Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) [Paperback]

Bryan Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

More than 100 vivid, graphic comparison pictures illustrate every point in this revised classic and can help any photographer maximize the creative impact of his or her exposure decisions. Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. The book contains lessons on each element of the exposure-aperature, shutter speed, iso-and how it relates to the other two in terms of depth of field, freezing and blurring action, and shooting in low light or at night. A section on special techniques explores such options as deliberate under- and overexposures, how to produce double exposures, bracketing, shooting the moon, and the use of filters. Understanding Exposure demonstrates that there are always creative choices about how to expose a picture-and that the decision is up to the photographer, not the camera.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bryan Peterson is the author of the best-selling Learning to See Creatively and writes a photography column "Picture Points," for Popular Photography Magazine. His many photographic awards include the Communication Arts Photography Annual (eight times), Print Magazine's Design Annual (four times), and the New York Art Directors Gold Award. He lives in Seattle and Lyon, France.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Amphoto Books; Revised edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817463003
• ISBN-13: 978-0817463007
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (697 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photo Essays
  • #40 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Equipment
  • #54 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Reference

More About the Author

Bryan Peterson is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, and founder of www.PPSOP.com, The Perfect PIcture School of Photography. He is also the best-selling author of Understanding Exposure, Learning to See Creatively,Understanding Shutter Speed, Understanding Close-Up Photography, Understanding Digital Photography, Beyond Portraiture, and, most recently, Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide. His easy-to-understand writing and teaching style breaks down the complex and often confusing aspects of photography, translating them into what his students routinely describe as "aha" moments. In addition, he has been a commercial photographer for over 30 years, shooting annual reports for many Fortune 500 companies, and his trademark use of color and strong, graphic composition have garnered him many photographic awards, including the New York Art Director's Gold Award and honors from Communication Arts and Print magazine. He currently splits his time between Chicago and France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

639 of 647 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Information for Photographers, October 26, 2004

By 

T. Cochran "tlc2j" (North Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) (Paperback)

If you are trying to learn more about how to properly use exposure (i.e. aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) this is a fantastic book to begin with. It informs for the film and digital photographer. I have been taking photos for many years, but it has only been over the past couple of years that I became more of a professional. Despite this, I still struggled to understand some of the concepts such as the difference between a good exposure and a "creatively correct exposure" and what options I had.

You learn how to expose for front-lit, back-lit, side-lit scenes, overcast skys, macro photography, motion, stationery objects, how to expose for bright scenes such as snow (grey card & 18% grey) and dark scenes such as night photography...you name it. Then Bryan Peterson tops it off with a sections on metering, special techniques and filters, and an analysis of film vs digital cameras.

Understanding Exposure not only explained the basics in a conversational manner, but is also informed me of how the pros work and how to step up my photography to a higher level.

This book has hands-on exercises that anyone can go through so that the reader has experience of all of the methods explained. Along with this, the book is FULL of color photos that show exactly what the end result could be. Where applicable, there are comparisons of before and after exposure adjustments so the reader may understand WHY they should make such changes.

Where there is a difference between adjustments for digital versus film cameras, Bryan Peterson gives you the specifics of the difference and haw to adjust for it.

It is a book every photographer should have!

698 of 710 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic learning tool!, September 17, 2004

By 

Chad Myers (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) (Paperback)

A friend loaned me the older version of this book, and I was amazed at how much help it provided. Even though the old book was based around film cameras, the fundamentals that were taught and the example pictures were very, very helpful. This book is an almost complete update, with most sections rewritten, several new subsections added with specific information for digital users, and has a slew of new example photographs.

This book is even better than the old edition, and expands on some of the topics that were only briefly touched on in the first book. One in particular that sticks out in my mind is that he explains the "don't care" apertures of F8 and F11 that he uses often. The old book mentioned it in passing, but I don't recall an explanation on why those apertures were useful. There is a short section on just that in this book and suggestions on when to use them.

Full color photos are used throughout the book, and are a great help in understanding the concepts that he talks about. Each picture has a caption with the information used to take the exposure. He shows you the same picture with different settings so you can see the effects the settings have on the exposure.

I find the book pleasant and easy to read. The tone and writing are very agreeable and easy to follow. While some aspects are technical, they are written in a manner that makes them easily understandable.

This is all about how to capture the image, not processing of the image after it is captured. There is brief mention of pushing or pulling film and the effects it can create, but in general, this is about how to get take a proper picture. If you are looking for a book on how to process the picture after you have taken it, this is not the book for you.

I can not recommend this book enough if you are interested in photography. I don't know how useful it would be for professionals, but for the person just starting out or serious amateur, I can't see how you could go wrong with this. While all of the information can be applied to SLR cameras (film or digital), the majority of it can be applied to the point and shoot cameras of either variety as well.

66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Exposure Primer for Creative Photographers, November 29, 2005

By 

Jeff Wignall "The Joy of Digital Photography" (Stratford, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) (Paperback)

This is a book that every serious photographer should own--both for information and inspiration. I've had a copy of the original version of this book (1990) in my office since it was first published and it's worn to a frazzle. That's why I'm so thrilled that it has not only stayed in print this long, but also that Peterson has updated it.

The first thing you'll notice when you read through this book is that Bryan Peterson is not just good at explaining the intricacies of good exposure in almost every conceivable situation (landscapes, close ups, portraits), but he is a world-class photographer. It's one thing to talk about manipulating depth of field or subject motion in theoretical terms, it's quite another to see the concepts demonstrated in masterful, creative and fun photographs. Bryan's photographs are fun, surprising and supremely well done. And the photos are so well chosen and so well done that even if the book was written in a language I didn't understand, I would get the points being made. His editors should be proud of that too. I also a professional photographer and author of many photo books including The NEW Joy of Digital Photography and I often look to Bryan's fine photos for their inspiration.

Getting good exposure is at the heart of making a good photograph. And you would think that with the auto-exposure systems built into both film and digital cameras that getting a good exposure would be a piece of cake. But as Peterson points out (and illustrates so nicely) there is a world of difference between getting a "good" exposure and getting the ideal "creative" exposure. Getting the ideal creative exposure requires careful consideration of how that exposure will affect things like depth of field, freezing or exaggerating motion, the color and quality of light and how your subject is presented.

This book is not just about exposure, of course, but is a great source of information on various types of lighting, close-up photography, portraits, night photography, using a tripod and, most importantly, seeing creatively.

I can't imagine making a serious study of photography and not having this book (and Peterson's classic book on "Seeing Creatively") nearby. Peterson is a gifted, funny and immensely talented teacher and photographer--more than willing to share all of his knowledge. As the author of many how-to books on photography myself, I have used Peterson's books as a constant source of information and ideas and I check my own facts against his regularly--I couldn't pay him a much higher compliment. As a photographer, I find myself looking at his pictures with great admiration and envy. His photographs are great. And by the way, "No!" I don't even know Bryan--except through his great books.

Of course, with all of those kind words said (and I meant them), you might also want to look at my book on exposure Exposure Photo Workshop: Develop Your Digital Photography Talent--I think they make good companion pieces. The book has now been translated to Polish, Spanish and Chinese and is available as a Kindle download Exposure Photo Workshop: Develop Your Digital Photography Talent Please also see my latest book Jeff Wignall's Digital Photography Crash Course: 2 Minute Tips for Better Photos.

Jeff Wignall
Author, The Joy of Digital Photography
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