Keeping Unwanted Light Out

SCOTT KELBY

Here’s a great tip I picked up, from renown wildlife and outdoor photographer Moose Peterson, for getting better exposure in your landscape photos when you’re using a cable release to fire your camera (you use a cable release to minimize any camera shake that’s caused by your finger pressing the shutter button). The problem is this: since you’re using a cable release, your eye isn’t right up to the viewfinder like it normally would be, so you’re not blocking the light from coming in through the viewfinder and messing with your exposure. The solution is to cover your viewfinder. Some cameras, like Nikon’s D3 and D3x, have a built-in viewfinder door you can close—the switch is to the left of the eyepiece itself—but most other Nikon dSLRs come with the DK-5 eyepiece cap (shown above) that snaps into place to keep light out of your viewfinder in cases like this. By the way, you can test to see if light is getting in through the viewfinder and affecting your exposure by covering and uncovering the viewfinder with your hand. If you see the shutter speed change at all, then light is getting in. If you don’t have that little door, Moose recommends hanging your lens cap over the viewfinder to block the light. If you’re a Canon shooter, most Canon dSLRs come with an eyepiece cover that covers the viewfinder and keeps outside light from affecting your exposure.