If you expose for a bright background, what happens to the subject in the foreground?

• A. The subject will be underexposed
• B. The subject will be overexposed
• C. The subject will be properly exposed
• D. There will be no change

Answer: (A)

When you set exposure to keep the bright background looking right, the camera reduces the overall light it records. The foreground subject, which is darker, then doesn’t receive enough light and ends up underexposed. In practical terms, you get a silhouette or a very shadowed subject because the meter is prioritizing the bright background.

To avoid this, you can light the subject separately (fill flash or a reflector), meter for the subject (spot metering) and adjust exposure accordingly, or use manual exposure with compensation or bracketing to balance both foreground and background.