Photography Exposure and Metering Questions and Answers Flashcards

What happens to depth of field when you increase the aperture from f/2.8 to f/16?

Answer: Depth of field increases significantly

Stopping down from f/2.8 to f/16 narrows the aperture opening, which increases the depth of field and brings more of the scene into acceptable focus.

In spot metering mode, what percentage of the frame does the camera typically meter from?

Answer: 1-5% of the frame

Spot metering reads light from approximately 1-5% of the frame, usually centered on the active focus point, making it ideal for precise exposure of a specific subject area.

Which exposure compensation value would you apply when photographing a snow-covered landscape to prevent underexposure?

Answer: +1 to +2 EV

Snow scenes reflect a large amount of light, causing the meter to underexpose; dialing in +1 to +2 EV compensates and renders the snow as white rather than gray.

What is the reciprocal rule in photography used to determine?

Answer: The minimum handheld shutter speed to avoid camera shake

The reciprocal rule states that your shutter speed should be at least 1 over your focal length (e.g., 1/200s for a 200mm lens) to minimize blur from camera shake when shooting handheld.

What does a camera's histogram show when it is bunched entirely to the left side?

Answer: The image is significantly underexposed

A histogram shifted entirely to the left indicates that most pixel values are in the shadow range, meaning the image is underexposed with little to no highlight detail.

How does matrix (evaluative) metering determine exposure?

Answer: It divides the frame into multiple zones and analyzes brightness, color, and distance

Matrix or evaluative metering divides the scene into many segments, analyzes factors like brightness, contrast, subject distance, and color, then computes an optimized exposure using an internal database of scene types.