The Camera is not You
September 29th, 2009 Rob Sheppard
“The camera is not the same as a person” may seem like an obvious statement, yet a common mistake many photographers make is that they want the camera to act like they do in terms of seeing the world. It is very important to understand that the camera does not see the world, and consequently, a scene the same way that you do. The camera is restricted by technological limitations that your eyes and brain do not have.
This is especially important with exposure. Photographers see a subject and take the picture with the expectation that the “right” exposure will give a good picture. When the photo does not cooperate and results are poor, they think that they just did not adjust the camera right. In fact, in many situations, it is impossible to get a good picture. The scene is simply beyond the capabilities of the camera, even though you can see it perfectly.
This is most common in extreme lighting conditions. Your eyes can handle a huge range of detail from dark to bright in situations such as a scene where the light goes from brightest sun to dark, dark shade. The camera simply cannot handle such conditions and no exposure will be “right.” While HDR can be helpful sometimes in such a situation, often it is important to recognize when a good photograph is not possible and then you move on to something that is.
