Exposure control vs. Brightness control

Could someone explain the difference between the exposure control (slider) and the brightness control. They both seem to move the histogram in similar manners.
And if there is a difference should one always correct for WB first, then exposure, then brightness?
Or Exposure first then WB?
Thanks!

Exposure adjusts the full tonal range while the brightness control adjusts the mid tones without clipping the highlights and shadows.
It is good practice to get the exposure/brightness correct before making color corrections including wb.

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Photoshop's brightness and exposure controls?

Can anyone explain the difference(s) between Photoshop's brightness control and its exposure control?
Thanks,
Mark

Did it ever occur to you to consult the documentation, Mark. Say, the User Guide and/or the Help files?
Exposure command
Adjusts tonality by performing calculations in a linear color space. Exposure is primarily for use in HDR images. See Adjust Exposure for HDR image.
Adjust Exposure for HDR images
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The Exposure adjustment is designed for making tonal adjustments to HDR images, but it works with 8‑bit and 16‑bit images. Exposure works by performing calculations in a linear color space (gamma 1.0) rather than the current color space.
1. Do one of the following:
Click the Exposure icon or an Exposure preset in the Adjustments panel.
Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Exposure.
Note: You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Exposure. But keep in mind that this method makes direct adjustments to the image layer and discards image information. Adjustment layers for 32-bit images are available in Photoshop Extended only.
2. In the Adjustments panel, set any of the following options:
Exposure
Adjusts the highlight end of the tonal scale with minimal effect in the extreme shadows.
Offset
Darkens the shadows and midtones with minimal effect on the highlights.
Gamma
Adjusts the image gamma, using a simple power function. Negative values are mirrored around zero (that is, they remain negative but still get adjusted as if they are positive).
The eyedroppers adjust the luminance values of images (unlike the Levels eyedroppers that affect all color channels).
The Set Black Point eyedropper sets the Offset, shifting the pixel you click to zero.
The Set White Point eyedropper sets the Exposure, shifting the point you click to white (1.0 for HDR images).
The Midtone eyedropper sets the Exposure, making the value you click middle gray.
=== === ===
Apply the Brightness/Contrast adjustment
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The Brightness/Contrast adjustment lets you make simple adjustments to the tonal range of an image. Moving the brightness slider to the right increases tonal values and expands image highlights, to the left decreases values and expands shadows. The contrast slider expands or shrinks the overall range of tonal values in the image.
In normal mode, Brightness/Contrast applies proportionate (nonlinear) adjustments to image layer, as with Levels and Curves adjustments. When Use Legacy is selected, Brightness/Contrast simply shifts all pixel values higher or lower when adjusting brightness. Since this can cause clipping or loss of image detail in highlight or shadow areas, using Brightness/Contrast in Legacy mode is not recommended for photographic images (but can be useful for editing masks or scientific imagery).
Note: Use Legacy is automatically selected when editing Brightness/Contrast adjustment layers created with previous versions of Photoshop.
1. Do one of the following:
Click the Brightness/Contrast icon in the Adjustments panel.
Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
Note: You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast. But keep in mind that this method makes direct adjustments to the image layer and discards image information.
2. In the Adjustments panel, drag the sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast.
Dragging to the left decreases the level, and dragging to the right increases it. The number at the right of each slider reflects the brightness or contrast value. Values can range from ‑150 to +150 for Brightness, ‑50 to +100 for Contrast.

Regional exposure control

Hi - I have several photos where, with Exposure at the default, the image is good except for
some way too bright highlights. If I reduce the Exposure control to the minimum, these highlights
are good, but of course the rest of the image is very dark. Using Highlights/Shadows/Recovery
does not give good results. Dodge doesn't work for this either.
Is there some way to use different Exposure settings in various parts of the image? I think
Brushes would do this, but there is no option to use Brushes for controls in the Exposure
brick. Any ideas?
-Wayne

Thanks for the reply William. Yes, one would expect that Dodge should do this
for me. These are images made in a church with clear glass French type windows.
At "normal" exposure, the crossbar window dividers completely disappear, as does
any detail around the window casing.
Reducing the Exposure control to a min. will give enough detail to make these
acceptable (tho not great). Using Dodge/Burn will not do as good a job. Neither
will Highlights or Recovery. They help a bit, but not as good as the Exposure
control. Doesn't make sense, does it. I haven't tried Curves, but it looks like you
can brush that, so I'll play with it.
-Wayne

Exposure control errors when recording videos with...

