frame was kept the same. (I guess I should have turned to manual settings instead of using the compensation adjustment on Aperture Priority.)
My original intention was to photograph the "corridor" with the lens set at wide angle to amplify the perspective lines. There were nettles and various other plants in the ruins which I had not paid much attention to. I took a sequence of 5 bracketed photos of this scene, and have included three of the resulting photographs.
On reviewing the photographs when I returned home, it was the two underexposed photos that I preferred (versions 1 and 2). In these two, the plant in the right foreground forms a noticeable graphical element in the photograph. The plant stands out against the shadowy wall behind and its triangular outline matches the diagonals of the roof of the vault in a pleasing way.
Where the exposure was normal or brighter (e.g. version 3 with + 0.5 stop exposure adjustment shown above), this plant blends in with the wall behind it, and the pattern of diagonal lines disappears.
Image 5: Bath House, Chesters Fort
In included these photographs to remind me of the practical problems of controlling exposure.
Nikon 18-70mm at 70mm: Iso 400 f8 for 1/50th second (no exposure adjustment)
At the end of our first days walk we went to see the ruins of the Roman fort at Chesters. There was a heavy rainstorm whilst we were there, following by scudding clouds and sunny intervals. I wanted to take some pictures of the excavated bath house where we had sheltered.
The stone walls were backlit by the sun, and the wet surfaces were shining brightly. There were two large trees where I was standing, which shaded the foreground. I should not have included the shaded area of wall in the foreground as the background was completely overexposed. In order to achieve some balance between foreground and background I needed to reduce the exposure by 1.5 stops.
Version 2 - exposure adjustment minus 1.5 stops
The dark wall in the foreground was clearly a mistake and hence I recomposed the photograph horizontally.
Version 3 - horizontal frame with minus 1 stop exposure adjustment
By reducing the extent of the dark wall in the foreground, the camera exposure measurement was less distorted. I tried a minus 1 adjustment hoping that the bright top edges of the walls would simplify the multiplicity of walls in the background. Luckily, this worked reasonably well, but in the bright sunlight the contrast was extremely high. The dark faces of the stone walls are therefore less clear.
Version 4 - exposure adjustment minus 0.5 stops
A moment later the sun was partly shaded by some cloud and the contrast level dropped dramatically. To the eye, the top edges of the wall were still bright and distinctive, so I tried a further photograph with a smaller exposure adjustment. The stone faces of the walls are now more distinct, the tops of the wall are less defined.
On balance I prefer version 3. I like the brightness of the wet stone on the top of the wall in the foreground, and the higher contrast in the background is also slightly more dramatic.
Conclusion
In situations of difficult light, I occasionally take a photographs at a couple of exposure settings, but I have never taken a range of bracketed exposures like this. It was clear to me having done this exercise that exposure levels can significantly change the visual importance of different parts of a scene. This can make one of the elements in the frame stand out a bit better, e.g. the plant in Drochil Castle. It can also change the atmosphere of the photograph e.g. by reducing details as in the twilight photograph of rooftops.
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