Exercise: Scene dynamic range.

Outline: Measure the dynamic range of a variety of scenes.

I took a variety of images, all with different contrasts. I took most of them on a sunny day except for the images that I have specified taken on a cloudy day.

So image 1:

This is an image of a garden taken in direct sunlight. In this image the sun is directly above and just out of frame. With the camera set to automatic, to automatically alter the aperture and shutter speed, I took four readings:

Grass: 1/60 F8
Shed: 1/100 F6.3
Window: 1/160
Sun on decking: 1/400 F11

I took the readings of exactly the same scene but on an overcast and showery day and the readings were as follows:

Grass: 1/60 F5.6
Shed: 1/80 F5.6
Decking: 1/60 F5.6



Image 2:

This image was taken in the kitchen, in front of a big window on a sunny day with the sun coming directly through the window. Again, without changing any camera settings the reading were:

Toaster: 1/100 F6.3
Dark knife handles: 1/40 F5.6
Light knife handles: 1/160 F7.1
Tiles: 1/125 F7.1


Image 3:

On the same sunny day, this image was taken of the front of the building. The front of the building is in complete shade and therefore the readings are as follows:

Wall: 1/50 F6
Number sign: 1/80 F6
Doorway: 1/13 F5.6
Door frame: 1/100 F6.3



Image 4:

This image was specifically taken on a cloudy day of a relatively low contrast image.

Bush (to bottom of image): 1/50 F4.5
Wall (to right of image): 1/80 F5
Trees (to top of image): 1/50 F5


Conclusion:
I have noticed from my findings of this exercise that the more contrast that the image has, the more range the readings are. On the cloudy day, with the low contrast image of the bushes and even in the garden image, the aperture stays at it lowest for all the readings and the shutter speed stays relatively low as well, not venturing any higher than 1/80 at its peak. In comparison to the images in the sunlight on a sunny day where the aperture can range a bit, up to F11 in one image and the shutter speed is a lot quicker in balance with the higher aperture. This shows that light plays a huge factor in the contrast of an image and the cameras dynamic range can be increased or decreased according to the variety of light available.