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

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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.

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!

OK, I'm going to have to give this a 3 just so my rating will stand out from all the 5's out there. I was let-down quite a bit by this book. I am a fairly-beginner photographer, perhaps maybe lower-intermediate. And, in all honesty, most everything in this book was kind of "blah" information. My biggest gripe is the following: the book is called "Understanding Exposre"... however, it should be called "Pointers for Exposure". Because, the best pieces of information that the author gives are not really explained (and, hence, they're not to be "understood" by the reader, but to be taken as gospel) but rather they're followed by statements such as "I learned this from my many years of photography, and trust me this works"! And that's a big problem for me-- not because I don't appreciate a great tip about exposure, but more because I was expecting to learn some valuable basics that would arm ME with the tools necessary to deduce, for a given lighting situation, how to best meter the light and determine the exposure. Instead, I've been given a laundry list of things to memorize for a given situation. Which, I guess, is great in the end-- and which is why my "REAL" rating for the book is a 4-- but just be forewarned that you will not really walk away from this book with a great UNDERSTANDING, though you may walk away with some good tips. Just my 2c.

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.

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE offers a solid introduction to principles for creating informed exposures. I've been taking photographs for years, but everything I've learned I picked up from experience. I thought, for the heck of it, I'd buy a book and see if I was missing something. In the end, it was worth the read, I learned a few tips, and found some inspiration to experiment.

The book, however, is not without its quirks.

On the positive side, the author does a curiously good job offering advice on formal decisions. While I don't agree with all of his judgments, I certainly applaud the effort and feel his comments are completely appropriate for the general public. Aesthetics can be tricky.

The book is filled with the authors photographs, ranging from the amazing to the sappy. I enjoyed his descriptions and explanations, telling how he took many of the shots. I just wish he left out his licensing fees. Pointing out how many thousands he made from the various shots is really crass. I already bought your book... you don't need to show-boat. Strangely, a handful of pictures are of his wife, and I found myself wincing at most of them. Particularly given his descriptions. Sadly, we're obviously not looking at the same woman.

Lastly, for all of the author's thoroughness, his explanation and discussion of ISO, in my opinion, is lacking. At the start of the book he explains that ISO is one of the three main parts to taking a correct exposure. Aperture and shutter speed get their own sections, but for ISO the author only offers a condescending "busy bee" metaphor... until 5 pages from the end of the book where he finally gives ISO a page. He explains the ISO value is the light sensitivity, but I don't remember him mentioning anywhere at what -cost- that sensitivity comes. For instance, it should say the faster the film and more light sensitive, the grainier the resulting image. There's a very grainy, low-light example in the book but grain itself isn't addressed.

How could anyone leave that out?

I ordered this book based on the rave reviews it gets here, and elsewhere. I was looking forward to reading it, thinking it was going to help me improve my photography, master difficult lighting etc. So, when it arrived, I eagerly unpacked it, sat down to read and ... err, is that it?

Essentially it is a very basic beginners book. Probably for beginners its fine, but once you've figured out the elements of depth of field, and the idea that metering will not provide the optimum exposure in all cases, there's not much else.

If you're new to photography, take a look. If you've read any other books, or taken a few rolls of film, look elsewhere.

The book is very basic. It teaches you about aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. If you already know about the three, look elsewhere.
The book basically tells you about the existence of depth-of-field, and stop-action and motion blur shutter - that's all.

As I was finishing it, my only hope was that I got the wrong book, but alas, no mistake.
Even as a beginners book, it had important things left out:
- No clear explanation of what the aperture numbers are. It just tells you bigger number - smaller hole.
- Should have talked about hand-held camera shutter seeds (minimum 1/focal length speed rule comes to mind). The whole book assumes the use of a tripod for its teaching.
- Doesn't mention fill-flash for balancing light, although there is an extensive chapter about types and angels of light.
- Although filled with many beautiful photos, only a couple of instances show comparison shots. The author hasn't made the effort to take good and bad pictures to compare and illustrate his point.
- The author preaches about matrix metering, but emphasizes the fact that he only uses spot-metering. Spot-metering is not explained - it's too complicated and error prone, so use matrix metering. I thought this was what the book was all about!
- The author doesn't make it very clear about "low key" and "high key" images and how the meter wants to put everything in the middle 18% gray. There was an attempt to explain this, but it was so simplified, that is was confusing.
- No mention of the "zone system" for exposure

The internet has much more helpful info for free.

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...

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!

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
[...]

I was a little stingy with my rating, because, to be honest, i was disappointed. If you understand the basics of film speed, shutter speed & aperture (he calls it "the triangle") there is little to gain from this book. If you are a complete beginner, please change that rating to 3 stars.

About the only thing i found slightly interesting in this book was the discussion about depth of field, but this was nothing new to me either.

The GLARING DEFICIENCY in this book is a total failure to discuss anything about the use of flash or artificial light. If you have even heard the phrase "fill flash" you will be disappointed with this book. This book covers natural light ONLY!

Henderson (below) is right.... is that it??

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!

Kudos to Bryan Peterson on the release of this long-awaited update to his 1990 classic, Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs. I've been recommending the original edition of this book to my DIGITAL photography students and on-line forum buddies for several years now, even though the original edition pre-dates the "digital photography" revolution. This new edition includes all the essential information from the earlier edition and brings it completely up-to-date with the inclusion of how this information is relevant to digital photography.

Who should buy this book? This is a book for those interested in photography who want to take their photography to the next level. This book is for the hobbyist who is mostly using the camera's automatic settings, but is interested in using more of the camera's manual and semi-automatic modes to get better results. The author does a superb job of teaching the fundamentals of exposure in a simple and very easy to understand manner. This is usually an intimidating topic, but Mr. Peterson teaches it using every day language and examples. In no time, the reader will understand how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are manipulated to get the right exposure and the desired photographic results.

Beyond this, the author teaches the reader how to "approach" almost every conceivable photographic opportunity using the camera's semi-automatic modes (mostly aperture-priority). So not only does he teach the fundamentals of HOW exposure works, but he teaches WHEN to use one approach over another to achieve desired results. This alone is worth the price of the book!

This book is beautifully written and generously illustrated with over 150 original color images from the author. The images really bring the concepts to life and are a source of inspiration for the reader.

Who should not buy this book? If you are a seasoned photographer who has mastered the subject of exposure and is well versed in the use of aperture-priority, manipulation of depth of field, and metering, this book will be too basic for your learning needs.

Again, kudos to Bryan Peterson on the release of this fine book. I am among the thousands of photographers who are very appreciative to Bryan for changing the way we approach a given photo opportunity and have taken our photography to the "next level."

Sincerely,

jim henderson (the sandman on the forums)

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 thinking it would have a lot of in depth information about exposure. However I went through the book within 30 minutes and did not find anything new or quite interesting. It's a very basic book in understanding the importance of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture and how they work together. Not really much past that. I would definitely recommend this to beginner's, but if you want to save a few bucks you can learn all the information provided in this book via online resources, just use your favorite search engine ;)Was also kind of upset that they mentioned anything about digital cameras seeing as how there was maybe 4 pages at the end of the book that talked about irrelevant fluff.

This book is a reasonably good introduction to exposure for the absolute beginner. If you've had an introductory photography class or equivalent experience, much of what is written in this book will be very basic and redundant. (There's actually very little text in this book - you could read the whole thing in a couple hours or less.) Note that Peterson is exclusively a color photographer, so any kind of discussion of black and white tonality and contrast is totally missing. The book covers the basics of aperture, shutter speed, and different lighting conditions (though it lacks specifics on how to shoot in these different lighting conditions), plus a little bit on multiple exposures and polarizing and neutral-density filters.

A more thorough introduction to zone system concepts than this book provides would be useful. For that, I'd recommend reading "The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering" by Bahman Farzad (which errs in the opposite direction, running these concepts into the ground) along with this book. If these two books were combined and a happy medium was found between Peterson's brevity and Farzad's beating to death of simple concepts, you'd actually have one solid introductory book on exposure.

Other drawbacks - Peterson is mainly a stock/magazine photographer and his photographic style is, to my eyes anyway, rather boring, and I found little inspiration in looking at his photos. Also, his writing style is rather goofy, with lots of exclamations over less than profound photographic insights and silly terms for substitute reading methods like "The Sky Brothers" (various kinds of skies when used for exposure) or "Mr Green Jeans" (vegetation used for exposure).

In the end, I picked up a few useful tidbits from this book, but turned around and resold the book right after reading it, as it really wasn't valuable as a reference.

Too many errors, a condescending (almost insulting) writing style, inconsistencies, and a lack of real information make this book hardly worth reading. It would be difficult to know about these problems without reading the book first so I hope this review will give some insight into these issues.

The book is probably aimed at beginners yet those are the ones who can least afford to get bad information. Those who already know about exposure can see the errors for themselves but the beginners will read this and think this is the real goods. It is not.

There are far better books from which to learn about exposure, among them: Ansel Adams "The Negative" and "The Camera" and Alain Briot's "Mastering Landscape Photography".

Peterson's book is highly rated and my guess is the rave reviews are from those new to exposure, who don't know they are being shortchanged.

This book is a must for anyone new to photography! Should be included with the owners manual of every new digital camera!

The proof is in the pudding...here are some examples of shots I took after reading his book...I would never have imagined capturing shots like these prior to reading his book...

http://static.flickr.com/36/84610281_f7a933f255.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/40/79454773_2ba97c0107.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/42/115132324_09a2d9f1e5.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/36/79454714_0f8b50d124.jpg

Ever want to take your fancy camera off of Auto mode and explore those other mysterious settings: M, A, S? Ever struggle with understanding how to achieve a proper exposure? Then this is the book for you! Clear, concise and filled with gorgeous photographs by the author, this is the book on exposure I wish I'd had when I first began taking pictures a couple decades ago. Peterson jumps right in teaching the reader about what he terms the "photographic triangle" - how shutter speed, aperture and ISO (film speed) relate to one another and how they can best be used to not only make a correct exposure, but a "creatively" correct exposure. So why would I give this awesome book only 4.5 stars instead of 5? Because while Peterson hammers home the concept of the photographic triangle, the sample photographs contain information about aperture and shutter speed but no mention of what ISO he used. Considering how these settings directly effect one another it was a little disappointing to not have that information made available. Hopefully he will include this information in future editions. Still, don't let that minor quibble steer you away from this highly recommended book.

One minor point worth mentioning: to get the most from this book you MUST have a SLR (single lens reflex) camera - digital or film. Today's popular point and shoot cameras have lenses that make selective depth of field nearly impossible (Peterson has a two page explanation as to why this is). While you can still get great pictures from a point and shoot, your creative options are severly limited if you want to, for example, isolate a subject against a blurry background. As the majority of this book is on not only proper exposure but using it creatively, I think quite a bit of information would be useless to those without an SLR camera.

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.

Even though I've been informally an amateur photographer for several years, when I decided to make a living out of this profession, I needed some technical foundation in order to achive consistency and futher, inprove my skills. I tried several other books to no avail. However, this book was like fallen from heaven, so to speak. The author writes in a concise yet coherent manner. The examples are very useful and easy to replicate (unlike some other books I've read). Very thorough explanations of each of the techniques shown. The author unassuming and candid tone make this a great book to read, browse and learn from. In fact, if it was physically smaller, it would make a tremendous pocket reference to carry around. In short, if you're an absolute beginner or an intermediate looking to sharpen your skills, this book is what you are probably looking for.

When you buy a book titled "Understanding Exposure" you would expect most of the book to talk just about that!!

This is a decent book as far as pictures and general 101 photography info - especially if you are a "35mm type" - but it does a pathetic job talking about "exposure" (i.e. metering a scene, using a light meter, zone systems, etc.).

This is is NOT what it purports to be...

Very disappointing.

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.

sorry to Mr Bryan...but i'll say don't trust what other saying about the books specialy when they give up 5 stars. I bought this book due what other wrote and now i feel shy to show and tell any one who doing photography that i spend my money on it. I ordy complete almost 10 years since i start learning photography, i read many books about that also i took a course through New york institute of photography, but this book no no no. Mr Bryan with highly respect to him, he must review himself before write another book..again i'll say sorry but this the truth what i feel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This book was nowhere near as detailed and in depth as I had hoped. But putting that aside I found it to be a frustrating read. The author makes extensive use of analogies that I found confusing at best, and simply absurd. I found the author consistently patronizing, and his writing style to be extremely long winded. I actually found the 2 pages on exposure setting in my camera's instruction manual to be considerably more informative and easier to understand.

But, if exposure is a complete mystery to you, and the idea of 100 worker bees carrying buckets and trying to catch water from a variable flow faucet makes it easier to understand how a camera works, then by all means this is the book for you. Hence my 2 star rating.

This is a very gentle introduction to exposure. Good for my parents perhaps but not for a geek like myself - little technical explanation or language is used. I knew almost everything from casual web reading. I'm returning mine. As an aside the photographs weren't my style either; the author specializes in high-saturation color photos for stock use whereas I'm currently concentrating on B&W portraits.

I found this book to be very helpful in understanding the selection of good exposure to achieve artistic effects with my photography. I like Peterson's differentiation between "creative exposure" and "correct exposure," and found his tips for deciding what you wanted to emphasize in a photo helpful.

I also read the Grimm Basic Book of Photography at the same time, and although that book is *much* denser and longer, learned less about composing a photograph and selecting exposure while reading it. Peterson's many colorful comparisons helped me understand his methods and reasons for choosing his exposure.

This book is a quick read, and is the opposite of the Grimm book in terms of depth of discussion of equipment and history (if you want to learn details about different film grains and all of the pieces of equipment you might want to buy for your portrait studio, by all means, get their book instead). However, for a very concise book with great examples on SLR photographic composition, I can't ask for much more.

A final word for digital photographers. This book touches little on specific differences between digital and film photography, but does not ignore digital. Peterson makes a good point that digital retouching can fix a lot of mistakes, but that good composition and exposure saves a lot of time later, whether you're using film or digital. I have to say, though, I'm still looking for the book that will explain in-depth how to properly select white balance for digital SLR.

I wanted a book that would teach me how to set up my camera to take great pictures. This book answered my questions and also taught me how to think about each shot, what to look for and consider when setting up my camera to take a good exposure. Bryan has an easy to understand way of explaining his thoughts behind his methods and also tells you the settings for each shot shown in the book. I read this book in less than 2 days and will now go back through again to make myself a little "cheat sheet" to carry with me for those rare situations. He covers a lot of ground and I found myself absorbing it all very easily. I only wish it came with a pocket guide. Unless you are a seasoned pro, I believe you will gain a lot from this book. I know I have.
Thank you Bryan.
Carlton

I've first edition: This book should be called "how to choose best shutter speed with your automatic camera and depth of field examples".
Author doesn't explain light measuring... The most important thing when setting exposure. How to correctly measure incident light, how to work with the spot meter, how useful the sunny 16 rule can be. The author mostly relies only on the automatic metering system and that's the problem when the title says 'Exposure'. If you don't plan to use camera's manual mode to set the exposure by yourself then it could be the book for you.

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is a book geared toward beginners, as it talks about topics (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) that any advanced photographer would deem "mundane."

