Customer Reviews

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this book while I was moving from a point and shoot to a SLR. Its been close to 21/2 years now and I can now say confidently that this book has been the MAJOR reason for improvement in my technique and quality of my photographs ( as remarked by friends and family). Mainly, I feel an overpowering sense of joy and enthusiasm as I hold the camera in my hands, thanks to Bryan Peterson. From a hobby, it almost becomes an obsession as I read through his various photographic exploits.
Here is what I learnt from this book...

1) Principles of "correct" exposure, a term that is highly debatable. Learnt the basic principles of
a) Shutter speed
b) Aperture
c) Film
Learnt how to expose for a starting aperture and then from that point on, he guides you to explore different settings to achieve specific results. Along with these techniques, you will learn a little about
i) Light meters
ii) Quality of light (sidelighting, backlighting etc)
iii) Depth of field
iv) Close-ups

v) Freezing the action, blurring the subject, panning, implying motion
vi) Print v/s slides etc.

3) The book rarely lays out rules. He stresses out the importance of trying out different styles and techniques and one can see from the 147 beautiful and stunning pictures, the variety of shots that one can try. For each of his pictures, he gives out a brief introduction regarding time of day, location etc, followed by important technical details like the shutter speed used, aperture used, film speed, focal length etc. I find myself, sometimes, just flipping through the pages, and trying to estimate the shutter speed,aperture and focal length used , just by looking at the picture and not looking at the text and after the estimate, comparing my estimate with the one actually used. I find this habit really useful, because the next time I see a sunset, snowfall, or waterfall, I instantly have in my mind the shutter speed, aperture etc, to begin with. Just the fact that you actually know what you are doing when you operate the camera, give you so much more confidence.

4) Amazing consistency in technique. Pretty much for every photograph in the book (147 of them, in all), he begins by taking an accurate starting exposure. In fact, I now feel, that this technique alone, has improved my photographs a great deal . Then he explains the reason behind each (shutter speed + aperture) combination. I have found this consistency missing in other books that I have read (around 15 books now). Other books, that I have read, tend to approach each scenario (like a sunrise, sunset, cloudy weather, bright sunlight, indoor scenes etc) as a separate technique, which is kind of confusing. The result of this consistency is that, you would be quite confident while approaching different subjects that you see in daily life.

Just to be complete in this review, besides the three fundamental elements (shutter speed, aperture and film), he explains
a) Tungsten balanced film
b) Pushing and pulling film
c) Multiple exposure and deliberate under and over exposures
d) Bracketing
e) Small section on filters

I think this book belongs in every aspiring photographer's collection.

Finally, a list of the few areas that this book does NOT address (but which can be found in other books) are:

1) Equipment details like
a) how an SLR works and functions
b) different kinds of lenses available(zoom, macros,standard etc) and their working
c) brand comparisons (like canon v/s nikon) etc. though he does compare brands of slide and print film.

2) Darkroom techniques - developing your own negatives etc.

3) Black and white photography techniques

4) Digital photography comparisons/techniques.

5) Creative techniques (rules!) that will be found in most books like golden mean, rule of the thirds, framing, crosslines etc. But this is fully justified, with what I mentioned earlier, that there are no "rules" laid out. This book is more about shooting from the heart rather than mind.

I really liked this book and here's why...I respect other poster's comments (1 star) but, I wanted to say why the book is good....

The author talks about how light affects the camera's lighting system...too much light causes the camera to force an underexposure, too little light causes over exposure. This is especially important when shooting sunsets or snow covered areas.

The author talks about light reflecting off of different colors, how much light is reflected off of white, and how much light is reflected off of black, and what the average is. This is cool information when shooting pictures of people who are wearing predominantly light colors, or dark colors and how to adjust for that.

The author talks about different ways to meter, especially when trying to accomplish silhouetts, or back lit subjects. Cool stuff to know.

He talks about the effect of film speed on meter readings....is this not good information to know? I think so.

Another cool thing, he talks about the quality of light and how the differences cause different colors, cool colors, harsh colors and how those colors affect the print....this is important stuff to know.

He talks about overcast conditions and frontlighting, sidelighting, backlighting, accomplishing silhouetts...I mean....this is totally cool.

He even talks about contrasty conditions. He even instructs you how to evaluate your pictures and come up with zingers.

He talks about aperture and depth of field...what it is and how to accomplish different depth of field shots.

