This is the thirteenth article in a series on "understanding your camera" that I am writing as I teach camera basics and camera operation to my children.

So what is exposure compensation, and why should photographers know about it?

The short answer is that exposure compensation allows you to adjust the default exposure selected by your camera, by several stops up or down.

Modern cameras have a lot of smarts built into their electronics, and are designed to make a lot of decisions about exposure and camera settings each time you take a photo. In most cases, the camera can make faster and smarter decisions than you can, and it is a good idea to take advantage of this processing power built into your camera.

Despite this, your camera cannot always correctly determine the exposure, because it makes some assumptions about the scene being photographed. There are situations where you need to be able to adjust the camera exposure up or down, depending on the scene being photographed, and the lighting conditions, to achieve the results that you want.

Gnarabup Beach, viewed from the lookout

When I was a kid, we used to holiday every summer at Prevelly, near Margaret River, in the south west of Western Australia. A few weeks ago, we spent a week there, staying in Gnarabup (right next to Prevelly). The area has changed a great deal from the times when we used to camp there, with lots of resorts, restaurants and houses in the area. It is still a great place to holiday at, with plenty of fantastic beaches and things to do.

Gnarabup Beach was a 5 minute walk from where we were staying, and it was a popular spot for kite surfers. Here are some photos of the kite surfing action, all photographed from the lookout above Gnarabup Beach.