Editing Exposed: Exposure

In this new mini series called Editing Explored, I want to talk about some basic photo editing techniques that can make a big difference in your photos. These are editing options that are found in most any editing software. Whether you are using an advanced software like Lightroom or Photoshop, or a free one like Picasa or iPhoto, you should have access or most or all of the editing tools I talk about.

Let's dive in!

The first and one of the most important parts of photo editing is exposure.

Exposure is the overall brightness of the image - the amount of light in the photo. A photo that has too low of an exposure is too dark, and a photo that has too bright of an exposure is too light.

One of the ways to help improve the look of your photos, if they aren't perfectly exposed, is to give it a little more light or take away a little of the existing light with your exposure slider.

Regardless of what editing program you are using [I use Adobe Lightroom], you'll have an exposure control. Some places, it's called brightness, but it has the same overall effect.

In my own editing process, I start first by adjusting the exposure slider of an image if it needs a little correcting. In the image above, it needed a little increase in the exposure slider, to bring a little bit of light into the image. Viola - I think it makes a big difference!

The best method is obviously to try to get your exposure to be 100% correct in camera, also known by pros as 'nailing your exposure.' But that's not always realistically possible because we are human and sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes, I'm busy running after kids or trying to make sure everyone is looking at me. And sometimes, even when I try to make sure it's perfect, it still needs a little adjustment. When we do get it wrong, adjusting the exposure during the editing process can make a big different in your images.

Do you adjust your exposure when you are editing? Do you think it helps make your images better?