You know, I'm not going to tell you about the whole book, but, let me tell you something...when I read this book, I was excited. Now, I'm not a professional photographer, but, some of the things Perterson tells you really motivated me. My idea of just shooting pictures doesn't run through my head...I'm constantly wondering about shutter speed, aperture, and so forth. In his book he indicates that after a while, you begin to know what kind of results you're going to get if you shoot a certain way.

I used to just point, wait for focus, and shoot. But you know what? All I got was a picture, really not creativity in it like depth of field or motion. First, I really didn't understand it, and second, I just thought about taking a picture. Recently, I was on vacation with my wife and we were on the way to Tombstone. At a rest stop, I took my camera out and was thinking "depth of field". I saw this sparrow sitting on a limb and decided to apply depth of field...when I got the picture back, holy mackerel, here is this little sparrow completely in focus and everything else out of focus....there was no doubt that the bird was the subject...it was cool....I couldn't have done that intentionally without knowing how to. I also took some of my wife...she has beautiful blue eyes and red hair. I used depth of field to allow the background sky and mountains for a backdrop, limited depth of field...I coudn't believe it...when I got the pictures back, my wife....holy mackerel...she stood out and it was awesome...again, thanks to the book, I couldn't have done it.

Peterson also talks about zingers, which is a picture that you REALLY like because of the creativeness you created by using creative exposure, I have this album that has about 18 zingers...all because I applied what Peterson was teaching.

I have a totally different outlook on how I take pictures now. I try and be creative as much as I can.

I couldn't wait to try out the process of taking a picture of the sunset by not aiming directly at the sun....try it....meter your camera at the sun and take the picture...no doubt your picture will come out dark, now try the same shot but meter to the side of the sun (eliminating the sun completely) or down, like into the ground....you will get a picture that has the sun bright as can be....it's totally amazing what you can learn from this book....I used to aim the camera at the moon when it was full and bright as can be...when I got the pictures back, yuck, they were muddy....I couldn't figure it out, but, when reading the book, I understood why....the bright moon was causing the camera to expose for less time causing a severe underexposure....however, aim the camera to the right of the moon, eliminating it, and you are actually metering for the lit sky, not the moon, then bring the moon into the frame and shoot, the camera will shoot at the metered skie's requirements...I couldn't have done it without knowing about it and I learned from Peterson's book...

You could of course get a different book, but, I liked this one because he gives you samples of his own pictures (real life pictures), ones that you can say to yourself, "yeah, I've been trying to do that myself" and be able to accomplish it yourself. I've looked at other books too, and yes, they have somewhat the same principle, but, they were also more technical and you know what - - - Peterson's book won over all of them.

This book has motivated me to do the following:

buy a gray card - - - why? Because of what Peterson tells you about light reflection.

apply the Zinger method - - - why? I'm able to pick certain pictures that REALLY STAND OUT because of my creative approach.

apply depth of field - - - why? It gives me the opportunity to really bring out features of an exposure and bring attention...

apply motion - - - why? It gives me the opportunity to combine motion with depth of field and so forth.

Sunsets - - - how to take pictures of them and what the results are when you take pictures of the sun from different angles.

Night shots - - - how to take pictures at night and what the results are when you meter differently.

Samples and how the samples were exposed....Every picture after page 9 or so tells you exactly how to shoot that kind of picture and why the picture was shot the way it was...I just apply that to my every day picture taking...

Motivated me to take more creative pictures...

Teaches you about bracketing exposure, double exposure, and samples of each.

Talks a little about filters...and frankly, I like the idea of natural lighting because I really don't like the idea of having to go out and spend a lot of money on lighting equipment.

It's a simple no brainer approach to getting a basic approach on exposure.

It's an awesome book, and, I've highlighted all throughout those things that seem important to me, and I've gone through 3 highlight pens.

I use the book as a guide, almost like a textbook. I haven't gotten to the point of "hmmm, I want to do more, this book doesn't do it for me"

It's a great book for more than just basic film shooting.

It's just an awesome book, and Peterson, if you read this, You've really helped me out. Thanks...

I am an amature who has been struggling for years. I have never taken a photography class, therefore, had little basic knowledges about photography. I bought this book because my biggest problem was "what is the right exposure?". After several weeks of fascinating reading, my pictures have totally improved, they now have a consistency in quality, that professional look I have always dreamt of. I have read other photography books before, but most of them try to tell you everything, therefore have no focus, and only make you more confused; In contrast, this book only tries to teach you the basic in a very easy to understand and progressive structure. First you learn about exposure, then aperture, then shutter speed, and film speed and special effects at the end. Most of my old problems were resolved, how to take pictures in snow, how to make super long(hour long) exposures, how to make everything crisp clear..... I urge any amatures who have been taking pictures for a while, but have not yet gained a strong grip on this subject to read this book. Only one reminder: no matter how good a book is, if you don't practice hard, you still can't take good pictures.

