In the digital photography era it’s become commonplace to have our equipment make all or most of the decisions about exposure. The existence of an AUTO dial makes it all too tempting to think your camera knows better than you. This is not always the case, in fact in the real world of photography your camera knows much less than you do. The digital sensor and built-in camera light meter have certain inherent limitations of which a mindful photographer should be aware.

The following video will show you when, and why it is helpful to use Exposure Compensation when shooting against a bright or dark background to overcome some of the inherent light meter inadequacies.