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7 September 2009
Almost all modern compact digital cameras feature an automatic mode, which optimises the exposure for the majority of environments. However, in certain situations your camera may be fooled into taking an underexposed image. For example, when shooting snowy landscapes or dark objects in the sky.
It is relatively simple to fix this common problem by using the exposure compensation feature. Cameras such as the Canon Digital IXUS 90 IS allow you to manually control the exposure. Adjusting the exposure compensation to +1 will double the brightness of the photo, +2 will quadruple the exposure, and so on. Accessing the exposure compensation control will vary from camera to camera, but have a look for a manual mode, or program mode.
If you find the photo to still be too dark, you can try a slightly higher exposure compensation, alternatively if the image becomes too bright, try decreasing the exposure a little.
This process is all about experimentation and will vary each time, depending on your particular environment. It's good practice to always take one normal shot and one with exposure compensation. This way you can be sure of capturing the shot perfectly, as previewing the image on a small camera LCD screen is sometimes misleading depending on how bright the screen and the ambient conditions are.
Remember to set the exposure compensation back to zero after you have finished taking the shot, otherwise all other photos you take may be overexposed.
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