Problems: This book was written 10 years ago, a lot have changed since; The author tried to make everything really clear, so there are some excessive explanations and repetition. ...

I bought this book by accident on vacation two years ago. I have read it cover to cover six times since then, and every read is a revelation. For those who did not appreciate it, all I can say is for some a book like this is a key to understanding, and for others, a waste of time. For me it has been the key, and kept me going in photography, when I had lost hope trying to grasp the same concepts in other books. I have now read all of Peterson's books, but this is by far the standout. It is not heavy on precise technique, but explains exposure in a way that makes it accessible, so you can graduate to more technical guides, or simply work it out on your own. There are certainly more technical volumes, but this one conveys simple as well as advanced concepts in a simple, comprehensible way. Excellent!

you have to really laugh at human nature. on one hand you havesome people here saying "understanding exposure" is one ofthe best books they've ever read. and then you have other people panning the life out of it. as far as i'm concerned, i'm well and truly in the first camp -- i just can't believe how anyone could disparage this treasure trove of simple, practical advice. as someone stated before me, this book -- and particularly peterson's "learning to see creatively" -- was the catalyst behind my professional career. (i also love garrett's "the art of black and white photography"). peterson simply takes the confusion out of photography -- so you can focus on what really matter: framing the shot. you want to be able to understand what you're doing, so you can do it without thinking. peterson's books are a stepping stone to that level of awareness. and of course, you must shoot, shoot, shoot. i took 5,000 shots the year i read "learning to see creatively" -- a testament to the infectious enthusiasm peterson brings to his subject...good luck. and thank you, mr.peterson!

First let me say that this is not a bad book, it's just that in my opinion it should not be given the title "Understanding Exposure".
This book is rather a more general photography book. There is good information here, just not enough to teach you how to properly use the camera's meter, or spot meter to properly expose film or take a properly exposed digital photograph.
To learn about proper "exposure", please refer to: The Confused Photographer's Guide to Photographic Exposure and the Simplified Zone System by Bahman Farzad, Linda Voychehovski.
Otherwise there's good information in this book with regard to selecting a shutter speed and aperture to achieve creative effects and gain creative control over your images, but there is precious little in this book to help you learn how to use your light meter to control your exposure level to correctly expose film or a digital image.

Though I've been a serious amateur for 30 years and read lots about getting the right exposure, this book markedly improved my photography.

Peterson's many beautiful images not only provide incentive, but in most instances he uses multiple shots of the same image to illustrate the exposure topic being discussed. The book offers simple techniques for getting the right exposure in varied circumstances - including the difficult ones - using only a good in-camera meter. Discussions of various low-light situations were particularly useful to me.

I have about 30 recent books like this one - large-format illustrated "how-to" books - and rank this as one of the best.

In his book, Bryan Peterson has simplified the "art" of picture taking to the degree that, anyone who can read, can learn to take good pictures. Not only are his methods clear and concise, but his ability to make the reader understand the most basic elements of the camera is nothing short of genius. It's like having someone standing over your shoulder guiding you along. I am now a professional photographer and I have to give Mr. Peterson a lot of credit for helping me get started. I have taught photography and this is one of the books I use for beginners. It's the next best thing to "hands on" teaching and a wonderful tool for anyone interested in photography or someone who just wants to increase their basic knowledge and improve their technique.

Of the zillion books on photography available, Peterson's was the only one I've read that addressed the craft of photography to my satifisfaction. He doesn't go over the head of the novice nor does he speak down to the beginner. The three technical properties of exposure are discussed in easy to understand terms. Another characteristic I appreciated is that all photos carried reference to film type, shutter speed, and aperture. If I had found "Understanding Exposure" first I could have bypassed a couple dozen books and be a little ahead of the curve for amatuers.

You will be amazed at how much you will learn from this book.

Getting a good exposure does not need a mighty expensive camera. It requires a basic camera with a built in light meter and a knowledge of how to use it.

This book explains in an excellent manner when you should trust your light meter, and when you should modify its recommendations. It explains very well the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and depth of field.

Ever since I bought this book I have sworn off flash, and blindly using automatic metering, almost entirely. I use a very basic camera -- a manual focus Olympus OM 2000 (a $200 SLR). I have been able to make some excellent pictures with what I have learned here.

Do yourself a favor before you buy yourself a fancy $1000 camera with a whiz-bang matrix 3-d meter. Buy this book.