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Bryan Peterson

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) Paperback – August 1, 2004

by Bryan Peterson (Author)

4.6 1,061 ratings

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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.

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Amphoto Books
Publication date

August 1, 2004
Dimensions

8.3 x 0.4 x 11 inches
ISBN-10

0817463003
ISBN-13

978-0817463007
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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

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amphoto Books; Revised edition (August 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0817463003
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0817463007
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.3 x 0.4 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #792,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #412 in Photography Equipment (Books)
- #533 in Photo Essays (Books)
- #689 in Photography Reference (Books)

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Bryan Peterson

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BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, and founder of www.ppsop.com, The Perfect Picture School of Photography. He is the best-selling author of Understanding Exposure, Understanding Shutter Speed, Understanding Close-Up Photography, Learning to See Creatively 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. His trademark use of colour and strong, graphic composition have garnered him many photographic awards and a strong following. He lives in Chicago.

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4.6 out of 5

1,061 global ratings

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acwishart

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2023

Great book

Avoid the school of hard knocks and take the express

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2006

Verified Purchase

I ordered this book after a couple of years of being a serious amateur photographer. I can say that many of the lessons regarding exposure that I have learned the hard way over the last couple of years would've come much easier if I had read this book back then.

To the book review -- The book focuses on three concepts and their inter-relationship of the concepts to come together and form an exposure:

1) Aperture

2) Shutter Speed

3) ISO

The author is clearly extremely knowledgeable and has mastery of photography to where he can explain all of these concepts in very easy to understand terms. The book also has a very sincere and down to earth "feel" to it. It's almost like I can hear the author is sitting next to me and explaining the concepts.

The book also helps the reader understand what he calls the "creatively correct" exposure. That is to say, the right combination of ISO, Shutter and Aperture to get the "best" picture.

There are tons of full color examples in the book that illustrate what the author is trying to convey complete with shutter speeds, aperture, lens, film type etc --- very helpful.

Back to me for a bit and how the book helped me after 2 years...In the last few years, I've progressed from using shooting in full automatic to shooting in Aperture Priority and in Shutter Priority. That is to say, semi-manual as I like to call it and I thought that's all I needed. Through it all, I stayed away from full manual mode.

After reading this book, I'm shooting most of my shots in full Manual mode and am considering getting a light meter. It wasn't so much that I didn't know, its that the book reinforced the concepts I've learned along the way to where I've made the leap to full Manual mode.

I still use full auto, aperture priority, and shutter priority but I find myself in full manual more of the time. So even after a few years of shooting -- (1 hour total shooting time by the author's measure), this book was still helpful to me......but I would've gotten here two years sooner if I had read this book back then. Mind you, I have no formal training in photography. I just got into it several years ago for a variety of reasons including avoiding royalty fees for pictures I needed for business presentations.

I must say I didn't read the book cover to cover but used it as a reference -- skipping around until I had gotten it all.

This is what I recommend:

1) If you're a novice photographer and want to learn how to shoot good exposures, this book will help.

2) If you're a semi serious amateur and haven't made the leap to full manual, this book will help you make the leap.

3) If you already know all of this but don't shoot very often, get this book and use it as a reference.

It's the easiest to understand book on exposure I have read to date mainly because it has enough full color examples combined with solid writing to help you learn.

20 people found this helpful

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Jaime Silvela

Great book, missed opportunity

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2008

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After having read several books on photography, this it the one that has clearly shown me the use of the different exposures. Peterson dwells on what each aperture range, and shutter speed range, is good for. There are many photos in the book, and next to each, a short explanation of how it was taken, and what settings were chosen.
Peterson makes a great teacher.

There is a weakness in this book, in my view, and that is the missed chance to explain a bit of the optics and physics. Not that this needed to be a technical book, but a few diagrams and a few numbers would have gone a long way to dispel some confusion.

