Saturday, June 11, 2016

Understanding Exposure | Book Review

If there was one book that I would feel pretty confident in handing to an upcoming photographer, this would be it. Peterson's Learning to See Creatively was good, but it didn't really teach a person how to use their camera. I have a fairly good working knowledge of exposure (thanks to my photographer brother), so most of what Peterson explained I somewhat knew (some of it, I need much more work on). He definitely goes into depth with explaining the triangle of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. This isn't a book that people new to camera terms can pick up and understand in a day. Some of it will take processing and hands-on exercising.

Sometimes, Peterson went into too much "layman explanation" for me. Since I understand ISO and since I prefer technical explanations, I found his "worker bees" analogy to be confusing, but new photographers may find it helpful.

Again, Peterson is not my preferred photographic style, but his explanations work for any style. And though he's a Nikon user (I'm Canon all the way), he presented the information in such a way that either camera users can find it helpful.

There were a few pictures I decided to edit because there was a little more skin showing than I prefer, but it was only 3-4 images. Also, there were a few times Peterson used words that I prefer not to.

*I received this book in exchange of my honest review from Blogging for Books*

About the Book
Understanding Exposure has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography. In this newly updated edition, veteran photographer Bryan Peterson explains the fundamentals of light, aperture, and shutter speed and how they interact with and influence one another. With an emphasis on finding the right exposure even in tricky situations, Understanding Exposure shows you how to get (or lose) sharpness and contrast in images, freeze action, and take the best meter readings, while also exploring filters, flash, and light. With all new images, as well as an expanded section on flash, tips for using colored gels, and advice on shooting star trails, this revised edition will clarify exposure for photographers of all levels.

Photo of Bryan Peterson
About the Author
BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, an internationally known instructor, and the best-selling author of Understanding Exposure,Understanding Shutter SpeedLearning to See CreativelyUnderstanding Digital Photography, and Beyond Portraiture. In addition, he is the founder of the online photography school The Perfect Picture School of Photography (www.ppsop.com). He lives in Chicago.




Buy the book on Amazon

3 comments:

Rosalyn said...

Oh, I really need to read more photography books. I probably would have to buy them online though, because I can't find many to read free online. Do you know of any free good ones?

Thanks for the review of this book and telling me a little about it by email! :)

Amanda Tero said...

@ Rosalyn - I haven't read any free photography books online, really. But here are a couple of websites you might want to check out:
http://www.sixthbloom.com/
http://digital-photography-school.com/

It's probably a good idea to think about one aspect of photography you want to work on/understand and look up articles for that subject.

Hope it helps!

Rosalyn said...

Oh thank you so much! I'll check those websites out!

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