I noticed that when I record videos, the exposure sometimes is not adjusted properly. If lighting conditions change, exposure remains at the same level, and records became over or underexposed. This is especially noticeable outdoors.
I have a few minutes long sample recording where the recording starts normally, then as light conditions change, (I slowly move from a shady area to a lit area) exposure gradually degrades to a point where most of the recording "burns out" due to extreme overexposure ( about 80% of the picture is white).
What confuses me is when I tried to reproduce this problem (albeit it different lighting conditions), exposure control worked pretty good.
I wonder if these exposure problems are due to a bug, hardware problem or a device limitation.
Do you have any tips to get better recordings with the phone?
Nokia Lumia 520 3046.0000.1329.2001 RM-914
Nokia Asha 302 V15.09 22-05-13 RM-813

The phone runs the latest firmware (3.36) available currently. There are no image-related changes mentioned in the 3.36 changelog though.
Nokia Lumia 520 3046.0000.1329.2001 RM-914
Nokia Asha 302 V15.09 22-05-13 RM-813

Lightroom Exposure Control

Can I use LRs exposure control slider for the same function as it is used in my camera? I'd like to get additional shots but only have a -3, 0 and a +3 on the camera. I'm doing some photos in High Definition Imaging and want to increase the number if shots I put together with the HDL software...

There's a long story here, but the bottom line is -3 to +3 is plenty, and doing what you are proposing won't work nearly as well as doing it in-camera.

Next generation exposure control

In another thread I made a comment how the controls and interfaces on today's DSLRs are still firmly rooted in the analog age. On this occasion I wanted to start a discussion about how exposure controls should ideally work on a modern computerised DSLR.
Let's summarize the current state, we have P/Av/Tv/M to choose from, one or two wheels that control time or aperture depending on the mode we are in, then there's ISO which can be set manually by using the menu or extra buttons or, with restrictions, automatically, and exposure compensation, which also doesn't always work (e.g. doesn't affect auto ISO in M).
Obviously ISO, the third parameter besides time and aperture that controls the exposure, is still a second-rate citizen, otherwise we would have 8 insteaed of 4 major shooting modes, ISO auto/manual * time auto/manual * aperture auto/manual.
So how about three switches or buttons to toggle each individually from auto to manual?
Or how about three wheels, that each control one of these three parameters and toggle auto/manual with a click?
That way in full manual I have full control over all three; if all three are in manual, there's no exposure compensation; as soon as I switch one of the three to automatic, it becomes free to control exposure compensation!
And if two are in automatic and one in manual then one of the wheels whose parameter is on auto can be used for exposure compensation, and the other to control the bias of the automatic because in this scenario the automatic has two values under its control, so there are many combinations that are valid, and I'd like to tell the automatic whether to prefer large apertures or higher ISOs, for example.

RichLavigne wrote:
well thought out
Thanks. Just noticed that I forgot to include freely configurable limits for all the parameters that are chosen automatically, preferably focal-length and IS dependent...

Camera needs exposure controls - badly

I've scanned this forum and haven't seen any messages that are wondering where the iPhones exposure controls are.
As we all know, the iPhone does a great job of taking images when there is plenty of light on the subject. But if you shoot an environment with a contrasting backlight, the foreground subject is simply a silhouette.
It would be a very simple matter to increase exposure time to better illuminate foreground subjects in these sorts of scenarios. Yes, it MAY require the user to hold the phone extra steady while the shot is taken (or, if the sensor has ISO type controls, it could simply bump up the ISO which would increase noise in the shot but it would be sharp).
Apple - please give us a few manual override presets we can activate with a single touch when needed, or better still an exposure slider. It would increase the usefulness of the camera.
thanks!
(and yes, I am sending this to feedback, I am just curious how others feel about this)

Interesting replies. Not what I expected, but thanks just the same. To address some of the replies, in no particular order:
- the purpose of the iPhone is to eliminate duplicity of gadgets. I just want the camera in the iPhone to work a wee bit better than it does now.
- the sensor inside the iPhone is capable of taking better pictures under something less than ideal conditions. If a simple exposure slider would fix this, I fail to see how this would be 'stupid'.
- I don't expect 'award winning' images from an iPhone. I would like to be able to see a persons face if taking the image where the light isn't concentrated on the subject. All of the dirt cheap and most basic point and shoot cameras do this. Its just software to control the sensors sensitivity.
- I'm a professional photographer, I have plenty of cameras. The iPhone could never be a substitute for any of them. But I do know the camera can do a better job, with a simple software tweak. Thats all I am asking for.
- I'm aware that this is a user to user forum, and I've already mentioned sending this to feedback. I said this in my initial post. But its clear that I'm in the minority on the desire for the camera to improve with a simple software update. No biggie.

