How to Master Exposure with Julien Jarry

Do you want to level up when it comes to nailing and dialing in your exposure? Sit back, dive in, and let’s learn about what it takes. Over the years, I feel like I’ve started to create better, more professional-looking images by exposing them darker. Let me explain. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.

I did not mention zebras; I realize that people could be wondering about them. I didn’t mention them because I don’t use them very often, but when I do, depending on what camera I’m using, I set them to where the log curve clips. For Sony Slog3, I believe I have them set to 95%, which means that when I am shooting, if I see those zebras, I know to bring down the exposure and protect those highlights from clipping. That’s it!

Julien Jarry is a proven leader and passionate artist who creates visually stunning work and tells life-changing stories through photography and video. He and his team specialize in documentaries and commercials focused on communicating a message, casting a vision, and telling a story to accomplish goals such as raising money, awareness, and/or marketing a product or strategy. Julien's background in communication, hospitality, and production, paired with my high-level awareness and sensitivity, gives my clients and me unique experiences to draw.

Video Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:58 Comparing levels of exposure
3:20 Referencing movie frames
5:20 Ideal IRE for different skin tones
6:50 How exposure affects saturation
8:10 Utilizing your camera's exposure waveform
9:20 Exposing darker to highlight details
12:20 Importance of LUTs
13:30 Camera grading
15:15 Outro

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[_jonkent]

Take always:

1. Use the waveform to monitor your exposure, better if it can have colour representation as well (to really understand what you’re seeing)
2. Don’t clip the image
3. Set skin tones 50-60 IRE for lighter skin and 30-50 IRE for darker (depending on the scene)
4. The brighter the exposure the less saturation you’ll get
5. Don’t be afraid of silhouettes
6. Use a good LUT to monitor with and make sure the camera is judging exposure with the LUT
7. Use the grade to tweak and perfect the image to your taste, but possibly increasing contrast

I think these are all valuable tips and insights. I’m a long time listener of the Team Deakins podcast, they are always talking about how the digital generation doesn’t truly understand exposure. I find I actually under exposure often too much. I think also the over exposing advice comes down to the camera, I know you mention sensors today are much more improved but it does depend on what camera you are using. I’ve found pushing my fx3 when shooting slog3 in low light does work out better, but there is a sweet spot.

Thanks for for he video, some great insights

[GeraColorz]

As a colorist I feel like the conclusion may be correct, the approach however may not be the optimal. A LOT of people underexpose their footage on camera to get more ''contrast'' and depth in the image which again in camera looks great, in post though you get a grainy file that doesn't have all the information and depth that it could have if it was exposed to the right properly, meaning, +1 stop over middle gray. Most movie frames have already gone through the color process, if you look at the raw footage they all tend to be very well lit and properly expose to favour middle gray.

[IanSnape]

I think the blown out look is not just a situational issue but more a creative decision, the clip from Dune and the cowboy film are both set i the harsh environments of the desert so you would expect this to be hot and skies hot also. So something people dont often think about is what would the environment feel like. Just my thoughts and hope it adds to this discussion. Great video thanks Julian.

[ENVZNMediaworks]

I never knew about the saturation link to exposure. It makes sense, just never realized the connection. Thanks bro!

[dominey]

4:18 Something else to add here. The human eye gauges brightness through context and memory. So if we see a window with light pouring through it and a dark interior, we *perceive* the window light to be brighter than it may be registering on the IRE waveform because we associate windows with bright light. The dark interior also adds contrast, making the window appear brighter in comparison. If the interior were brighter, the window would appear dimmer.

[JustDrummerCZ]

It was a very very very helpful lesson. Thanks for sharing )

[oraclemedia]

Great explanation. Easy to follow and very practical. Good job!

[theoldfremi]

OMG this is magnificent Julien, thank you buddy! 👏🏻👍🏻

[Zensatva]

Great tips and guidiance. well explained with good samples. thanks!

[sitebstudios]

I learned this the long way, by doing it for years. But so glad you made this to help others. And also to let me know that I was doing something right. Thank you!

[mskb]

Very clean presentation. Thank you Julien!

[NeWinThowai-oiuv]

Julien Jarry is the master. I love his work and definitely learning a lot from his tutorials.

[polymath_house_productions]

This was very easy to understand and useful, thank you Julien!😀

[evintheproducer]

Julien is the 🐐…every group and every post is a golden nugget

[keloduma]

I love how everyday I keep learing. Thank you so much for this lesson

[demz]

Awesome video. It definitely is helpful to see how others progress/ed over the years and what they notice now having to go through that period of time. It also establishes as to what I was doing even before I knew what luts, waveform and etc even were. Appreciate the share

[Mattspeak]

Thanks for talking about this! I figured the “standard” for exposure is just a baseline… this is great!

[Snackleader]

Wow, excellent instruction! So well laid out with examples that really illustrate your point. Well done, I learned a great deal. Thank you.

[a_snapperFILMS]

A really good explanation of exposure! Thanks.

[AllThingsFilm]

The best explanation on nailing exposure I've seen to date. Thank you!