However, the book is best used not as a guidebook on how to set the various exposure modes on your advanced SLR camera, nor how to set up a state-of-the-art studio with fancy lights. It discusses how to make *creative* exposures (not just technically correct ones) in natural lighting situations. I do wish the author had presented some clearer explanation on certain technical aspects, e.g., how to preset focus and how to get teh most out of a light meter, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise, it's a book that helps you think about how to create a photograph, not how to use every feature of your camera.

Most of Peterson's instructions are taught through his own wonderful photos. Each photo is well captioned about the context, his thought process, and his technique. Again, this is not a "read and memorize the f-stop" kind of thing. It's all about provoking ideas, and Peterson includes a lot of exercises (some more useful than others).

I've been an advanced beginner for almost 20 years, and my photography has not improved much. I hope this book can help me get over the hurdle and take better pictures.

I really had high hopes for this book... But it is really basic, it tries to explain ISO shutter speeds and aperature by giving examples of types of pictures. If you are looking for a beginning photo book, there are far better choices such as, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131896091/qid=1119554867/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-9059832-9557401?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I used this book a long time ago, edition 5. It is a far bettter intro to photo book.

I learned more in this book about correct exposure than I learned in a hole year of photography school. Bryan peterson is an excellent teacher. He expains the basics in an effective easy to remember way. For anyone who is confused about apeature, shutterspeed, ISO, or metering, this is a must read! I rented this book from the library and loved it so much I decided I had to buy it. The best photography book I've read so far; I plan to read all of his books.

i bought this book partially because many ppl recommended it. I have to say it was disappointing. The pictures were fantastic however the information was sparse. There's like 5-6 pages worth of information the rest of the few hundred pgs are fluff. There are other better books that will cover the info in this book and more.

As a serious hobbyist with no formal training, I was a bit concerned about how much I could really learn from this book. My experience comes primarily from reading text books, how to books, and from hands on experience. Prior to reading this book I had a basic understanding of exposure already.

Exposure is a concern for both film and digital cameras alike. A chapter titled "Film vs. Digital" helps to explain some of the differences. There are many inspiring color images showing both how your camera's metering is fooled, and the methods of correcting the exposure. Topics include filter options and exposing for low light, backlit, overcast weather and motion photography.

After reading "Understanding Exposure" from cover to cover I can say without doubt reading this book changed the way I comprehend exposure. Bryan Peterson has a simple and clear method of explaining exposure. I didn't really learn as much as I gained a deeper understanding and a fresh perspective of the subject. I also learned a few tricks along the way.

If you have mastered the subject, this book is not for you. However, if you are a beginner with no understanding of how aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together, get this easy to understand book. If you already have a basic understanding, this book will help fill in the missing pieces.

This book is a reasonably good introduction to exposure for the neophyte, unless you've had an introductory photography class or equivalent experience, because much of what is written in this book will be very basic and redundant. Note that Peterson is exclusively a color photographer, so any kind of discussion of black and white tonality and contrast is totally missing. The book covers the basics of aperture, shutter speed, and different lighting conditions (though it lacks specifics on how to shoot in these different lighting conditions), plus a little bit on multiple exposures and polarizing and neutral-density filters.

This book is better than the previous 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.

It is best used not as a guidebook on how to set the various exposure modes on your advanced SLR camera, nor how to set up a state-of-the-art studio with fancy lights. It discusses how to make *creative* exposures (not just technically correct ones) in natural lighting situations. I do wish the author had presented some clearer explanation on certain technical aspects, e.g., how to preset focus and how to get teh most out of a light meter, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise, it's a book that helps you think about how to create a photograph, not how to use every feature of your camera.

Full color photos are used throughout, 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.

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.

It's more a photography primer, and less an in-depth discussion of exposure. Sure, shutter speed, aperature and film speed are discussed. But the reader will not learn how to use a camera's meter to select a *proper* exposure for a scene.

There are numerous examples of exposures, like 1/125 at f/2.8, but there is never a link between the camera's suggested reading, and the final exposure values selected (hint: they're not always the same). A book with this title owes it to the reader to go the extra step - and more.

John Shaw's 'Nature Photography' has an excellent chapter or two on exposure - I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to get their head around the concenpt.

Being an amateur photographer shooting for my own pleasure and now wanting to shoot professionally, I ran across this book at a book store. I have read it a least a dozen times. Not only are the photographs excellent in quality, but Bryan takes the effort to show what happens at different exposures with A and B comparisons, especially low light and night exposures. His discussion on aperture, shutter speed, and film speed are excellent. Other similiar quality books offer the camera type used, lens used, film used, but they almost always leave out the aperture setting and shutter speed. Bryan does a good job of including this vital information. A must book for any photographer.

This book is simply outstanding. I've bought quite a number of books from Amazon on a variety of subjects but this particular book forced me to go out and buy a highlighter. The information shared here is easy to understand and, with so many examples and samples, you really feel like you're learning.

The author goes into great detail about how to "see" a great image and how to properly expose that image. whether you're a digital or film shooter this book is a MUSt for anyone looking to really dive into their photography hobby/profession. I just loved it and keep it in my camera back pack as i travel taking pictures and constantly going back to the text.

BUY THIS BOOK! You won't be dissapointed!

This is a great book for anyone who's looking to learn how to use their camera instead of letting their camera use them. I used to take all my photos on auto. I knew how to compose and how to focus on the correct object, but that's about it. After that, I just press the button hoping and praying that the picture will turn out how I saw it. But nope, most of the time they don't. I blamed it on my lousy camera and thought I'd have to start saving up for one of those 'professional' cameras and light meters.

Then along came this book and saved me. It taught me how to take pictures with my camera, instead of letting the camera take the pictures for me. A good part of this book is devoted to setting the correct aperture, and secondly, the shutter speed. Master those two and you're 90% there. Bryan Peterson is fabulous at putting things in plain English and using everyday analogies that really make sense. His explanations are so clear that I've only had to read this book once through and I totally understand AND remember everything. I haven't had to refer back to it to know what to do - I really understand the stuff, instead of just learning things by heart. Most importantly, I know how to make my camera work for me now. (It wasn't the camera's fault after all - it's the person behind the camera. :)) Peterson is also great in that he does not use fancy-schmanzy "professional" stuff. He teaches you to use the light meter in your camera, and he is fond of regular slide film that you can get anywhere. If he can take such fabulous pictures with such basic equipment, well then so can I! At no time did I feel that he could only take those pictures because he's a pro.

There are a few drawbacks to this book. What I thought was really missing is a chapter on flash photography. Peterson states his preference for available light, but to me, there are some situations when a flash (or at least fill-in) would do much to remedy the situation. I consider using flash to be a real basic topic that anyone who wants to learn about exposure should know about. That is not included in this book. Also, I suppose because Peterson is a professional photographer, he mainly uses fixed focal-length lenses and no zooms. He does not discuss lenses, which I think is something very important at this stage. For example, with zoom lenses, there are 'sweet spots' at certain focal lengths and apertures, and we should know how to take advantage of this.

This book was published in 1990, so some of the terminology is a bit antiquated. There are terms like "advance your film". :) Also, nothing about digital photography, but the basics are there, and that's what this book is about - the basics. Of exposure. How to get the right exposure in every situation. If that's what you want to learn, you will definitely learn it with this book.

When I read this book, I automatically thought of those martial art movies where you see some tough guys beating everybody, until one day they run into a master and all of a sudden you realize those guys were tough but they can't touch the master. Through this book Bryan Peterson has demonstrated he is the master, I read so many photography books. Recently I came to like Lee Frost's books, but no photography book touches this one (Understanding Exposure). At some point it feels like there is a teacher standing in front of you and asking you things like... have you ever shot such and such scene and get such and such result when you were expecting such and such? ... Well!! this is what you were doing wrong and this is how to make it right. This book deserves 20 stars not 5. I honestly want to send a thank you card to Bryan Peterson and say THANK YOU for answing the unanswered questions I had for many years, your book have the exact answers!
Bryan! In case you read this review, how can one attend your seminars!? There is no web-site or phone # in the book to sign up for those.

No mater what your level is YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK.

Reading other people's review of this book I was ready to think these are paid ravings. Or perhaps these are the author's drinking buddies or relatives up to the fifth degree of consanguinity trying to boost its sales.

But I was desperate to understand the biggest mystery of them all -- exposure and how to achieve it. Tell you what, the more I read about the subject the more I am confused.

To make my ramblings short I bought the book. Then I stayed up until midnight trying to devour the whole thing. Usually I would end up choking on the first five pages or so but this one is so honest and so clear and focused as to what it was trying to achieve that I couldn't put it down. It inspired me so much, given me so much confidence that I wanted to jump out of bed, grab my gear and shoot the night away.

The more I read the more I understood. If they took away the main text and printed just the captions accompanying the sample photographs taken by the author this will still be a smart buy.

Am I allowed to say this book is timeless? Master Bryan Peterson wrote it in 1990 but he can claim it was written just last month and nobody would have noticed. The concepts discussed and explained still tugs at the hearstrings of one pampered by the Digital Age.

Buy this book. If they say it is out of stock swamp the publisher with orders until they give up and decide to have it reprinted.

Books of this kind may be hazardous to people selling books on photography. After owning this book, it makes you think twice whether you need another tome on exposure and its mysteries. This one splendid volume makes you believe you have learned everything there is to learn and is ready for the lunch you just skipped.

After reading all the 5 star reviews of this book, I ordered the book. I was dismayed at the waste of pages containing the authors personal photos with little or no exposure information given. Peterson goes into a very mild discussion of exposure in the first few pages. The balance of the book is about other aspects of photography. Very little is actually devoted to exposure technique. He barely mentions exposure meters and assumes everyone has a 35mm camera with a built in meter. HA!! Avoid this book.

Despite my history, I still buy books I don't read and this title sounded like another of the same. I almost didn't buy it but I read some of the customer reviews and decided to take a chance. I am glad I did.

In addition to his photographic and writing skills, Peterson brings something I've not found in other books and articles on these more technical aspects of photography. He stays spot-on in telling you how things are without unnecessary excursions into why.

That sounds shallow, but technical presentations can be--usually are?--bogged down in detail. An illustration of Peterson's skill at this is in his sidebar, "Macro Accessories and the Advantage of Fixed-Lens Digital", where he explains that f/11 on a fixed-lens digital is equivalent to f/64 on a 35mm SLR and then explores the benefits of that without yielding to the temptation to present the optics involved.

When I first thumbed through the book, the huge number of large color photos put me off. I didn't want a book for the coffee table. Turns out, they are functional. After reading the first forty-plus pages, I was eagerly reading the shooting data at the end of photo captions, something I have never done. I understood the data enough to learn even more by analyzing the photo in light of the shot parameters. Some of the most instructive of Peterson's beautiful illustrations have multiple shots of the same subject either with the same lens and different settings or with different lenses. These and their accompanying descriptions rapidly increase my understanding of the concepts, and it is painless.

Despite the complexity of the concepts, I didn't have to make myself read this book. I returned to it as I would to a novel that had grabbed me.

We who once dragged film SLR setups throughout this hemisphere (including Central America and Machu Picchu) after high school classes with ancient hand held light meters and exposure tables, we who struggled to develop in jungle heat night and day beyond the recommended temps, we who find point and shoots as creepy as automatic transmissions, for us this book is our saving portal to the digital dimension of the SLR format we know and love and feel most at home.

Now that the latest DSLR surpasses ten mega-pixels, we safely ride behind the crest of the latest wave, finding great bargains in beautiful tools such as the Nikon D40, at an irresistible price which leaves money to get essentials like a longer lens, lens filters, the semi-soft case, and the dream of the surprisingly costly Speed-light. The old tripod still applies, as well as a surprising number of creative technical tricks, as well described in this book.

One asset of the D40 is the wiggle room for bracketing and other fun stuff, including changing ISO without waiting for a film roll to run out (as there IS no film). This present book fully covers all such old tricks, and is written by a very talented, knowledgeable and prolific professional photographer of landscape and portrait. The author is a true artist with the camera, and also a very good writer. He like me prefers natural or ambient light, and shows us how best to use it in the new technology.

Okay, as mentioned in other reviews, he tends to use apian simile to illustrate technical points, but I find that more compelling and illuminating than distracting. He also loves his wife and is not afraid to show it, as she frequently appears in his startlingly beautiful photographs, and not just for the sake of saving on a model's release. To paraphrase James Joyce's famous evangelical parody: No greater love has man than this, than to lay out his wife for his friends, and for us his readers and students as well.

I am grateful to Mr. Peterson for sharing so generously his art and his techniques in a clear and lucid manner, which reawakens within me all that I ever knew, and then some, much more. He rekindles within me that love of photography I thought died long ago, as eyes and mind dim, and as I got hit by the rising cost of film and lab fees. I was ready to hang up the camera forever and close in peace my camera eyes. Mr. Peterson challenges me to remember and to open my eyes once again.

The title seems to indicate this extensive book deals with "nothing more" than exposure and how it works, as if he would send us forth with light meter in hand to "get a feel" for how light works under different circumstances. This book teaches so much more in nearly every aspect of taking a picture, including composition, depth of field, shutter speed and ISO. Peterson thus expands his definition of EXPOSURE to include all of these and more. Please read the ENTIRE title: "Understanding Exposure: HOW TO SHOOT GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS . . ." (emphasis added) and you understand the richness and comprehensive nature of this well-packed book. It is as if this talented and trained commercial photographer with experience in every aspect of photography wants to tell us all he knows, and so we find on nearly every page a side-box full of other information which might not have to do with exposure per se, but is in itself very informative.

In short I strongly recommend this book for anyone returning after the first shock of the new technology, as a way to understand how to incorporate our old instincts within this brave new digital world, and I can also recommend it for the new photographer who is graduating beyond the point and shoot digital camera and wants to gain greater creative control.

This book liberates all photographers to their creative vision, and opens new avenues to beauty, truth and art with light, nature, civilization and people. This can be a path to Zen and the Art of Photography, the Semiotics of Photography. And it can be a very wise guide to this new frontier.

I wish I had gotten the lens with an aperture ring, as I always preferred to set the depth of field rather than shutter speed on my trusty old AL-1, and this book awakens hunger for that old method. I'll study my D40 manual to find the tricks and techniques which allow me to forget the camera and just take the best possible shot. One thing about DSLR, you don't have to shoot a roll to keep a shot, but can shoot till the SD card fills up, with no expense in deleting and re-shooting!

This book is well worth the cost and should be read carefully and gratefully by anyone with any sort of SLR camera to learn to master every aspect of exposing those megapixels to well balanced and beautiful light.

If you are hoping to move up from a point-and-shoot digital camera that lacks exposure controls to one that has exposure controls so that you can advance your skills and be more creative, then this is the book for you.

Bryan Peterson does an excellent job describing the basics of exposure, starting off with good analogies to help the reader understand the three keys to exposure: shutter speed, film speed, and aperture. Next he discusses simple exposure scenes and rules such as "sunny f/16". He then moves on to talk about increasingly complex scenarios and helps you to develop the skills to get all of the details right in your exposures so that you get the exposure you wanted on film when you clicked the shutter, not the one you just hoped you got.

Wow! This book is amazing! I am fairly new to photography and have been looking for a book that will answer the fundamental questions with regards to exposure but couldn't find one. Until now, I have never taken the time to write a review on Amazon but if I can coax even one person into buying this book, I will be helping that person make a great investment in their photographs.

The book as a huge assortment of top-notch color photographs which are explained in-depth by the author. He actually takes the time to say, "I used this exposure and this shutter speed and here's where I metered the scene and here's why". I learned so much just from the captions for the pictures - not to mention the amount I learned from the text itself.

Please, if you're interested at all about photography, this book is a MUST have. You will learn more from this 160 page book than most 400+ page books on photography!

This book has got an average rating of 4.5 stars, and is supposedly a good book on exposure. For this reason I checked out one from the public library once it became available. On the same day I spent a few hours going through the book--I could do this because I am already familiar with such concepts like aperture, depth of field etc. At the end, the conclusion, a disappointing one, that I formed in my mind is that, this is just a mediocre photography book, and in certain ways it is even misleading!

The thing that I care about most, and that I am most confused with, is exposure compensation. The reason, which I learned from John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide, is that in the world around us objects are of various tonality, and your camera metering system tend to render everything as middle-toned gray. In this book, however, you won't find the term "exposure compensation" at all in the first three chapters (this book has six chapters), not even any similar or equivalent terms, leading one to believe that all you need to do is point your camera to your subject, take the metering reading, ajust aperture or shutter speed and shoot. Unfortunately, to make good photographs you have to do more. That's why I am still learning.

You might see a hint of "exposure compensation" in Chapter 4 if you are an alerted reader. Even here the discussion is very limited, in my opinion.

I really did learn a few concepts from this book, but I was disappointed overall. I was hoping for much more guidance based on the reviews this book has received on Amazon. If I had looked at the book in a store, I wouldn't have bought it. Also, the book assumes you have a camera that offers certain features.

The book offers numerous examples with pictures and technical seetings of the camera when the picture was taken. The book teaches how to use the manual mode of the camera.

I own Canon S2 IS which offers completely manual mode, if desired. I have spent significant amount of time using the teachings of the book to shoot some pictures in manual mode. Resulting pictures are better than camera's automatic modes sometimes and worse sometimes. However, the time taken for manual mode is alway more than the auto mode.

Is your primary subject energetic fast moving children? Then, in my opinion, your best bet is one of your camer's automatic modes. If you are shooting landscapes or flowers, and if you are not in a big hurry, you should try manual mode of your camera and learn some good techniques offerred by this book.

I picked up this book after getting a new digital rebel xti in hopes of breaking out of the full auto mode. Heck I paid a lot of money for those extra features so I should know how to use them, right? Anyways, I am up to page 58 and I have learned so much already! I am out of the full auto mode and I don't plan on returning!! If you are lucky to browse through the book at a bookstore before buying, do so! You will see after reading only a few short pages what the rest of us are talking about here. The author does a great job!! All those buzz words like f-stop, aperture, etc. are explained in simple terms and make so much more sense to me now. Thanks to all the other reviewers for leaving their comments and leading me to this book. You really help out the rest of us!
In short, look at all the other reviews; they are right on the money. Get the book and you will not be sorry you did. Then come back an leave your comments. I'm sure you will agree with the majority of us here, this book is excellent!!!

I've started getting into photography about a year ago and according to some pros' advices, they'd asked me to enjoy photography with passion instead of getting too technical with all the aperture, shutter speed, ISO and what nots. So I've done that, enjoying snapping away with all my might and of course, trying to train my eyes to see creatively so to speak. Now it has come to a point when I needed to get technical to learn how to operate my camera in order to take better pictures. I've been so confused with all my readings online and could never get my numbers right (of speed, aperture and it had came to a point when I had a mental block when I saw the word f-stop!) Then this book came to my rescue! What a great birthday gift, thanks to my friends! This is an easy-to-read book, and very easy to understand. Peterson explained things with good examples and analogies which helped me a lot in remembering how my camera works and how I could use that to help me get better results. A must read for beginners!

Although this book may at first be intimidating for someone who has never handled a SLR Camera, it is actually a thorough beginner's book. It is not overly "technical", although any book on exposure will be full of numbers when talking of aperture, shutter speeds, ISO settings, etc. Once you begin to get a grasp of these concepts, the reading is easy and enlightening. (no pun intended)

For those with a little experience, this book will clear up many of the exposure mysteries that you may have faced. I think it is a "must read" for beginner to intermediate shutterbugs.

The other rave reviews here tell you what the book provides - I simply want to add that I have this book and his "Learning to See Creatively" and you just won't find better photography books for learning, and for referring back to. I've also taken some online courses with Bryan at Betterphoto.com (great innovative website!), and his love for his craft and for teaching it are evident in all his lessons and critiques. You'd be well served by this book for years to come.

I love taking pictures, but sometimes they turned out great and other times they didn't - why? incorrect exposure! Friends are constantly asking me to take their photo, a family photo, their child's high school picture, their wedding pictures etc. Why? Because sometimes I take terrific pictures, but too often I don't. The fact of the matter is, I have an eye for composition and I love taking pictures. However, making costly exposure mistakes can and does ruin a potentially good picture. The mystery of exposure has always escaped me, that is until I bought, read, re-read, highlighted, and put into practice Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure." Mr. Peterson takes the guess work out of exposure. So many books are like textbooks, very technical, making them hard to understand, let alone put into practice. But Mr. Peterson's book is consice, full of great photos, and he explains to the amateur photographer, who just enjoys taking photos, how to take great pictures. I know many say beware of any book with a rating of 5 stars, but this one deserves it. If you're a novice photographer and have always struggled to understand exposure, do yourself a favor, purchase this book.

A good beginner's guide to photography, with everything from f-stops to macro-photography. Photos are ok to very good, very classical. As with most photography books, I'm disappointed because the book is much more general than its name implies and topics are not analyzed in-depth. Very recommended for beginners, not recommended for more advanced photographers.

I have found this book informative, but not educational. It is not a beginners book, if I hadn't read Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) first I would have been lost.

I rated the book 3 out of 5 stars, because as a novice I found much of the text a little too advanced for my limited grasp of exposure settings. I think this book is really designed for light hobbyists ready to take the next step, not for true beginners. So I may not be the target demographic for the book.

It's not all bad though, even a novice can gain from this book. The book is set up in a way that there is a picture on each page displaying the concept that is being discussed. Now often the main discussion wasn't of much use to me but the pictures are incredibly valuable for 2 reasons:

1. Every shot has the type of lens, f-stop, and shutter speed that was used. This helps you begin to understand the different relationships even if your not fully grasping the concepts.
2. This information becomes very value though when two photographs of the same object/landscape are shown side-by-side with only small changes in one of the three variables (lens, f-stop, shutter speed). Even with my very limited understanding I found these side-by-side comparisons very valuable in understanding the effects aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings can have on the end result of a photo.

***

Bottom lining it, if you're looking to take the next step this is probably a useful book. If you're a novice, I would avoid this book unless you understand that you will need to re-read this book several times to really benefit from it.

I'm not throwing this book away, I'm just waiting to gain enough experience that it can really start to make sense.

This book is excellent. I give it 4 stars because it didn't cover ISO THAT well for my understanding. Granted, it's a lot simpler than aperture and shutter speed, but I finished not really being sure when to use which ISO. Other than that the book is a must have. Highly recommended. The quality is incredible like others have said. I'm going to try Exposure and Lighting for Digital Photographers Only by Meadhra and Lowrie next.

This is an easy read that provides you with the basics and shows you how to use them in a creative fashion. Peterson discusses the three aspects to exposure (ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed). People criticized him for discussing these concepts at length. However, they are the fundamentals to "understanding exposure", nothing more!

He tells you how to use these basic concepts to obtain more creative shots. He also provides the information used to take his amazing and colorful photographs as proof of his concepts.


Initially, I incorrectly assumed Mr. Peterson did a lot of post-processing to obtain that bright color. Therefore, I gave him four stars. However, in an email conversation, he informed me the bright colors are from the film he used which saturates the color. So, I will not obtain these rich photos from my digital camera. Instead, I would have to use post-processing to obtain that color.

He covers some very useful topics at the end (filters, creative shots, multiple-exposures, etc.). I wish he would've provided more information on these topics instead of one page each.

Nevertheless, the book is a very good buy, if you take the time to READ and not merely skim through the book looking for bits of information, you will enhance your understanding of exposure. Yet, they will still not look like his. However, if you believe this is remedial information and nothing new was learned, you then should write your own book!

P.S. Plus, it looks great on your coffee table and people will think you know something about photography.

I purchased this book last year just prior to a trip to Ireland, I read it on the plane ride over, then referred to it numerous times over the course of my stay there. My understanding and use of my DSLR camera improved dramatically, and my pictures (not all of them) are testament to that.
I just a re-read it while flying to Thailand for vacation as a tune-up on the basics--my best photo's reflect the effects of the principles taught in this book.
Bryan Peterson's writing style is clear and concise, his manner is open and approachable, it's like a having a kindly mentor guiding you down the path to understanding rather than an expert droning on about the technical aspects of photography. I'm giving my daughter a DSLR for Christmas, and though she's taken photography classes, I'm purchasing this book to give with the camera.
Very good and highly recommended.

I am not a professional but an enthusiastic amateur. I have been taking pictures for some time but relied a lot on the camera's automatic controls to do the thinking for me. I didn't believe that I needed to learn or understand how a camera worked. Is it any wonder that I did not achieve the results I looked for on a consistent basis? I wanted to understand exposure better and this book helped me.

This book spends a lot of time on the three things that make up exposure: the ISO rating, shutter speed, and aperture. Sure, it gets dreary learning those things but if you want good pictures it's essential to learn the underlying pieces of it. And the author does a good job in connecting the dots.

What helped me most with this book, though, is the understanding that for any picture there are a number of correct exposures. That is, you can get a correct exposure a number of ways by changing any of the three parts of an exposure. The trick is to find the creatively correct exposure. The exposure that represents your vision and intent for the picture.

Another great help to me was the explanation of how the light meter gets fooled by certain environments (e.g. snow, shadow, etc.) and how to deal with it. My landscape pictures have improved a great deal. I find myself in Manual mode much more often these days.

This book won't make you a great photographer but it will help you with tools you can really use. I think this book is ideal for an enthusiastic amateur or lower level of expertise. A seasoned professional will undoubtedly already know these things.

Understanding Exposure is exactly what I was looking for. I shoot hundreds of high school sports related photos each week as a fan and father. While I understand more than many of my fiends and my photos are generally pretty well done I have never been comfortable with shooting full manual (Canon Digital Rebel and now 30D). As the light changes during the games I have had difficulties. This book puts the trio of Shutter Speed, Aperature and ISO in easily understandable terms and shows results in pictures that include what settings were used and why. I now get depth of field and shooting "wide open" or what macro shots look like and how to get them. Ultimately this book was worth a great deal more that the $15 I spent. In fact I find myself reviewing sections in more of a how-to refresher before I shoot. Now I may miss the shot, but my exposure settings will be in the right ballpark.

This book does an excellent job of discussing the various techniques a photographer can make use of to creatively control exposure. This book teaches you how to make a creative interpretation when capturing the image. This is in contrast to Photoshop and image-editing books that focus on how to edit the image post-capture to produce a creative interpretation.

This is a well-written book, with plenty of color examples. It's not written in a complex manner at all, making it an excellent reference after you finish reading it from cover to cover.

The techniques highlighted in this book will generally require you to adjust aperture and or shutter speed on your camera. For this reason, SLR and dSLR users will benefit the most. Point and shoot cameras sometimes lack the manual controls to creatively alter the exposure as outlined in this book. Of great interest to me was Mr. Peterson's chapter on metering. He provides simple rules that will assist you in metering the correct portion of the image for the result you want. Here again, it would be better if you had a fully adjustable camera to be able to experiment to the extent that Mr. Peterson encourages.

The only criticism I had was that the chapter on filters left me wanting a bit more. Then again, not many digital cameras except dSLRs offer filter mounting capability.

I'd recommend this book for anyone from the beginner to the advanced amateur.

Finally the book I have been looking for! I have read many photo books, most of which didn't offer pratical guidelines that were understandable. This book provided more advice and more useful information than any before. I would suggest it for the beginner and above.

This book does not offer you formulas or ready pills to swallow without understanding what you do but makes you understand the logic what you are trying to do. I believe it is probably one of the best book to learn and understand the photography.

If you need to understand Aperture, Speed, ISO and Light meter as well as depth of field in a straight forward way, then this book is it. This book also has full color photos throughout, and they are absolutely beautiful. I have read various materials explaining those terms and this one is clearly the best.

After all the praise I'd read about this book, I bought a copy (and quickly resold it).

Nominally this is a 160 page book, but many of those pages are filled with the author's photos, and like a copy of Byte there's relatively little actual text. What text there is belies the 2004 date or the claim that it's updated: despite the occasional token reference to digital photography, this is a book about shooting film with 1980's technology, and is additionally biased toward landscapes. The author is big on focus-then-recompose shooting, which is much less feasible when shooting, say, humans than it is for mountains and distant tree silhouettes. The techniques advocated range from being inefficient with today's (or even 2004's) modern cameras to being inappropriate for modern dense digital sensors.

There is a modest to moderate amount of common-knowledge content, but an hour spent with a web browser will give the reader that and more without all the anachronisms.

I got my copy of Understanding Exposure last night and though I'm only halfway through it, I felt the need to tell how great it is. With vivid photographs, detailed explanation, and a way of making the highly technical easy to understand, Bryan Peterson has created a book that every SLR beginner should buy and read.

Peterson focuses a lot of time in the beginning of the book on what he calls the "photographic triangle." Put simply, it's the relationship between your settings for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. With an expert's touch for bringing things down to layman's terms, he makes this relationship far easier to understand than the countless web sites I've read while trying to gear up from being a point-and-shoot photographer to an SLR photographer.

For instance, I've easily read ten web sites' detailed explanation on ISO settings for a digital SLR. Not one of them gave me a firm grasp of how the ISO fit into the whole scheme of things. From the web sites, I took away that the lower the ISO, the better to avoid graininess and that ISO wasn't as important with digital SLR as it was with film cameras. Great, so why the heck is it a setting on my camera?!

Well, Peterson explains why by comparing ISO to "worker bees." In his explanation, if you have an ISO of 100, then you have 100 worker bees working on gathering the light that enters the camera. If you have an ISO of 200, then you have 200 worker bees. And so on and so forth. I would go further and fully explain his analogy, but suffice to say that Peterson does such an expert job that I would not be able to do it justice without reprinting it.

And beyond the explanation of the photographic triangle and how important it is to taking great photos, Peterson takes the reader into the realm of taking creative photos. As he points out in the book, there are often times 6-7 "correct" aperture/shutter speed/ISO combinations for any given photo. Decrease the aperture? Slow down the shutter speed and you'll still have a "correct" exposure. But, which of the 6-7 is going to give you the best photo? That's where Peterson takes over with photographic evidence of different photos of the same subject, all with "correct" settings. His example of a ferris wheel really hits the point home.

For those who are afraid of the "M" setting on their SLR camera, Peterson takes away all fear and, as promised in the first part of the book, imparts a confidence that will make you wonder why you were so scared of Manual mode to begin with. For those who are already shooting Manual, Peterson helps bring full meaning to the photographic triangle. And for those who have been shooting "correct" photos all along, but wonder how to take things to the next level and get photos that will make others "ooh" and "aah," Peterson delivers a detailed and wonderful explanation with plenty of examples.

Lastly, all of Peterson's photo examples include a description of what he was trying to accomplish and the settings he used. He also, in passing, offers great advice in the way of explaining how he metered his light. These aren't just pictures for him to show off; they're studies in how to actually take great photographs.

All of this and I'm only halfway through!!! I'll be sure to update once I finish, but even the first half of this book has done wonders for my confidence with Manual mode and the transition from point-and-shoot to digital SLR.

===== UPDATE =====

It's one day later and I've finished the book. As expected, Peterson delivers in the last half of the book just as he delivered in the first half. He goes on to talk about Lighting and Special Effects and, along the way, introduces "The Sky Brothers" and "Mr. Green Pants". These characters will make it easy for even beginners to remember how/where to set their exposures. Like the photographic triangle and worker bees before, Peterson's use of metaphor is perfect and, most importantly, memorable.

Overall, I'm very impressed not only with Peterson's detailed explanations of seemingly complex topics, but also the way in which he informs the reader while not making things overly technical. This book is more than well worth the price tag!

I am a prothusiast photographer. I have done some professional work and a lot of personal work. The best photographs I have taken are deliberate pictures where I have focused on perfect exposure. Exposure is broken down into two aspects, iris and shutter. For many, particularly novices, it is difficult to know to understand how to leverage the power of proper exposure. Understanding Exposure, the book by Bryan Peterson, dispels the mystery of shutter speed and iris. This book puts you in control over your camera. With the principles taught in this book, you can quickly go from photo luckout artist to photographer.

Bryan teaches everything you need to know in order to take pictures on your terms. One of the most exciting aspects of Understanding Exposure is Bryan's photo samples. The book is full of pictures taken by Bryon himself. He lists his aperture and shutter settings for each photograph next to the images. This in itself is a wealth of knowledge.

If you hope to consistently take excellent pictures, you must understand how exposure works. Bryan Peterson's book, Understanding Exposure, is the perfect way to go from photo novice to prothusiast, or to increase your knowledge of photography even if you are a professional.

-Craig Nybo, author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System

I had thought I was making the most out of my camera, but after reading this book MANY times over, my craft has improved tenfold.

Sometimes things are hidden in plain sight, and the merit of this book is to point at them so clearly, you wonder why it didn't occur to you sooner.

Unless you're a seasoned pro of course, buy this book and read it cover to cover and you'll be asking for more.

After spending a few hours last night with this book, my camera and my camera manual, I have taken a giant leap forward in understanding photography and my camera. I moved the dial off auto and actually took a manual picture in low light with no flash, and it came out properly lit and in focus. WOW! I knew I needed some kind of book when I had no idea what most of the settings on my camera meant. I was debating whether to get this book or one of the more encyclopedic ones, and I'm so glad I got this one. It provides plenty of explanation on the essential topics without being overly verbose. I can't wait to spend a weekend with my camera and the new things I've learned just from the first few pages of the book.

This book is a must-buy if you're an amatuer looking for quick and easy tips on how to expose common situations correctly. Nevertheless, it does not teach you the underlying principles that have to do with exposure leaving you quite helpless when faced with any situation that shifts from the norm therein explained. The books title is somewhat decieving, because in the end you don't really understand exposure as much as you adequately reproduce all its easy-to-learn rules. "Understanding exposure" would really require other more technical and in-depth books.

As a budding amateur photographer, I have struggled with trying to understand the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and film speed (or speed setting on a digital camera). This book provided an instant revelation. Plain language and easy to understand examples made me confident and comfortable with setting up my digital SLR. I now shoot in manual mode nearly all the time with great results. I would recommend this book to any novice-to-intermediate amateur looking to take their skills to the next level.

This is the best book I have yet read on photography! It is written in such a way that is easy to understand yet highly informative!
Bryan Petterson describes the relationship between ISO, Apperture and Shutter Speed beautiful! And as I am not yet finished with this book, and have so much better a grasp of the principles involved, I can't wait to finish and reread this book! And really be able to USE what I know and learned.
I recommend this book to ANYONE who is an amateur, or who would like the relationships between the "big three" cleared up.

There is no question that a lot of the information in this book you may already know but after reading this book you might not look at what you already know in quite the same way. Bryan really does a great job outlining how, why and when to use Aperture, Shutter or Manual mode. As you read through the book you will want your camera close at hand because you can't help but want to test your ability to create a similar exposure as his example.

The biggest "lesson" I learned reading this book was metering. Metering is the secret to getting consistently exposed pictures and Bryan gives you great tips on how to do this consistently. Bryan believes that you should get the exposure correct in camera, a philosophy I share, with little post production work to be done in Photoshop. Not that Photoshop isn't a fantastic tool but getting the "creatively correct" exposure in camera with proper technic is what he preaches. Life should be spent behind the camera not in front of the computer.

Last but not least was the overview of filters. Which ones to use and when. More good stuff here that you can certainly apply to your everyday photography.

In summary, it's really a fantastic book. I read it and used it like it was a "Photography Class in a book". I read a chapter with my camera along side to see if I can take a "creatively correct exposure".

I received "Learning to See Creatively" as a gift.
It helped me so much that I decided to buy this other
book from Peterson. This book is just
as helpful. These books are for the beginner to SLR
or digitial SLR. Probably not as helpful for intermediate
or advanced photographer.

This book, though a little on the expensive side, provides excellent examples and explications of the tools and techniques of photography. If you are brand new to the field of creative photography, or you are looking to improve your creativity by really understanding the technical aspects of your camera, this is an excellent book. Bear in mind, however, it is a little difficult to absorb in a singular reading, as it may take a while to digest the material. Specifically, the allegory the author employs to explain the relationship of aperture, film speed, and shutter speed is the best I have encountered.

An excellent book, and certainly worth the money.

For both beginner and early-intermediate photographers, this book explains the mechanical operations of the camera and tells the reader HOW those operations affect the outcome of their pictures.

With practical advice and hands-on practice lessons, Bryan really helps his readers take the next step in true photography.

I am a serious amateur photographer. Before i buy this book, i occasionally produce a great photos, but after i bought it, now i know why i able to produce a great photo and most of time don't.
if you're a beginner or serious amateur and looking for how you can expand your techniques on critical issues exposures, like aperture, shutter speed,and metering, this is your number 1 book. but, you won't find any explanation about flash photography, because the author isn't big fan of flash, which i think although i treat my flash only for rescue light source in the dark scene, but it will be more complete if this issue are explained

Mi scuso con i lettori ma questa vuole essere una parentesi "italiana" alla recensione di questo volume.
Ho letto di recensioni negative e di lamentele sul fatto che questo libro è adatto solo ai novizi.
Bhe io debbo fare una considerazione: chi fa fotografia da più anni, credo debba essere messo nella cerchia di chi ha già dimestichezza sia tecnica che creativa; è chiaro che questa tipologia di libri è diretta soprattutto a quelle persone che si avvicinano a questa passione, hobby, professione.
Personalmente ho iniziato l'arte della fotografia con una nikon 995 ed ora sono passato ad una d70, ed il libro si sposa bene anche con il digitale.
Sto imparando ad osservare i miei scatti con molta più naturalezza e precisione di quanto facevo prima, con la consapevolezza di capire quali parametri impostare per avere una bella foto.
Non esiste la perfezione ma questo libro mi ha aiutato parecchio.

I recently purchased and have read about 90% of this book. It's very helpful in explaining the exposure triangle as Peterson describes it, as well as depth-of-field including when to use it, how to use it, and how to compensate for it.

Some of the most important advice that Peterson gives is to take some chances with your photographs by trying different techniques and types of film. He also notes that even the best photographers end up with two or three great photos out of a roll of film. This makes me feel a little better that most of the photos I take aren't fit for lining the bird-cage. It should also help keep things in perspective.

I'm looking forward to finding the time to attempt some of the techniques described in the book. There's nothing in it specific to Digital Photography, if that's your area of interest, but if you choose to shoot with film, this book will be invaluable.

Peterson offers only 2 pages of superficial info on exposure technique. He does not even go into hand held metering!!!!! He assumes the reader has a 35mm camera with a built in meter (HA!) Go elsewhere and find some other competant author. This guy has written a useless book to display his personal (and not even good!) home photos.

This book has gotten hundreds of glowing reviews on Amazon. Fair enough. There's lots of good information here. But I found the author's writing style distracting and annoying. Learning that an f/8 to f/11 aperture is the best choice when focal distance doesn't matter was helpful; having him refer to them three or four dozen times as "'who cares?' apertures" is not. Ditto his other signature phrases repeated (and italicized) throughout: "Brother Backlit Sky," "Brother Reflecting Sky," "Mr. Green Jeans," etc.

The over-indulgent editing doesn't stop there. He provides generally informative background and technical info for many of the photos, but the narratives are tired: "Although I was tempted to leave, I decided to be patient and was soon rewarded," "I wasted no time turning my attention to this wonderful abstract photo opportunity," "If you're like me, you welcome spring with great enthusiasm," blah blah.

And I definitely could have done without the "my beautiful wife"-in-a-pink-string-bikini two-page image and/or the wife lingerie & cleavage shot.

If you're someone who appreciates good writing in addition to good information, I think there are better choices out there for your first book on photography. Freeman's very intelligently written The Photographer's Eye (also enthusiastically reviewed on Amazon) is one to consider.

Bryan Peterson does a fantastic job of explaining what it takes to make a great photograph from a good one. One of the key emphasis of the book is to look for creatively correct exposures and the author illustrates the point very well with a number of photos taken at different settings. The book ends with some great pro advice on metering and filters. The strongest part about this book is that all that the author writes, you can see in various photos for yourself in the book. A very well written book that will make you start thinking like a photographer.

Highly recommended for your collection of photography books.

If this was being sold as a book of photographs instead of a book about photography, it probably would cost $40-50, because the pictures themselves are stunning works of art. The author, a gifted writer and teacher as well as a superb artist and photographer, explains why and how he selected the settings for each photo.

The book is a pleasure to read, food for the mind, and a feast for the eyes.

This book was awesome. I read this book from front to back and it was easy to understand. I take better pictures and have a better understanding of my camera and its' features. I have read photography books before and have either have been more confused or never finished the book. Bryan Peterson's writing is great, easy to understand, and he takes you step by step into the "photography world"

I expected a lot of this book, that was recommended by every photographer on every forum I visit.
Maybe that's why I was a little disappointed at first reading : I already knew about f-stops, diafragma, shutter speed and their relation to each other, and I expected to get some more advanced knowledge on this subject.
That is not why one should buy this book. It IS a good book, a great book, and it did offer me quite some good new insights in photography, about "seeing photographically", about "storytelling pictures" as the author calls it. He makes his point by showing some great pictures that prove his insights.
For true beginners, this book should be THE eye-opener, a revelation, however. It teaches you all you need to know to get away from the dull "full auto" mode on your camera and make great pictures.
I would certainly recommend it, even though my expectations were not in sync with reality.....

The book is excellent, well narrated and written. Very clear, excellent illustration. As good as it gets.

The few small things to make it perfect:

ISO setting provided for the photos in addition to apperture and speed. Since book is about understanding exposure, it would be nice to see the ISO settings too - all the details.

Would like to see a little bit more details about light measurements, and not at the last chapter, but at the beginning. I was reading the book and couldn't understand why the author was getting the light reading from the sky and then recompose the shot, until in the last chapter where he finally explains. Would be nice to know from the beginning :)

This book is very good at explaining how to use your SLR (film or digital) camera in manual, Av, and Tv modes; and why you should use these modes instead of the automatic modes to take better pictures. It is illustrated with hundereds of good color pictures that show examples how different exposure settings affect the outcome of pictures. I have read several books on photograpy, but this one is the best because it gets to the point, re-enforces the text with visual examples, and can be read and understood in a few hours.

I enjoyed the book and learned a lot however I was disapointed on the digital -The book seemed to be written for the film camera user and then it appears that he went back and added some comments for the digital user.

As another reviewer stated, this book does not offer real depth in understanding exposure. It offers guidelines and ideas on how to make a good exposure. I'm pretty new to photography, and I picked up a few pointers. If you are experienced, definitely get another book. If you don't have much experience, look for a book on general photographic techniques. I'll be looking for one.

Physically, the book was well made, with high quality photographs.

A friend recommended i read this book, so i purchased it and spent the next afternoon reading through it. The book was awesome, it very clearly explained a lot of the terms i previously didn't understand and helped me to better understand why pictures weren't turning out like I had hoped. It was a great beginner book to learn how to get the right exposure from the camera instead of having to digitally edit the photos later. I highly recommend the book for the beginner or for anyone who wants to improve their photography (oh and the book is written for anyone, digital or film.

I was left with somewhat of confusion on certain topics in the author's fist book but after reading this one everything fell into place. That could be mainly because I have quite a few years more experience now and a digital camera on top of that to practice more without waisting film and instant viewing. I really liked the parts in the book explaining where to take your metering for certain photos from! It's short and to the point with many examples, maybe too many leaving out room to explain a little more on some issues. This is why only 4 stars.

I have paid thousands of dollars and spent hundreds of hours in photography classes at the Art College in the city near my home. The college is amazing and i adore the teaches. I learned a lot going to this school but i never truly understood exposure until 3 days ago when i read this book. The entire world of photography feels brand new and exciting even though i have been taking pictures for over 30 years! And if i ever see Bryan Peterson, i swear i will kiss his feet because he has changed my life. If you love photography but you've been frustrated with exposure or your not sure how to use your camera off Program Mode - This book WILL change your photos -for the better - forever.

Like many of you I am working towards making unbelievable photography and maybe someday changing careers. I have read many books cover to cover and my photography has shown great improvement in a short time period. Understand Exposure is by far the best book that I have read so far. A beginner can get this book but with a little understanding of your camera and basic camera terminology this book could make almost anyone dangerous on a shoot. The author, Bryan Peterson, jumps right in to explaining and getting you out of auto modes. Luckily I was already shooting manually and had heard some of his techniques prior but with each new lesson he seems to reiterate his earlier teachings. Within the first 20 pages you are learning what may have taken you a few weeks to months to learn when you seriously started shooting. I would say buy it. I just want to also say I am not someone the author asked to write a review. I am merely a photographer serious about improving my craft and this book should be a must have on the shelf for anyone wanting to truly learn about properly exposing your photos. Take it for what it is, this is not a composition book or a how to use your camera book ... this is pretty much a "I want to pick up my camera, throw it in manual, frame a shot and come out with the "perfect" exposure every time". That is worth a lot when you may have one short period to get the great properly exposed shot. If you buy it ... enjoy it and I will see you in some photo competitions and if you don't ... good luck ... it can be done without a doubt but this book just makes it easier.

I have been trying to occasionally learn about ISO, ASA and shutter speed for about five years. It always seems that the people I ask about these things know a bit about each of them, but then fake it when a question stumps them such as: how do these variables interact and affect each other, especially during variable light conditions?

I have now had "Understanding Exposure:..." for a week, and for the first time in my life I truly do understand these variables, and how they affect the photo when the shutter is finally pressed.

Bryan's book is beautifully designed. It flows one through the concepts he presents in a logical and clear order. At one point, he instructs the reader to pick up the camera, then walks them through using/changing the exposure parameters to take his/her very first (including mine!) fully-manual photo. This exercise alone was very enlightening, and is typical of the kind of practical information contained in this great book.

Additionally, his book contains many photographic examples, wonderful original photos (including photos of his beautiful wife and children), and humorous and encouraging writing. It is a joy to read, and after having done so, you will have a surprisingly strong grasp on the concepts and practical use of exposure methods. BRAVO!

One of my biggest problems in trying to find intro books is that none of them seemed very intro. I mean, people aren't born knowing what an f stop is. Perhaps I was merely looking in the wrong place, but this book explained to me how to use the manual setting on my camera in all sorts of situations, and how to figure out which settings are the best in various situations. What shuttle speed, aperture, light meter and ISO are, how they relate to each other, and what they will do in different instances. Some of the chapters titles made me wince with the cheese but overall this was a wonderful intro book. You may have to read it a couple times with camera and camera manual in hand but I don't think there's any book out there that will beam the knowledge directly into your head.

I think that this book is the most exellent piece of paper i have read about photography. Ok i know that the book is not usefull for profesional photographers that they know what they do all time about the right exposure. But is this book for profesionals? I don't think so. For the rest of us (the serious amateurs users) the author keeps things simple but also goes in depth in the right points. He use only the camera's light meter for right exposure and for me this is the major advandage of the book. His tips and tricks are really useful and they had helped me to improve my photos.

thalis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thalis

I really learned loads from this well written book. Bryan Peterson wrote the book in a manner that I (the beginner) could easily understand and digest. He also set in a few exercises that really helped me get over some question "humps'. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get a better understanding of what settings to apply to thier camera to get the optimum results.

A good overview of photography and proper techniques for achieving artistic exposures. I would recommend this book as required reading for all beginning photo students, and a good read for those needing a refresher course.

It dose weigh more towards film photography, and less towards digital, but the film techniques do well for digital also. It did not address questions I have about digital. It seems that my digital camera does things that the author says digital cameras do not do.

I bought this book as a complement to my new Digital Rebel XT. It is quite excellent in providing information on standard photography- things that apply to both film and digital cameras. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more and wanting to use all of the manual features available on a good SLR camera.

If you're new to digital photography and you want to go beyond using the auto mode, this book is very helpful and easy to understand. I have purchased several books on the subject and this is the book where it finally clicked. I went back to my other books after reading this one and I understood what they were trying to say. A nice pocket companion guide after reading this book is Derrick Story's Digital Photography Pocket Guide.

If you are a beginner in photography and wants to go a step further, this is a very good book. It explains all there is about, exposure (aperture, speed, ISO,...).
Simple, light and with lots of examples.

This is one of the most outstanding books on photographic technique that I have read. Examples are extreemly well explained. What you think is impossible to do, Mr. Peterson shows you how. This book is a must for any beginning or intermediate photographer. And, his wife is very good looking!

I have read many books, articles and reviews on photography. Bryan's book is the best. It is not full of the tech-no jargon you see books (by some pretty famous photographers) who I believe get caught up in the "technical language" resulting in books that are difficult to follow and impossible to utilize in the field.
Bryan, explains, shows examples and you can go outside your front door and try some of his techniques. The results are amazing. Buy this book with the realization you will carry it with you in your bag for reference.

Walt Paholak

The book is relatively short on text (I read it cover to cover in two nights) but one of its strong points is that it has many good photographic illustrations of the concepts being discussed. If you need a basic course (or a refresher) on shutter speed, aperture, focal length etc and how they interact to make the final image then this book is for you. If you are an advanced photographer (which I admittedly am not) I think the book would be too basic. It is fairly repetitive, which helps to reinforce the basic concepts, but can be a bit tedious. One glaring weakness: I have a digital SLR and the general concepts mostly apply to digital cameras but there is no explicit reference to digital photography or even an acknowledgement that it exists. All different types of film are discussed but nary a line about the digital world (however I still found the book useful). It is also pretty cheap compared to many others.

I fins this book very good for amateur, but for people
who are familiar with the concets of aperature and shutter speed, there aren't many new things in this book, and it is
more like a reference with great photos.
I gave 4 start from this reason:
for amateurs - 5 stars
for professional/advance amateurs - 3 stars

I think all of Bryan Peterson books are the best, if you care about taking better pictures. Buy them all.

I was very disappointed in the book and will be returning it. My book had a copyright date of 2004 and was a "revised edition". The author talks about taking a "creative correct exposure" but he severely limits the concept to outdoor photography. Aperture, shutter speed and ISO are only the beginning. The book DOES NOT address flash photography. The word "flash" does not even appear in the index. Understanding how and when to use a flash, indoor or outdoor, is a very important concept in taking creative correct exposures. I was left with many unanswered questions after reading this book. To summarize the book; take pictures in manual mode and learn how to use the camera's exposure meter. Search the internet for more information and save your money.

I bought this book based on the reviews here and recommendations from photography message groups. This book gives insight to exposure but it is basic, really basic. BUT the biggest issue that I had was that it seemed that in every situation, I should setup a tripod, adjust aperature and shutter speed manually. That may work for advanced or professional photographers but not someone that doesn't have a half an hour to take a picture. I also needed a book that gave me quick insights to how to set up a picture for taking pictures in dark environments. I found that I prefered John Hedgecoe's new manual of photography.

This book is an enjoyable, quick read. It contains many color plates, accompanied by text, that clearly demonstrate photographic choices such as (esp) depth-of-field, and shutter-speed.

The book frequently presents sets of photographs of identical scenes, taken with automatic and manual camera settings, which are used to explicate the shortcomings of generic one-size-fits-all point-and-shoot (P&S) camera automation that can frustrate artistic intent or expectations. More usefully, the book describes rules-of-thumb approaches using commonly available camera features that can compensate.

Among the book's strengths is motivating why and when to depart from P&S automation. As such, it may be especially useful to folks (like me) who are transitioning from a digital P&S to a more capable camera.

The book content avoids technical details, and offers good tips for an intermediate photographer, most accompanied by useful broad-brush techniques and memorable analogies that I have found helpful in my subsequent picture-taking. The book's focus is on taking "correct-by-design" pictures, with a bias against subsequent manipulation (digital or film), but does skim over such possibilities.

On a negative note, I was somewhat disappointed that the technical specifications on several interesting pictures lacked complete EXIF-type information (usu: lens, ISO, lens/focal length, camera). Among other omissions, this lack makes it difficult to tell when a given photographc was taken with a true full-frame 35mm camera (APS) vs the common digital APS-C format, or something else, entirely.

As an additional nit, the book suffers from its generality: I'd like to have seen more specifics on working through the flaws of a specific, less-capable (digital) camera+lens, as opposed to the approach taken which broadly distinguishes between film vs. digital but avoids details (presumably to avoid offending camera manufacturers).

Finally, as a digital photographer, I definitely would appreciate more information on histogram/values interpretation, better guidelines on what is/isn't recoverable by post-processing, and in general, a slightly less purist approach to the world of fixing up pictures up after the fact.

For folks new to the world of photography, I'd highly recommend this book. For folks with more experience, I'd suggest looking elsewhere (and let me know where!). For Amazon, how about a slightly more sophisticated system that allows reviewers to better express a newbie/intermediate/expert rating?

This is the book that finally helped me make the jump from auto and "P" mode to fully manual on my digital camera. I had tried many times, but this book explained the rationale and purpose behind various exposure settings so I saw the value of going manual. I have referred back to the book quite a few times to reinforce things. I would suggest it to anyone at the beginning or intermediate levels who want to improve their photography.

This book is great for the beginner or the amateur who needs a refresher course or just needs to gain an understanding of exposure. In my opinion, this is the first book that you should read when getting started in photography. A fundamental understanding of aperture, shutter speed and ISO as well as light metering are essential concepts on which everything you learn about photography is built. Without this book, you will struggle to gain control over your exposures. This book is equally as important for both the film and digital photographer.

As far as the content goes, the explanations, instructions and excercises all correspond with beautiful color pictures that depict what it is that is trying to be explained or taught. You will not be disappointed here.

Bryan Peterson is a world renowned photographer. However, his book was understandable and written in a way for the novice or hobbyest to comprehend. He further impressed me when he took the time to respond to some questions that I had after reading his book. He is truly dedicated to his profession and teaching others.

This is a must read.

I took a full year photography course in high school. I never realized how much I learned in that course until I started reading these "highly rated" photography books. I'm by no means a professional. I would classify myself as a serious amateur. If I knew absolutely nothing about shutter speed, ISO, and f stops, this book would present me with a really good foundation on those subjects. However, I had already learned a good amount of information on shutter speed, ISO, and f stops and I was hoping that this book would cover more advanced techniques in lighting, and that it would give more examples on "tricky" or advanced "exposures".

If you just bought a digital camera or if you shoot film, and you have absolutely no idea what shutter speed, ISO, and f stops are and how they relate to one another, then I think you will benefit from this book. If you already know what shutter speed, ISO, and f stops are then I don't think you'll learn a great deal from this book.

The book however is great for reference and the pictures are worth the price of the book anyway. I didn't say I disliked the book, I was just hoping for more. I think the title should be Understanding Exposure for the new photographer.

If you need to know how to properly expose a photo, either with film or digital, the knowledge you need is in this book. Bryan Peterson explains everything in detail, from apertures and shutter speeds, to how to meter a scene. The photos usually illustrate his point perfectly, and they're pleasing to the eye to boot.
So, why not a 5-star rating? Well, Mr. Peterson's writing style leaves a little to be desired. I constantly felt like he was talking down to his readers. He uses childish analogies and includes rather silly stories from his past. If I was in one of his classes and he taught it with the same tone as his books, I'd have to drop out. And seeing how this book was written several years ago, the part on digital is pretty outdated. I also noticed that the captions explaining the equipment and settings used are not always correct. These are minor complaints, though. Just skip over the boring parts of the text and get to the good stuff, and you'll love the book.

I bought this book after reading good reviews about it in a photography forum.

When I got it I just couldn't put it down.

First of all, the photos are AMAZING! Full with live saturated colors. These are photos of the kind that makes me say WOW... and believe me I said wow on every page turn.

I liked a lot the presentation of the material. I found the accompanying photos very helpful in understanding the text in every topic.

What is nice is that the texts are short and the accompanying picture(s) are indeed worth a 1000 words.

The photos and text complement nicely and reading this book made me want to leave everything else that I wanted to do, grab my camera and try to practice the wealth of material.

As an amateur photographer this was a great 1st book on photography to read.

I also bought all the other books from Bryan Peterson and those were just as fun, just as useful and just as amazing.

this book is better than a class. read it and you will understand the sacred mysteries of iso, aperture, and exposure, with plenty of real-world examples and an easy-to-understand style that's just technical enough without being dry. tip: before going on to the next chapter, complete your "homework" assignments. only downside is it's a bit big to take into the field with you.

If, like me, you have bought endless books that claim to reveal the `Secrets of Digital Photography' only to find that, apart from the pretty pictures, the most that they reveal is that we used to use something called `Film', but, due to the wonders of modern technology we can now take pictures without it, or that they wax lyrical on subjects such as `How to connect your camera to your PC' or how many photo programmes are available to make your pictures right after you have `cocked them up' in camera, you will realise with what relief I started to read `UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE' by Bryan Peterson.

Here was a guy who was prepared to tackle my ignorance head on and reveal to me the true `Secrets Of Digital Photography', I can honestly say, hand on heart that I now understand the relationship of Aperture to Shutter Speed to ISO, or what he calls the `Photographic Triangle' and I at last understand what that thing was that the wedding photographer stuck up your nose at your cousins wedding as he measured the amount of available light.

If you want to know about how light works, Bryan tells you in this book, if you want to know how to make `Creative Exposures' it's all here, if you never knew how to get that `Out of focus background' on a pin sharp foreground there are 7 pictures of his Dad with background coming more into focus with each shot and full chapter and verse on each exposure.

Since reading the book I have 'Boldly gone' etc, trying my hand (with a fair amount of success) at 4 second night exposures, Macro photography, as well as portrait etc, I am conciously aware of the 'Rule of Thirds' and rarely use my camera on 'Auto' as I have more control over what my camera does if I use 'Manual'.

As a retired teacher and `Photographic Dabbler' turned serious photographer perhaps the thing that strikes a chord most with me is the fact that Peterson demonstrates immediately that not only is he a Pro Photographer but he is equally at home in the classroom and uses terminology that is calculated to stay in you memory and get you to your goal quicker, for instance he likens the ISO numbers to light gathering Bees, (You have to read the book) but I know that I will never forget the simile (if that's what it is) just as I never forgot that `Gorillas Don't Always Eat Bananas' was a good way to remember the first five Sharp keys in music.

Of course you have to want to learn this stuff, but if you are looking at Photography Books the likelihood is that you want to know it, if so you are in luck.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, I am not an expert in photography, that's why I bought the book, but I am no longer a dummy in photography and that is all due to Bryan Peterson.

I purchased this book based on several other recommendations. This book is well written, easy reading and explains all aspects of exposure. Bryan Peterson the author explains what aperture is and when and why you would want to use it, as well as shutter speed and when or why to use that as well as a great section dealing with lighting issues. He also provides some simple exercises to help you understand the concept. The book is also not biased toward either digital or film based photography, and also not biased towed an SLR or a point and shoot. The author does a great job of explaining some of the differences between the two (for me since I have both digital SLR and point and shoot, it was an, ah ha, that's why). I highly recommend this book.

The best of five books I've purchased.
I have learned more in the first 25 pages of this inexpensive
book even after reading EVERY page of the others.
Another note:
This book actualy has great pictures in it.
The others were jammed full of stock.
Accurate large COLOR, yes, one of the other books is in black and white.
A rare 5 star from me.
Buy this book if you want to take the next step

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone in need to improve his/her understanding of camera techniques. This book is awesome! Peterson does a really down-to-earth way of discribing aperture/shutter speed...etc...and the correct and best use of those in a very simple to understand way. The book is a joy to read. He gives great tips and tricks and even assingments you can do if you like to really see what he's talking about. I just got this book last week and am already a firm believer that with the help of it you can improve your knowledge and end result of your exposures/pictures. A+

I am an amature enthusiast - I've been shooting pictures for, oh about 5 years. This book is highly enjoyable, a little dry at the start. He explains the very basics, I guess that's good if you are just going into photography and don't know about stops, ISO, shutter speed, etc.

He talks about the sensor of the camer and how it's at the center at everything - that and other hints on how to take pictures make this book very enlightening. He even tells you exactly what to do on certain days, it's excellent.

One thing he could have talked a little more was composition and how to make a dull looking picture a very good one (composition). The discussion on filters was very useful in understanding how to solve the problem of differently exposed areas in your picture, I'd probably just buy this for that section.

High highly recommended read, buy it!

I got this book hoping to learn more about how to improve the exposure of my photos and the book did that. The author shows explains the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed and how they can be used in conjunction with each other to get the exposure you want. To a beginner photographer like me, that was a big help. He also worked to explain that there isn't just one right exposure for each photo, which I had not considered. It's been revised to include more information about digital SLR cameras which is what i have.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a relative beginner in photography and is looking to better understand the factors that impact exposure.

The author is very easy to follow and offers excellent examples which makes it easy for the aspiring photographer to learn the basic concepts to turn their snapshots into photos.

Hello,
Before buying this book, I read many of the reviews about it here on amazon, and decided to give it a try. I was very happy. The book gives you great tips and tricks about exposure, how to understand it, how to think when choosing your aperture/shutter, how to meter for frontlight/backlight/sidelight,... I liked the author's way of giving the information, very inspiring. Hope that helps you decide, you won't be dissapointed. Please make a point: this book is a keeper in your library.

Being a home schooling mom, I am the type of person who knows how to use metaphors to explain things. They can make even the most complex of situations easier to understand and apply. That is what made this book so easy to follow and understand.

Simply written without being elementary, this book is great for beginning photographers and beyond!

The sample photos throughout the book are extremely helfpul in showing several techniques, and the step by step directions for applying those techniques are clear and complete.

Anyone struggling with the "technical" side of photography would not go wrong with this book!

I have just started taking pictures. I have never used the manual mode on my camera before because I didn't understand exposure with shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. This author explains all of this in simple terms to help me understand.
Now I use nothing but the manual mode when taking pictures. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about exposure.

This is one of the very best photography books I have read. First Mr. Peterson explains basic things in a clear, easily understood way and uses effective illustrations to enhance his explanations. Second, He explains one element at a time and then shows you where that element fits into a greater whole. I found that I was already using much of what he covered, but when he explained how the different pieces fits together and how you can vary their relationships to one another to affect the end product; my separate pieces began to lock into place with one another and gave me a more powerful tool to work with. Once I began to grasp the larger view of exposure, I could see the variety of ways that a picture could be viewed and found I now understood what was technically necessary to capture the particular view that I wanted.

Mr. Peterson defined what correct exposure is, and how you can know when you have it. He then explained that the correct exposure could be gained with several different combinations of aperatures and shutter speeds, and that the specific combinations were what allowed us creative exposures. Creative exposures change what the picture emphasizes. Exposures that were easy and pleasant to look at, but focused on motion rather than detail. Exposures that were in focus from the flowers at your feet to the castle at the foot of the mountains on the horizon, telling the story of the connection between that castle and the valley between it and the flowers close at hand. Exposures that emphasize shape with strong shadows, or that open up the shadows to reveal the details that would otherwise be hidden.

He goes further, too, to explain about metering--the hows and whys--and about using exposure compensation. Again, these were things I was already doing; but doing by the seat of my pants rather than out of knowledge and intentional planning.

I came away from this book feeling like I had been handed a whole new box of tools along with the skills to use them, a new way to look at and plan for the shots I was taking, and a restless urge to take my camera out and bring home the images that reflect how I see the things I am looking at.

I had borrowed the previous edition from the library and decided to put this book on my wishlist. It arrived, and it is inspiring and teaching me a few things. However, I can't give this book 5 or even 4 stars because it contains a number of things I find confusing, and a few that are plain wrong (check out his definition of 'specular highlight' and compare it to anyone else's, for example - I can only assume he meant to say 'bokeh' instead).

Excellent! Written in a very easy to understand format. I am an amateur photographer with a new digital slr and a lot of questions, this book gives you a really good insight into photgraphy in a way that can be easily understood and put to use. I love it. X

This book gave me a good idea of how to use the combination of shutter speed and aperture. I highly recommend this book to people who would like to know how to use their camera's manual controls to take better pictures.

This is simply the best photography book that I've read. Very good explanations of how to get a good exposure, every time. Very well recommended.

if you're either 1--non-tech inclined, or 2--just want the "quick route", then this is the book for you!

otherwise, like me who's 1--wanting to study photography more seriously, or 2--more tech inclined, than there's far better books to study from on the art & science of photography.

Like most people who love to travel, I consider Photography as one of my favorite hobbies. I own a Minolta Xtsi SLR (24-200mm). While in most cases the automatic features allow me to take reasonable pictures, I always wanted to go one step further and understand how I take pictures - and this book helped me a lot!

If you are an amateur photographer owning an SLR camera (Nikon/Canon/Minolta) with a reasonable zoom lens (28-200), then this book is a must for you.

The author gives a wonderful explanation on exposure rules and techniques to go one step further to take great pictures.

Once you are done with the book, you will have a clear understanding of f-stops, focal lengths, shutter speeds, Depth-of-Field, and all other gadgets that are there in your camera, which you have never bothered to use!

Remember the numbers that are displayed inside the viewfinder when you take a picture? Well, it has some significance and this book tells you what it is!

A MUST BUY FOR BUDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS.

If you need to understand aperture, shutter speed, film speed and their relationships, this is a good book. Of course these are some of the most important aspects of photography, but if you are looking for more as I was, this book was disappointing.

I wasn't terribly impressed with the photos. And I was terribly unimpressed with the writing, editing, and even grammar in several cases. Finally, the book is a little dated at this point. I bought Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing and found it much, much, much better for me.

I read this book when I first picked up photography. I lent it to a friend and haven't seen it since. I am now buying a new copy because this is a book worth keeping around. It is full of good information, is very easy to understand, and give information on all the photos exhibited. Definitely worth the money.

For someone just starting the seemingly daunting journey into photography, this book is for you... I mean, let's face it... not only are there a plethora of cameras, films, lenses, etc... to choose from most of us are just drawn to images... we respond to images. This book really helps you understand what exposure is... at the core. I read this book over and over again when I was still an amateur and now that I'm a professional, I find myself handing as a gift to my friends that want to improve their photographic skills... let's just say I've given this book as a gift at least a half dozen times.
I think Peterson has done a great job of `simplifying' the art of exposure. This is a must read for those starting out!

My cousin sent me this book because he knew I was interested in really learning how to use my camera. I mastered "auto" mode and was ready to learn. What a great book to learn with. The beginning of the book starts with an intro to aperture and shutter speeds. The rest of the book is photos with the settings used for that particular exposure. It not only gets into the technical side of photography but also the art side. He mentions with photos why he used the settings he did and what effect they have on the results. I would recommend this book to anyone getting started with photography, as I am.

This is the book you always dread buying unseen on the web: Good title- terrible execution. Very little if anything at all on exposure. No depth or exploration of exposure whatsoever. Lots of his personal photos to fill the pages up. I cannot believe that the publisher accepted this poorly created book. My advice: steer clear of this ripoff book!

I ordered this item expecting a full, professional, in depth exposition of photographic exposure. Instead I received a glossy, superficial product. I did not keep it a day, giving it away to a library.

I just bought a Nikon D300 DSLR Camera and thought I brush up my skills by buying a couple of books. Besides getting Understanding Exposure, I also bought The Digital Photography I and II. In comparison, Understanding Exposure is outdated and slightly over-rated.

1. Outdated. Some part of the books still refers film camera which I believe most readers, either wouldn't care or get confused. In today's digital world, why bother to have 8 pages (page 152 to 159) comparing digital and film (booked was first published in 2004 by someone who started shooting in the 1970s. no wonder). Wouldn't it be better to compare Digital Compact Camera vs DLSR instead?

2. Too basic for those have already have some shooting experience. Half the book talk about aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Big aperture helps blur the background, slow shutter speed gives a sense of motion and high ISO can be use in low lighting conditions. If you already knew this, then you might not learn so much from this book.

3. Compared to 'The Digital Photography Book', it doesn't give that many tips that will spur you into action immediately. Although after reading the book, you should know when to set aperture to f2.8 or f8 and shutter speed to 1/4 sec or 8 secs, it somewhat feels theoretical.

4. Does not talk about equipments and use of flash which I think are key in getting better pictures. But to be fair, this book is about understanding 'Exposure' not 'Photography'.

Having said the above, I did learn something from this book. My key takeaway are Back Lighting, Making Rain and fixing camera onto moving object like a bicycle. I recommend this book for those who are completely new to photography. But for those who already have some basic knowledge, Scott Kelby's The Digital Photogrpahy is more suitable.

Well, I never expected to write a review, but I did because this book is what I was looking for. I've been using camera for decades now, but I was mainly point-and-shoot photographer. Yes, everybody liked my pictures but I really did not know how to be consistent in the results. So I got myself a new Nikon D80 and undertook to learn how to take pictures with full control over the process. I browsed through Amazon in search of "become a concious photographer book for dummies" and I ended up buying this book and Ansel Adams's "Camera".
This book has everything you need to move from amateur to prosumer photographer. It expalains what is exposure and light and how you can control it. It gives you hints on metering and some basic special techniques. What is very important is that it gives you plenty of color pictures with short stories on how they were taken and data on exposure parameters so you can check how they impact the final result.
So get this one if you would like to buy one book which would allow you to undersatnd how to take beautiful and creative pictures! I guess that when you finally get it and read it you will be hungry for more information. But then you can get books on specific subjects - here - you have all the basics that you need.

I'm new to photography, so this was a great book that explained the basic concepts while providing full page photographs to illustrate the difference in settings. Its nice to see two versions of the same photo, one with a certain setting and another without. It really helps you understand photography basics. This was exactly the type of book I was looking for.

I still continue to read this book. it is a great book for beginners. and the more you shoot the more the books makes even more sense.

go get it now if you are new to photography!

Second book of Bryan Peterson's I've read. He does an amazing job of explaining the different methods and really taking the mysticism out of exposure control. ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed, lighting, and many other topics are really explained in a clear and simple way so as to not leave any confusion.

It's funny, I noticed a huge different in my pictures after just reading the first couple of chapters.

Highly recommended.

The author takes all of the technical jargon, drop kicks it into a rubbish tin, then explains in plain and simple terms, what it is that you really need to know.

This book should come recommended with any SLR purchase , it quickly and clearly explains how and why to use all the creative options on an SLR camera ,and also includes some practical exercises to demonstrate the principles.

If you have never taken your camera off fully automatic , do yourself an favour and get this book , it is by far the clearest explanation of what any camera is capable of and will have you using the advanced features of your camera in no time.

SUPERB technical book !! written in a precise+ easy to understand+ humurous style. A MUST for one to learn taking good/creative photo, as well as for one to acquire basic (to profound) knowledge to appreciate photographic images.

Just like other folks that I read in the Reviews, I made decision to order all Bryan Peterson's 4 books, in my case, right after reading the first few chapers of Understanding Exposure, and realized how valuable the books and this author/Bryan Peterson is, to my thirst of knowledge in photography .

Again, like a few comments that I read in Review, I also regret to think all I can get from Bryan is 4 books. I hope Bryan Peterson will publish new one in the near future.

As Bryan taught his students that there's a wealth of subjects in this world for one to photograph, I'm sure there's equally a wealth of knowledge, out of Bryan's years of experiences, that he can still share.

Being a novice photographer, this book has helped me exponentially.
He goes into detail and gives you chapters on each of the fundamental necessities for great photography. Along with his phenomenal photography, he gives you the settings that went along with them and explains why he used what he used and how he achieved the photograph.

Fantastic learning tool.

Highly recommended.

This book already has plenty of reviews, so I won't go into detail as to what makes it a very good book. Being an amateur photographer, not really that interested in buying a tripod, a converter, filters, not to mention an expensive SLR, I was a little sad to see that some advice in the book was not for me (the author readily acknowledges when it is the case). It particularly concerns the latter third or so of the book. Mostly, it's the special effects and very tricky exposures.
But a lot of what he has to say does work for both film and digital, and for point-and-shoot as well as SLR. I was particularly grateful for 1 page on how SLR apertures compare to the fixed zoom lens ones, of all the things I read before, none seemed to mention the difference. A couple of more smaller bits of advice on digital and fixed-lens versus film and SLR were "aha!" moments for me as well.

Bryan Peterson does an outstanding job of explaining one of the most challenging topics to a learning photographer. This book contains exactly what the camera user's manual does not cover -- how to use your camera settings in a broad range of photo situations. It does not get bogged down in camera technology, but focuses on how to use your camera to get great shots. I am very impressed with Bryan's book and will probably buy others. Also check out his website.

I went to our local library and found this book, took it home and as I read (I didn't want to put it down!)I finally began to understand the concept of exposure! Thanks Bryan!!! I ordered the book from Amazon the next day and can hardly wait to experiment with my camera and see if I can FINALLY get GOOD exposure! Definitely a 5-star book for an amateur photographer wanting to improve!

The line on the front of this books states "How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera" and after you have read this book from cover to cover you will completely be shooting great photos! On each page, the author shows you what settings he used when capturing the images and this helpd ALOT! I also purchased "The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby" and that book is missing what Understanding Exposure gives! Details! Understanding Exposure is detailed, helpful and the images are amazing. If you want to take great pictures? BUY THIS BOOK!

This book is fantastic! I'm only about 2/3rds of the way through it, but am amazed at the color photos used to help show how adjusting the camera's settings can help take better pictures. Very well laid out, and easy to read. A great book.

I actually read few books about the same subject, but this book is one of the best. It illustrates the topics in an way that all levels photographers can understand easily.

Ok. I'll admit it: I buy a *lot* of books that I don't read and sometimes just glance at and use for reference. I actually read this book cover to cover. It's short and it has a lot of good examples that illustrate what the author is writing about.

I learned a lot and most of that was by looking at sample photos and reading the short text descriptions next to them.

I am not an advanced photographer so perhaps more experienced readers may find the book less useful but for beginners it's just fantastic.

There is a lot of good stuff out there, but I found this one to be one of the best books on exposure available anywhere. Peterson gives us all he knows and that is a lot.

I've recently decided to enter the DSLR world, so I'm quite new at Photography and DSLR cameras. I bought this book as well as the DSLR and Digital Photography for Dummies, and while the latter was an "OK" book, this book is absolutely great!

Not only it covers the basic concepts for an exposure (Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO), it also covers technical details about them (for the more fanatic ones). I must confess I was a bit confused in some parts of the book, but I'm pretty sure that after I use my new camera and take some pictures around and go back to reading this book, the hardcore things will make a lot more sense to me.

From a beginner's point of view, this is a must have book.

Great book that will introduce you to digital photography in a very lucid way. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed reading this book and I still enjoy referencing this book as well. Bryan Peterson does an excellent job of explaining the relationship of lighting with shutter speed, aperture, ISO and other factors. The accompanying examples are great, they help bring into focus (no pun intended) what he is writing about. I love the way he captions his photographs with the important data and what he was trying to accomplish by taking the picture

Anyone who is interested in learning more about photography this is the book to have in your library.

To all those new to dSLR (and SLR's in general) Camera's, this book will help you get off the pre-programed icon modes on your camera's dail and over to M, S and A (or for Canon, M, Tv and Av; aka, Manual, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority). That is where you really should be to get the most out of your camera.

Get his book and take control of your camera instead of having your camera control you.

I have purchased this book about two months ago, and you can already see that my photographic skills have been improved! This book helped me to understand how to set exposure. I set exposure only manually now. I would say that for an advanced photographer, this may not be a great help. But for me it was just "what doctor ordered" =)). I tried to read about the exposure modes in many other different books, web sites, on-line discussions, etc. But this book helped me to finally understand how it works. I would highly recommend this book to any beginner photographer.

I am only half way through this book and already I have learned more from it than the other 20 or so photography books sitting on my shelves put together! The writing is engaging and the more technical stuff is made understandable with cute analogies and gorgeous photographs. I am so impressed I have ordered two more of his books and will be ordering more again. Don't hesitate!

If the subject of exposure was as confusing to you as it was to me. It was recommended to me by a photographer - GREAT!

I learned so much from this book. I have one of those digital SLR cameras that do everything for you, and yet I often have had trouble getting a good exposure consistently. This book helps you understand exposure well enough that you can even shoot pictures in the dreaded manual setting and get great results. The book is easy to read rather than dry like a textbook, and loaded with color photos which compare the results of taking the same picture with different exposure settings. If you know what aperature, shutter speed, and ISO are, but have always struggled to truly understand how they interrelate, or have been in a certain lighting situation and wondered which settings to use, this book will help you. If you have ever wanted to photograph a breathtaking scene before you, but have been disappointed by the results your camera gave on automatic settings, this book will help you. I can't say enough good things about this book.

The book was an easy read and clearly explained the basics of manual and semi-manual camera operation. Since reading the book I have found that "P" mode, which I have always used, is not the greatest for exposure settings. Recently I took great photos at dusk without using a flash. I did not think that was possible before reading this book.

There is more to exposure than just matching aperture, shutter and ISO values. The first half of the book explains the relation between these three, and might be a little overdone for intermediate photographers. But the second half more than compensates for that.
Bryan Peterson shows many tricks regarding finding the right light settings, using shutter time in creative ways, and how to get the most out of a picture by using the correct light.

Recommended!

Before reading this book, my photography was decent, but I wasn't nailing the exposure. Since reading "Understanding Exposure" I have really gotten the hang of where and how to meter the light in difference scenes. This book does a great job of going through a lot of different scenes and how to meter the light and get the "most creative exposure." Anyway, I started to read this book and could not put it down. I read the entire thing over the course of about 2-days and then about a week later, I read it again. You will not be dissatisfied with this book. I have purchased several books to help me improve my photography and this one has helped the most! Enjoy.

This book has good information for the novice to intermediate photographer abouut exposure, but it reads a little dry. I have tended to skip through the chapters looking for certain topics rather than reading from beginning to end, as it does not lend itself to sitting down and reading that way.

The information presented in the book is very helpful, however, and I have gained a lot from the lessons I have learned so far...

This book is obviously written for a wide audience with different equipment that includes film cameras, basic digital cameras (but possessing some type of manual control) and advanced digital SLRs. There were many useful points throughout the book covering the intelligent usage of shutter speed, aperture and metering. Concisely he reviews the basics of each and builds on them so that even an advanced amateur such as myself with my trusty Nikon D100 will have gained a greatly improved usage of each. The one downside to the book was the writing style was sometimes too simplistic and Mr. Peterson tried to cover too broad an audience. I highly recommend this book.

Simply the best. When you apply the techniques that Lee shares with us, you my friend, will understand how simple it is to improve your photos and make them come alive.

I read the first edition and the second; the person that says "the author relies strickly on his camera's automatic exposure system" is SO WRONG it isn't funny. He talks about the importance of spot metering and measuring different portions of the scene for CREATIVE EXPOSURE; kindof hard to get creative exposures if you never take the camera out of auto mode. This book will be the best money that you've ever spent.

If you want a basic guide to tell you about aperture, ISO, shutter speed, light metering and the like, then this is the right book for you. If you want a in-depth book about the physics of it all, then by all means buy the $100 book mentioned in one of the other reviews- it's a good one. But it's also $100. This one is much less!

This book helped me begin to understand what I was dealing with in my 35mm SLR. Things were broken down into no-nonsence explainations and written in everyday english. It has enough information to educate the everyday familly photographer into taking non-blurry photos, but plant enough basic skills as to provide an excellent base for further study if desired.

I would definatly recommend!

I absolutely loved this book. I recently purchased a digital SLR in hopes to learn aboout photography. Peterson's examples and photos are beyond excellent for the beginner. The concepts are clearly presented. I continue to use the book as a resource and my pictures have since gotten better and better. Before reading this book, I'd nod my head silently in conversations amongst other photographers, but now I actually can participate as I have a much better understanding of such terms as aperature, depth of field, and exposure. This is a must-have for any beginner, especially one who is coming from the world of point-and-shoot to SLR!

This book taught me how exposure works. Now it's fun again to create digital images. I'm a novice at photography that is learning quickly with the help of this "easy read". Plain and simple language that I truly enjoy reading. Best book I've read on photography in years. Bryan explains the how-tos clearly and makes it fun to go out and do it! Thanks Bryan

For anyone picking up a camera for the first time, or someone like me, who has been taking pictures for decades, this is a must have book. Bryan Peterson speaks to the artist in us in simple and easy to understand language that demystifies the terminology of photography. He is truly interested in making sure that after you have read this book, you will have a greater appreciation for the artistry of photography and you will have the tools necessary to do it your own way. Filled with several "How I did this" examples, Peterson demonstrates the concepts with no ego. There is no sense of, "This is the way I do it, so this is the way you must do it!" He just imparts the knowledge that will allow you to make the informed choices you will need to take great pictures and the insight to know, when you look at the scene infront of you, what those choices are. He is looking to instill a life long fascination with photography and a childlike sense of wonder for the trial and error that it takes to learn and master the art of photography. Peterson truly loves his profession and his artform and I think his goal is to inspire those feelings in everyone willing to take the time to pick up a camera, put a roll of film in it, and go out into the world and record what they see and admire.

As an amateur photographer I had to start somewhere. I had taken a few classes, but they were focused more on the darkroom. So I craved the more technical aspects of creating a great photo. I went straight to Ansel Adams' work and was quickly overwhelmed. After finding Understanding Exposure by chance, it did worlds of difference in my understanding of the relationship between light the camera, and film. I read it in one sitting! I couldn't recommend this more for the beginner. Once finished with this book I had no trouble understanding the vastly more technical works of Ansel Adams. Understanding Exposure is a great stepping stone to more complicated photo theory.

For anyone else who considers themselves an intermediate photographer, go to the "godfather" of modern photography, Ansel Adams. There is truly little that compares with his literature and depth of knowledge. Get "The Camera", "The Negative", and "The Print". Unbelievably informative. Good luck.

Up until I opened up the cover of this book and started reading, I only had limited understanding of how exposure works. I kind of understood the mechanics of exposure, but not enough to make truly informed decisions about how to adjust the exposure settings.

Adjusting one out of three different exposure parameters, all of which will render slightly different results, depending on the settings of the other two, is not a simple proposition.

After reading only the first 16 pages, things started seriously clicking for me (no pun intended...:) Techniques and settings are not only explained, but also wonderfully illustrated with an abundance of beautiful pictures.

The pictures in the book aren't just the typical "this is how it should look", they actually show you what the result would have been had you used the settings that the camera came up with, and why the camera came up with those settings. You will learn exposure a lot faster thanks to the variety pictures, with less failed experimentation on your own (saving a bundle on film).

I now think only about how I WANT the picture to turn out. I let the camera make the initial settings, I then adjust the settings on the camera to achieve the desired end result, KNOWING what I am doing. I am not saying that I have turned instant expert, I am still learning, I am saying that I now have enough knowledge to make informed decisions.

The title really says it all...

Although I admire Bryan Peterson's books, I would not count this as amoung his best. It is a compilation of articles that one can find in other books of his but it doesn't really give you a thorough basis in the topic of exposure.

I look at the other reviews on this book...and am surprised. I am an advanced amateur photographer...I know the concepts...but this book rams them home and does so in an inviting and delightful way. Well written, well illustrated, quality item. There is information in this book that is not found in basic books. Push/Pull Processing, using the DOF meter on the lens itself, 18% grey and etc. I loved it...and devoured it...and will use it for a reference. Yes, there are some basic things in here, but a nice sprinkling of some advanced concepts too. I recommend it highly. It is a nice piece of work. The book itself is a quality item...not rag type materials. I will look for other writings from this author.

This book is excellent! I am new to the world of SLR cameras and this book has helped me to understand metering better than I ever thought I could.

I had a question about something in the book and I found Bryan Peterson on the Internet and e-mailed him. He got back to me within 24 hours with an answer! I was impressed.

It's a great book--easy to read and very helpful. The only drawback for me was that he is using a fully manual camera and it took a while for me to figure out what he was talking about when he said, "I turned the dial until the correct shutter speed was indicated". This is what I wrote him about and he explained to me that with a manual camera, you choose your aperture (or shutter speed) and then turn a dial to find the correct corresponding shutter speed (or aperture). With my camera, if I choose the aperture, the correct shutter speed is automatically displayed for me. I don't have to turn a dial to find it.

Get this book! You need it, lol!

Ah yes, Photo-graphy, literally "light-drawing" If you are ready to move beyond just snapping a picture or taking a photograph, buy this book, read and re-read it until it is dog-earred. Brian Peterson teaches or reminds us that we as photographers are truly artist skilled in the control and manipulation of light. Illustrated with several images that undeniably illustrate the exposure concept that the correct exposure is not always the BEST exposure for the most striking image. Read this book, learn the "rules", break the rules and let your new found knowledge and skill take your photographs,from mere snap shots and pictures to artistic images. Worth every penny and more...

I read this book, highlighted a lot of things in it...applied what I read and let me tell you, it works....who cares whether or not the pictures in the book are "home" photos....who gives a hoot. I looked at it this way, "I want to achieve a shot like that" and, he shows you how. I learned that white reflects 36% and black only 9% light...I learned that if you point the camera at the sun, the camera will think there's too much light and cut the amount in half, thus, getting an underexposed picture....so, poop on thoses who don't like it...maybe they're too far advanced for it....I use it as a guide and it does work...and all of the pictures in the book, he provides you with the stats of how he shot it...so, don't cut the author down...stop being a fuddy duddy and buy this book....it's great...

...and I mean a lot. He's quick to give helpful hints and tips with clear vivid analogies...but don't go and buy the book just yet. Those of you who are professionals or experienced amateurs will find this book lacking in very advanced techniques. It explains middle range basics (It won't tell you how to turn on the camera) on better exposures. Don't be surprised if at times you find the author almost appear to be bragging about his life and supposed success. However, it is still a good book for people that have little to no experience in taking their camera out of auto mode and getting better exposures. It's not the best but definitely really good. I think instead of writing separate books the author could have composed the whole series into one book because reading all his books you will often find yourself re-reading information from book to book. This is his main book, the one for which people recognize him. If you read any book of his this should be it, go and borrow his other ones from the library.

I ordered this book based on reviews on these pages. I expected a lot of information in this book and hints on how I could best use certain camera settings in certain situations. And although this book does give some very nice beginners information, it nowhere nearly gives me all the answers I expected. The writer makes some errors in what aperture he used and he makes some very strange analogies to explain things. He compares ISO values with bees carrying waterbuckets.. what the...!?

I'm also not very sure for whom this book is written. It's definitely not for the pro, and as a matter of fact I believe that beginners will only get confused by reading this book. I think I'll sell it as soon as I can.

OK, I love this book.

After having used a compact camera for a few years and doing my best to understand all these shutter speeds, apertures and ISO, I decided I bought "Understanding Exposure" and two weeks later I was able to purchase a dSLR and actually understand it. As soon as other books by Petrson were published I ordered them as well.

I'm not saying this is a book for everyone - even some reviews here will tell you that professionals are not particularly happy about it, but then, if you're a professional, you should understand exposure.

What I'm saying is, if you want to decide whether you want to be serious about photography, get the book. If you want to switch from a compact camera to a dSLR, get it. If you already have a dSLR but you feel you want to understand it better, get it.

Peterson is clear, encouraging and friendly. The explanations are fully illustrated and you will finally get the difference between f/2.8 and f/32. You will see when to use 1/500s and when to use 1/60s. You will understand what the ISO thing is all about.

I have read it a few times and I still read it sometimes to learn everything.

Best photography book I've ever seen.

Maybe I should have gotten this book first thing, but I just don't see the big deal about this book, It was somewhat informative, but really not much I hadn't already read online or in other books. It doesn't have any of those ah-ha moments or anything that just makes exposure 'click'. Since this book was recommended to me, I thought there might be some valuable info that I have been missing in order to get that perfect exposure and it just wasn't in there.

I think this book is probably ok for your first photography learning tool, but if you have read other book and online through forums and such, you probably already know everthing this book has to offer.

I am a photo enthusiast trying to learn photography. Purchased Nikon's high powered DSLR camera, then purchased 5 books on photography. This was one of the five I stumbled upon by accident. It surpassed the rest and is worth its weight in GOLD!! Everything is well explained. It's goal is to not only make you a better photographer, but also to help you understand the mechanics of a camera. It will exceed your expectations! Loaded with pointers, tips and tricks. Loved it! Informative/priceless:) -should cost more.

I used 3 criteria for measuring this book. 1) How well the information was conveyed. 2) How well I was able to use that information to take better pictures. 3) How much did it enhance my overall knowledge base?

1) IMO Peterson does an outstanding job conveying the basics of the what, how, and why we do what we do with settings on our camera such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and so forth. I absolutely LOVE and adore his writing style. When I sat down to read his book, I couldn't put it down. It's written like a webpage (for the most part) with only a few paragraphs of text on each page, but Peterson is able to cut to the chase and clearly explain in detail how things like aperture work and how to enhance your photos.

What makes Peterson's style so appealing to me is that he is very intelligent. His tone is very warm and inviting. I felt as if my best friend had invited me to his house on a warm sunny day to talk about photography. Because Peterson is so warm and open, many people are offended by this. When he talks about how much money he made on such and such shoot (which he only did on two occasions), I take this as an extension of his warmth and openness, like an Uncle who is talking about what he did X number of years back on a photo shoot. Other people see this as either a waste of valuable text space or braggadocio. Whatever the case, if you read the book from front to back, you will understand why he says what he says and why he uses the tone he does.

2) It's been two months since I finished reading Understanding Exposure and I can honestly say I don't think Mr Peterson's tips have helped. They have helped somewhat in that I know that F8 and F11 are "don't care" type of stops. It helped me when I was talking photography with my Uncle this past week so it made me feel like I was knowledgeable in the subject. However, when I try to put Mr Peterson's hints and tips on how to shoot waterfalls with at least 1/8 sec shutter speed, the photo's colors were way off.

It's not really fair to blame Mr Peterson for my inability to improve my shot. Sometimes it's the user to blame, and in my case, because I'm inexperienced (I just bought my Nikon D40 in October) it may be because I'm just not familiar enough with my camera controls. What was distressing to me was the obvious lack of information on digital cameras. Mr Peterson acknowledged the fact that F4 on a film camera is not the same as F4 on a digital SLR. Unfortunately what Mr Peterson did not make clear to me, was what I had to do on my camera to compensate. What will F4 look like on my digital SLR as opposed to his film camera? Will there by any difference? I don't get any answers. Mr Peterson spent over 90% of his time talking about film cameras and how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work on them.

Yes, Mr Peterson does address digital cameras in his book, but they feel like addendums attached to the main body of work. He needs to make digital the primary focus in order to make the most impact.

3) Understanding Exposure has been a great book to read, because it allows you to understand the basics of what goes on inside your camera. This is the reason I give this book 4 star rating instead of only 3. I love Mr Peterson's passion for photography and his easy, open, warm style of delivery. Because of this book, I feel more passionate about photography, and I feel more confident. I feel like I can hold my own in a conversation about photography basics which is important. Understanding Exposure will definitely increase your knowledge base and understanding of photography in general. However, how well that translates into actual better pictures I cannot say.

I really had no idea about photography until I started reading about it. I had a camera, digital slr, but it just didn't make sense to me shooting pictures. I really wanted to take nice pictures, didn't have enough money to afford lessons so I decided to do it the practical way, reading about it. I started devouring everything written in the internet about it, but mainly when searching about photography in the internet most of the stuff you find is so technical and with very few visual exemplification.
I bought a couple of books and finally bumped into Bryan's Understanding Exposure, it was amazing. His book had so many examples I could finally grasp the understanding of this vital concept in photography.
After reading the book I went on a trip abroad in South America and applied most of the concepts he taught and I could really see a huge change in my photography. This book has really inspired me into becoming a professional photographer.
Thanks Bryan!

This book is really old school basic photography from a true professional who knows what he is talking about. It will get you shooting in manual mode in no time. If you are still dependant on the automatic settings, you need this book to break free of your dependency.

I am fairly new to serous photography (2 years), having spent over $10,000 in the latest cameras, lenses and lights the last 6 months (now that I finally understand what I really need) and have been spending considerable time reading as many books as possible on the subject; none of them come close to this book in really helping take better photos. If you have a good SLR, you really need this book to help you understand what it can do and why your shots are often lacking in simple clear terms that anyone can understand. This author really reminds you that it is not the high tech camera, but the skill of the photographer that makes the difference and that photography is truly an art that seems to be getting lost in the technology. I like the authors philosophy about taking the photo you want and not spending all your time on the computer fixing your mistakes...like I was at the start....he is so right.

This book should be on the shelf of every photographer and be included as part of any digital photography class.

This book comes highly recommended by pro photographers. It is a very decent book, but not one that will answer every of your questions. But I doubt there is such a book or CD-ROM.

I bought a few books to help me go to that "next level" in digital photography -this book is it. It break it down so even I can understand it! Seriously - i returned all the others - this is the book to get your mind around the complicated issues of light and speed. It all makes sense. You will NEVER look at a picture the same way.

Bryan Peterson is becoming my coach for photography. I own two of his books. This is the best book I have found for understanding exposure and it is very essential. For those wanting to understand the basics of digital photography, this book will be very helpful. Bryan teaches photography as well as being a professional photographer. In this book you receive concepts of exposure, example photos with his settings, and exercises for exploring exposure settings. He tells you how to calculate the correct f-stop & shutter speed for manual shooting. He also explains the different types of in-camera meter systems. Bryan also helps you to explore creative photography by experimenting with different exposure settings. A great book.

I purchased this book over a year ago and have since bought several more copies to give to my friends that are into photography. It is by far one of the best books out there for teaching ANYONE about correct exposures!! It's a very easy read, I have read it through at least three times, and this guy knows his stuff. There are so many beautiful full page color photos to demonstrate what he is talking about and he gives his settings for all the shots. If you are just starting out in photography, or have been into it for a while, I feel EVERYONE can learn something from this book. After reading this book, obtaining a 'proper exposure' in-camera clicked for me. I gained a thorough understanding of shutter speed, ISO, aperature/f-stop, light, composition, depth of field and many more very important aspects of photography, everything made sense, opened up new creative doors for me. I still don't always achieve the perfect exposure, but I do have complete control over my camera and settings, the whys and how-to-fors. If you can only afford ONE book, this is the one. I rarely do book reviews, but this one deserves it! I submitted some of my own photos above, using various techniques in photography, all learned from this book.

This book is a great place to start for a person who wants to understand the photohraphy past the point-and-shoot camera. Easy to understand and you will immediately want to try the techniques, use of which will mean an instant quantum leap in the quality of your pictures. I wouldn't mind if the book had 500 more pages to suck out more of Bryan Peterson's knowledge and experience. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get to the bottom of the oft confusing world of camera settings and not get lulled to sleep by the second page.

This book is great for learning about my digital SLR! It has helped me to understand exposure, ISO and much more. Hes a great write and great photographer.

Heck of a book. Some basic stuff, but it also shows many techniques that can stimulate your approach to exposure. In my opinion, some areas are five stars and others are four. Excellent pictures are presented throughout the book as examples of various exposure times.

This book was definitely worth the money. The author simplifies complicated concepts and through innumerable examples, he makes the reader understand when andd where to use which modes. It wont make you a pro overnight, but it will definitely give you insight into becoming a better photographer.

The examples he uses are very simple in terms of analogy so it makes the concepts very easy to understand. His pictures also give you ideas of what you can photograph and does make you a bit more creative. Overall I couldnt be happier with the purchase, the pictures are very good quality in full color and there are pictures on pretty much every page and take up quite a bit of the page thus you can see the results of his expertise. If you have an SLR and are a biggener or want a little bit more insight, this is the book for you!

This is an excellent book for beginners or even advanced photographers. If you are only going to buy one photography book, this is the one to get. It teaches the reader how to capture photographs with perfect exposure, even in difficult lighting conditions. This is one of the things that seperate the pros from the amateurs. It also covers the creative uses of aperature and shutter speed. My photographs improved greatly after reading this book, and I still find myself going back to it for reference. Highly recommended!

I couldn't put this book down! Page after page, there was a nugget of wisdom. Sure, things that I already knew were covered, but that served as a foundation to get me to the new wisdom and techniques to try. I particularly liked that each concept has multiple photos with an explanation of "I chose this F-stop because...and I metered at X spot because...and then I used this technique/filter in order to..." The writing style takes you through the concepts like a conversation; it's very easy to understand.

I've had a digital SLR for a year and a half; before that I took some very lucky shots with a fixed lens digital camera, but I've never been a film buff. I've taken a camera class and a workshop; I'm in a camera club and try to get out and practice photography sometimes, but most often use my travels as my practice ground. This book was perfect for the stage I am at and I can't wait to get out and try a few of the suggested exercises.

The editor's review says this covers infrared, bounce-flash, and candlelight, but those aren't in there. Lots of good stuff in there, but don't buy it for those topics!

Peterson does a terrific job explaining how to get the most from your camera. He describes the material in a concise and easy to understand manner. If you did nothing else but read the captions that accompany the photographs, you would still increase your knowledge of how to consistently get the best exposure.

If you're the type of photographer who shoots exclusively in fully automatic mode, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It'll take you to the next level.

i am glad i bought this book. i just purchased a nikon d50. i have learned a lot about exposure and i am now shooting in manual mode a lot more.

this is a great book for a beginner.

Great book for beginners. It covers many tips, but mainly on 35mm film camera. Peterson should consider to write with Digital SLR perspectives to sell more books.

Not too much text for you to read. Many pictures to let you feel it. It is very good for beginners to understand the basic technical skill and photographic terms. Very helpful.

If you're ready to move beyond point and shoot cameras and start taking some great photographs I highly recommend this book. I had a fair amount of experience with photography before I read this book but I still learned a lot of new things. It's easy to read and understand with lots of examples and explanations. Worth every penny....

After having read the Learning to see creatively by the same author, I immediately resorted to buy this book. What I got was more than I expected. It clearly tells about how to meter different photographic situations, how sky can be an effective metering tool, what difference does each lense make and how to select the aperture for specific scenarios judiciouly. This is a must to read book.

Easy to understand and full of helpful instructions for improving your photography, film or digital.

Whether you are new to photography or have been in the hobby for a number of years, this book will improve your abillity to take great pictures.

I actually ordered this book twice. The first time it never came - lost in delivery. It was like pulling teeth to get a refund from the third party shop Amazon went through.
Anyway the main thing is this is a fine book full of great advice for film photographers (digital was really not even in existence much then in early 90's).
There's another book by the same author, same title that is the revised edition - Amazon: why not a link to this book to help out your readers??!! This is the version you'll want in any case. Suppose Amazon just helping their vendors clean out their warehouses.

This book demystifies the complexity in the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, digital or film ISO and takes you through several practical exercises that establish clear and simpler guidelines for your photography goals. "Choice" is the keyword in this book, as he wants you to understand the difference between a proper exposure and a creative exposure and the choices of lighting conditions you can make and how to use and measure them. This is a definite must-have for the serious hobbyist to pro photographer and you can't beat Amazon's price of $14.97. I highly recommend it. Because his written teaching style is so good, I am going to buy his other book "Learning to See Creatively" from Amazon, while their price is so low.

I have read and re-read this book and each time I learn something new. I strongly recommend it to anyone who needs additional information to understand the concept of exposure.

Excellent book

You have no idea how much this book has helping me, Don't waste your time reading the comments just buy it!!!!!!!!Thak you very much Mr.Peterson for such Marvelous peace of art!!!

There are nuggets of information in this book that you will use extensively as a photographer. 95% of the other information you can find in almost any book. However, the 5% that Bryan presents make this book a keeper. Let me highlight some of the nuggets.

Shoot manual (you adjust the aperture and shutter) for most situations

When shooting a scene with a lot green in it(e.g. grass) meter off the grass and adjust your exposure compensation -2/3. Simple yet effective tool to get a good exposure.

When shooting during a bright day meter off the sky and recompose and ignore your light meter on the camera. Meter to the side of the sun for sunsets and sunrise and then recompose.

Who Cares aperture (F/8 or F/11) use these when you need critical sharpness and contrast such as person against a wall, side of building etc.

All kind of basic stuff but very helpful hints and tips.

For the current price of $15 this edition is worth it and it translate to either digital or film

I've been having my eye on this book, and finally picked it up last week. After just reading the first 40 or so pages, I felt like I learned so much more than I ever have while just experimenting with my camera. The concept of exposure has had me completely baffled, with all those numbers and what they mean, and now it all seems so much easier! I've had the Canon Digital Rebel XT since last November, and 99% of the time use it in auto mode. I have a strong feeling, however, that when I finish with this book I'll have a much better command and understanding of the manual modes. So far it's been a revelation, finally all the numbers click! This is definitely the best photography book (out of many) I've invested in. If you're having trouble grasping the concept of apertures and shutter speeds and f stops, do not hesitate to purchase this book. Everything is explained thouroughly and is easy to understand, and Peterson's photos are gorgeous and very inspiring.

I bought this book after lot of research online. The clincher was the fact that this book is used a textbook at UT Arlington for a course through Continuing Education.

As of now, I am yet to regret the buy! I have nothing to complain.

I just got this book a few days ago. I learned more reading the first few chapters than I learned taking photography classes. He answers a lot of questions many are afraid to ask or questions that you didn't know you had. Wonderful wonderful book. It is concise and gets right to the point without a lot of unnecessary verbage. This is one of the first photography books that I have bought that I have not been disappointed with. I really can't say enough good things about it. Can't wait to go out and try out some of the new skills I have learned.

I am very new to the field of photography. This book has been by far one of the greatest investments I've made to my Photography education. It has provided me with a clear and simple understanding of how to shoot a picture. After reading this book I've learned never to simply pick up my camera and shoot. This book has taught me how to think before I shoot. Also I feel I have a great understanding of how to take a picture with the correct lens. I could give you about twenty more reasons why you should by this book but "hey I do have a life".

Bryan Peterson thanks a million your book is indeed a must have.

This is an outstanding book by Bryan Peterson. I consider it a must read item. It explains the art of photography in simple terms. I wish I had read it a lot sooner.

In Understanding Exposure, Bryan Peterson thoroughly explains what he sets out to explain: how aperture, shutter speed, and film affect the images you take. I've read many other explanations of aperture and shutter speed, but never has it made such perfect sense to me as it did after reading Peterson's book.

The photographs are spendid, of course, but the content is really informative and put in a way anyone can comprehend. It helped me understand exposure and take it to a different level - one that gives me confidence in my abilities to take great photos. Oh ... I don't take pictures anymore, I 'make' them. Great book!

The perfect book for the novice to learn from. Ideas and technics are exlained in easy layman's terms introducing you to amore advanced understanding of photography. Starts off very basic and then builds on that. Chances are thet if you read this book and follow what he is saying (and apply what you learn), you will no longer be a novice when you are finished. I referred back to the book for a while after finishing it, but now have a firm grasp of the concepts and have moved on to more advanced skills.

Book is great for amateur photographers. It is loaded with photos and author diligently describes how each of the photos were taken (aperture, shutter speed, filters, lens....). If you want to improve your skills, this book will help you a lot. 144 pages, written in a reader friendly manner, tell you about the essence of photography - exposure. It's not only a technical manual but also a guide to greative approach to photography. Very useful and pleasant reading.
Enjoy!

Hi. I'm a guitar player as my nickname implies----but I'm also a serious amateur photographer, and I know just enough about photography to be dangerous. This book helped me alot---partiularly with aperature, shutter speed, and film speed. But I did have to go elsewhere to find definitions of some of the nomenclature used and equipment mentioned in this book. But then, I guess the author didn't intend the reader to know absolutely nothing going in. Types of lenses are covered very little---flash photography and/or studio photography are covered very little. However, the author does a fabulous job of driving home the basics of achieving good exposure---lots of good photo examples too. The book is easy to read----and it is a fast read. It didn't answer all of my questions, but this book is a great place to start.

I had read many many photography books and manuals (including the wonderful National Geographic Field Guides). While all of them explained in detail all there is to know about exposure, it was dificult for me to retain all this information in my head and take it to the field. This book finally help me with that. It helped me to create a clear mental image of all the elements of exposure and how they work together. Now I know (almost automatically) how to compensate each element of exposure (aperture; shutter speed; and film speed) with the others, as well as to determine how they work technically and aestetically together. If you feel that you have learned the basics of photography but are insecure about your knowledge of exposure, just buy this book. Very Highly recommended.

I'll keep this review short and sweet. This book is an excellent book to have on your bookshelf as well as an excellent resource for all camera users. I have only recently begun to get back into Photography and I found all the jargon such as f/stops, apertures, shutter speeds, depth of field, using slides or negatives and bracketing for correct exposure while having to stand on your head with your elbow pointing to the sun at a 90 degree angle to all be a little confusing (I'm only kidding about that last bit :) ).
So after reading other books that tried to explain all these terms, I found it refreshing to find a book like this that actually does explain all of this and more properly and easily without having to attain a science degree to understand.
So, I can safely say that this book taught me almost everything about taking photos and it did it such an easy fashion that it leaves a lot of other books to shame while not making you feel like a moron. Congrats to an author that wrote a much needed book that caters both to novices and professional alike. This book will definitely come in handy to all photographers and I would recommend it to you all.

This is the best book I have read about exposure. It is so easy to understand that I have began to shoot pictures setting my camera on manual mode for both the aperture and shooter speed. This book is a must have for anyone who is serious about photography.

Peterson does a good job of explaining exposure basics to the beginner and answering the questions that most beginners have (i.e. when to use a fast shutter speed or large aperture), but does not get much deeper than that.

I also have a major gripe with this book because of an error that is sure to confuse some beginners. Peterson consistently writes about "increasing" shutter speed from (for example) 1/15th to 1/8th to 1/4th. When you go from a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second to 1/4th of a second, you may be increasing your exposure, but you're decreasing your shutter speed. No doubt someone has read this and been a bit confused by it.

That gripe aside, this is still a pretty good book that covers the basics and should put beginning photographers at ease. Probably a good book for all beginners to look at.

Thank you Mr. Peterson. I never took my photography seriously until I read your book, and it changed everything. