EXPOSURE LOCK (AND HOW IT WILL CHANGE YOUR PHOTOS)

Poker face when you hear exposure lock. I know. Follow me Have you ever noticed that mania that camera manufacturers have to put small buttons for the camera that we never deign to use? Not even to try to find out what they are or what they are for? As if I saw you, we all seem to be cut by the same pattern in this of the photography. We started to fiddle with the camera the first few days, we passed the user manual Olympic , we limited ourselves to the basic settings for our photographic survival, and “pa ' lante ». And that camera that has cost us a kidney, we ended up using it as a compact is used, in automatic mode and walking. Well, it is time to reset ourselves, to observe our camera as in love as we did the first time we had it in our arms, wishing to know it as the first time.

It is time to fall in love again and see again those virtues that decided to choose that model above all others. It's time to learn what exposure lock is.Because it is in the small details of our camera where the really important thing is ;-), where its infinite possibilities are.

WHAT IS EXPOSURE LOCK?

Before defining it, I will put you in a situation. Is it true that it has not happened to you once or twice or three times, that you are trying to measure the exposure in a specific area of the scene and that every time you move or re-frame the exposure values that the camera measures constantly vary ? And isn't it also true that you don't always want that to happen? Isn't it true that sometimes you want to expose well for a specific area like the sky but you want to add the ground (darker) to your frame and that when you do it spoils all the exposure?

This is when the role of exposure lock takes on all its meaning (the name already gives you a clue as to what the subject is about, right?). Exposure blocking is the possibility (offered by most cameras) to block a particular exposure during:

the time in which we have pressed the button corresponding to the exposure lock.
until the shutter is pressed and the image is taken. It will depend on the camera model you have.

WHAT IS IT USEFUL FOR?

For all those shooting modes in which we do not have absolute control of the shot such as automatic mode or semi-automatic modes. Because, if you have been following us for some time, you will know that we are defenders in the manual way, but not always and not at all costs; there are times that we need speed above all and we must resort to semi-manual modes. When you need to have the concrete exposure of an area of the image, but not necessarily that frame.

It's a bit like using the camera as a photometer or exposure meter . On the one hand you tell him. « Hey, measure here, please, measure this rock in shadow because it is the one I want to expose correctly «. « Stay with this measurement and don't change it, I'm going to look for the best framing for my rock «. At the end you will have a correct exposure of what you have indicated to your camera, with the frame you have chosen. What amounts to much more control over the shot in a semi-automatic mode and even in an automatic one.

THE BEST WAY TO USE IT IS ...

Keep in mind that we are always talking about semi-automatic or automatic modes, because in manual mode, you constantly control all parameters. The best way to use it, as I told you before, is to work considering that the camera is your photometer (or exposure meter), that is, your tool for measuring light and obtaining specific values. The most accurate measurement mode is the point mode. In this mode, we tell the camera to focus on a specific point in the image without taking into account the surrounding light.

It is therefore the most accurate and, therefore, the punctual mode is the most suitable to apply next to exposure lock. Because this is what we are looking for; to be able to control the light of a specific point of the image without this affecting the way we have to frame the image.

WHERE DO I FIND THE EXPOSURE LOCK BUTTON?

Normally it is located in the back in the upper right area of the camera, in the form of a small button. You can identify it with the asterisk symbol in Canon, or with the letters AE-L, AEL, AE Lock on most brands.

AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL

Do not think for a moment that the thing does not go with you because you have not just clarified with the subject of photography, because you just started, you do not know very well where to throw with the amount of things to learn. Exposure blocking is not, by any means, a tool reserved for professionals. On the contrary, if you just started and you just did not clear up with the manual mode, or if you prefer the semi-automatic modes quickly, this simple button will change your control over the image. This little great work tool, will give you the power of decision and the ability to control the light.In photography there is nothing more important, you already know that ;-). So please, locate the exposure lock button on your camera and start practicing with it, make it part of your photographic routine, which becomes something as natural as breathing for you. Even if yours is the manual mode and you already control everything, keep that in mind when you need agility in a semi-automatic way. I hope this article has been useful to you, that you put it into practice from today, you will see that you will not regret having spent a few minutes reading it. Sometimes, in the smallest lies the greatest magic . Oh, and if you liked it, you found it useful and you think that someone else may be interested in knowing the exposure lock, please share it on your favorite social network to reach as many people as possible. Thank you and see you soon.