Hot key assignment for exposure control

Hi
I'm running 100s - 1000's of sequentially exposed images in LR and as a finishing step I'm ajusting exposure (+/_ 1/3 step) to various images in the quick develop module. Can I assign hot keys to these controls? Do they aready exist?
Thanks!

I can't find standard key shortcuts that work in Quick Develop. But if you go into Develop and click on the word "Exposure" in the Basic panel, you can then use the + and - keys to adjust Exposure in small increments, and shift/+ and shift/- to use larger increments, then use the right arrow key to move to the next image - so the Exposure slider retains the keyboard focus. The . (dot) and , (comma) keys step this keyboard focus up and down through the various sliders.
Or, if you specifically want to use Quick Develop for its relative adjustment behaviour (for example, across several images highlighted) you might check out something like this:
http://photographers-toolbox.com/products/keyboardtamer.php
or there's one called RPG Keys with the option of a separate keypad or similar (though I don't know whether either meets your specific requirement)
or more radically, this:
https://sites.google.com/site/dorfl68/

Exposure Control setting for HDR

I know RAW can contain multiple exposures within the format, but when taking RAW images, when shooting for HDR what should the exposure range be set to 3 photos or 5 photos and;
-0.5 to + 0.5 EV ?
- 1EV to +1 EV ?
-2 EV to +2 EV ?

Depends also if you are using the new Adobe Camera RAW or the new Lightroom (6) or CC2015.
The newest software has some fantastic new ways of combining for HDR. With the new ACR and Lightroom, I have found that 2 to 4 images depending on the dynamic range of the scene, will work well. I have gotten fantastic results with 2 images in the new software, compared to doing the same HDR in the older versions of Photoshop. Just make sure that YOU expose for the highlights in one image and then for the shadows in the other. If you are letting your camera do the AEB, auto exposure bracketing, then try 2 stops. However if you see your three images either too dark or too light (highlights blown in both or shadows dark in both, then try adjusting the settings. Hope that makes sense

Exposure control in Vision Builder AI

Hello,
is there any way of adjusting the exposure time and/or gain of a NI17xx camera programmatically ??

Hi Borst
Yes, you can set the value in vision builder. check the links for help http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/6319 and http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/2B9B31A6E53A8D2586257673006482B5
Sasi.
Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer
If you can DREAM it, You can DO it - Walt Disney

Exposure control effecting Lumiance

Have others requested from Apple, that the Exposure slider effect lumiance only and not increase Saturation at the same time. Justs seems to me that exposure should be seperated from saturation especially since the Saturation slider is just below.
I find that there are at times some colorful objects in the scene that do not need any satuation but could benefit from the exposure being moved up. I know the work arounds.
Just thought Id ask to see if anyone else is bugged by this. Oh ACR 4.1 also does this so Apple is not alone. Just hoping that Apple will do it Right.
David

It's pretty much part of working in RGB.
Ian

ACR 8.3 local control issue

I have the latest PS CC installed and ACR 8.3.0.141. Just yesterday the local ACR paintbrush control for exposure stopped working properly. It is acting in a muted fashion in that when I push the exposure control to extremes, like +4 or -4, and paint an area the control just barely changes the images exposure. Earlier in the day it worked fine. Any ideas on what I can do to get it working properly again. I use that control a lot!

Flow is how long “paint” comes out of one brush stroke, with 100 being forever. In other words something less than 100 will fade the effect as you make the brush stoke take more time. I usually have mine set to 100 unless I’m actually painting tiny little strokes that I want to fade.

Exposure and Brightness, how to use

When a photo needs to be corrected it being too light or too dark, I really don't know whether to use the exposure or the brightness rulers and what to use first?
Since I think I get the same effect, my feeling is that it doen't seem to matter? But I assume that in concluding this I am wrong!
To complicate matters further I also can adjust using the tone curve?
What is your advise?
What to use first and what to use in what sequence?
Can you perhaps recommend a good tutorial?
I use the fine book written by Scott Kelby LR3 but do not find information that is the point I am looking for.
Thanks for your advise!