For instance, Peterson at one point describes "stops", the settings in the camera that double (or half) the exposure. For instance, a jump in shutter speed from 1/30s to 1/60s is one stop. So is a jump from ISO 400 to ISO 800. For apertures, though, the numbers look like f/4, f/5.6, f/8, much less intuitive.

It would not have killed the author to explain that to double the surface area of the aperture, one needs to multiply the diameter by the square root of 2 (approx. = 1.4). This is simple geometry, available to most.
Then it would be clear that f/5.6 = 4 * 1.4, is one stop down in exposure from f/4.

Peterson explains exposure by comparing it to a faucet. If you open it wider, more water comes out, and less time is required to fill your glass. OK, but most people would have understood that if you let in twice as much light, you require half as much time to record an image on the sensor.
Depth of field and it's dependence on aperture is VERY easy to explain with a simple diagram. Another missed chance.

Another example: ISO. The metaphor here is that ISO is like bees, and more ISO equals more bees collecting honey, so they get done quicker. So why does higher ISO increase the noise and granularity of your photo?

If Peterson had included a bit of technical information, I would have recommended this book as the best one-stop resource. As it stands, I can just say it's very very good, but you need supplements. Kudos.

One person found this helpful

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AJD

Great for budding photographers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

As a complete beginner to the world of DSLR photography I was feeling a little lost. I bought this book on its good reviews and it has not disappointed. It provides a good commentary on photographic situations and fairly simple reasoning behind this (I could understand it at least!).

It also shows all of the settings for every photo in the book, and this was incredibly helpful for me. It allows you to replicate the situations within (as near as possible) and pinch the settings to use yourself. I found the info given on using the light meter very helpful (didn't know it existed before this book) and just the general explanations on exposure were really good when you want to develop your own style.

This might be a bit basic for people who already know their way around a camera, but I suspect most amateur photographers would benefit from a copy of this book.

SH

Photography Exposed!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 25, 2008

Verified Purchase

I cannot believe how much I have learnt from this fantastic book. Although I've had it for quite a while, on a spur of the moment I picked it off my bookshelf yesterday and literally couldn't put it down again until I had finished it today!

With my camera by my side as I read within moments I was out testing the suggestions for manual mode, something I had never dared try before. Over the course of the evening I captured some of my best ever portraits of my children and was honestly astounded by how easy it was.

Bryan is obviously a very talented photographer and teacher and his photos and explanations are testament to this.

If you crave information on exposure and really want to try working on manual and feeling like a real pro this is one book not to miss. I know I'll certainly be returning to it time and time again.

3 people found this helpful

JJ WALRAVENS

Excellent introduction to photography

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 22, 2010

Verified Purchase

This book is beyond any doubt the best photography book for beginners I've ever read. It explains how to make a correct exposure in simple terms easy enough for a complete novice to understand. It then goes on describing "creatively correct" exposures by showing which apertures or shutter speeds are used for various types of subjects (e.g. storytelling exposures, singular item/isolation exposures, exposures which imply motion or those which freeze motion, etc.). It does a good job at explaining the basics of depth of field, although the concept of hyper-focal distance would have benefited from some more exploration. Finally, it also explains how to measure various types of light, how light meters work and where to point your camera to measure the light. You can easily read this book in an afternoon. Whilst it will not make an expert photographer out of you, it is likely that you will never want to use the automatic exposure function of your camera again.

One person found this helpful

R. Brennan

The only photography book you need

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

When I started out this is the book that was recommended to me. After buying a couple of dozen books and 10 years later I can tell you that this is the only one you'll need.
You will learn to work your camera in full manual mode and enjoy the benefits.

I wish they would add a chapter for working with flash though.

One person found this helpful

Ollie

Everything you want to know about photography easily accessible.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

Brilliant book taking you right from the basics up to really quite advanced techniques. If you want to take your photography beyond the auto setting I'd really recommend this book. Everything is explained in really simple terms but after reading it you'll be confident in using all the advanced features of your camera. Aimed at SLRs really but a lot of the techniques apply to other camera types as well.

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