![]() ![]() When it happens in the shadows, we say the shadows are blocked up. When this happens to highlight or bright areas, we say the highlights are blown out. Anything outside that range records as either black or white, with no visible details. Cameras, whether they use film or digital sensors, are limited to about six stops of light that they can record well. ![]() ![]() Human vision has a range of about 15 stops. Cameras are able to adjust the amount of light they let inside by using the aperture (f/stop) and shutter speed. Photographers talk about light in terms of "stops." A "full stop" could mean double or half the light as in open up a full stop (let more light in by one f/stop) or close down a full stop (decrease the amount of light reaching the camera's image sensor by one f/stop). However, for purists, manually exposing an image and using graduated neutral density filters to bring down the dynamic range is often the chosen route. These are great technologies, built-into cameras for the purpose of taking better pictures. Built-in HDR or Backlight HDR modes (available in select Nikon camera models) do basically the same thing-they take a scene with extreme contrast, and create an image where there is detail across the entire dynamic range. Active D-Lighting optimizes high contrast images to restore shadow and highlight details as you're taking the photograph. D-Lighting darkens areas that are too light and lightens areas that are too dark in an image after you've shot it. Today's Nikon digital cameras offer a number of technologies that allow you to take great photographs in lighting situations where there is a very wide dynamic range. What photographers may value more than the other capabilities, however, is how that visual system handles extreme ranges of light (contrast). The human eye is capable of extreme resolution, instant, extremely accurate autofocus (at least while you're young), the ability to go from super-wide to extreme close-up in a moment and instant, automatic white balance. With the advance of technology, cameras have come closer to working as well as the human visual system. ![]()
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