Exposure sets white point, i.e. its like moving the right wall of the histogram, i.e. rightmost "triangle slider" of a more conventional levels/curves tool.
Brightness lightens mid-tones most, i.e. its like moving the middle "triangle" slider on the tone curve of a more conventional levels/curves tool.
PS - A favorite technique of mine for brushing in intra-shadow contrast is a local with exposure most of the way up and brightness all the way down - if you can see why that works, then you understand the difference between brightness and exposure.
PPS - Anything brightness slider can do, tone curve can do better, however nothing you do with the tone curve can accomplish the same thing as exposure adjustment.
I generally adjust exposure first paying closest attention to the highlights - e.g. increase until highlights start to blow out, then adjust black point, e.g. increase until shadows start to clip (or decrease so they dont), then adjust (midtone) brightness and/or fill-light, then tweak tone curve if necessary. Rinse & repeat... All of this depending on the photo of course - for silohuettes you may want heavy black clippage, and for dark shots you may want a lot of headroom at the right end of the histogram...
PS - In Lightroom 2 I used to favor brightness over fill-light for adjusting midtone brightness, but Lr3's fill-light is much improved and can be used much more heavy handedly, in case you want to bring up the darker midtones, whereas brightness raises the lighter midtones more.
Use the histogram Luke!!!
PS - Also, the tat (bull's eye of the tone curve) is an excellent tool for surveying tones, move it around to see where exactly the dark/light tones fall on the histogram.
Definitions: Contrast = tonal separation, so intrashadow contrast means separating tones within the darkest regions without affecting the lighter regions. i.e. increasing intra shadow detail without increasing overall shadow brightness.
And my favorite technique for bringing out highlight detail (increasing intra-highlight contrast) is simply to paint negative contrast confined to the highlights only. Say what? ;-}
R

Exposure vs. Levels: Differences in Practical Use

I would like to better understand the differences between the Exposure control in the Exposure Adjustment section and the White, Gray and Black Levels sliders in the Levels Adjustment section. For example, I am working on a Raw-format image that is somewhat over-exposed. The Exposure control allows me to force it down by about 6/10 of stop, which seems to do a nice job of adjusting overall exposure, and the results are obvious on the histogram. What I'm not clear on is whether I can achieve the same effect using only the Levels adjustments. I know how to set white and black points in Levels, and understand that the gray level adjusts overall brightness, but is there a way to control exposure with levels or are they two different facets of raw adjustment?

They are two different aspects.
In general, raising the exposure by a stop raises the values of all pixels by the same amount -- say one stop.
If you are familiar with the zone system, then using exposure to change something that is neutral grey (zone 5) and making it white with detail (zone 7), should also pull things that are black (zone 3) to neutral grey (zone 7).
Using levels should not do this -- it is effectively setting black and white points, and it ends up increasing contrast at the same time (because, you could take a low contrast shot, where the histogram was very compressed, and use levels to ensure the photo has a true black point and true white point, thus increasing the dynamic range of the shot).
This is a fairly vague description -- but the way levels and exposure tools work is fairly well detailed, though you'll find a larger breadth of documentation that uses Photoshop as the medium.

LEVELS? CURVES? ... EXPOSURE?

A few Photoshop generations ago, the choice was simple: curves was non destructive, but layers was. Or something like that.
Curves is certainly a welcome addition to Aperture, but I'm left wondering: is it an "either/or" or an "and" with EXPOSURE controls (RAW, obviously) and LEVELS?
I'm not one to over-tweak my images, so... any workflow tips?

I think I have to agree with most comments here too. I think it was back in V1, and was still documented in V1.5, that the bricks were placed in an order that was suggested to be the best workflow.
My own workflow always starts with the exposure brick, although it makes sense to apply cropping first if needed. I then set a base exposure correction, using the clipping overlay tool (Command+adjust) to set the black and white points using the Exposure, Recovery and Black Point adjusters as required, depending on how I want the image to look, and Brightness if needed (note that this adjuster restrains the data within the histogram scale, and does not cause clipping).
This is only a base adjustment, and simply ensures I'm working with the maximum data available. The rest just depends on how much adjustment the image needs. Well exposed images shouldn't need much else, although I've made my own version of the iPhoto 'Enhance' tool, which applies a little definition, saturation, vibrancy, and some edge sharpen - all in very subtle amounts.
I rarely use the Auto buttons though, as I find them generally too severe.
Curves I don't make much use of, as I find without experience it's much easier to make a real mess of things. The Levels tool seems more productive if you're unsure of the curves settings needed - it does a lot anyway if you enable the quarter tone adjusters.

Exposure control vs. Brightness control

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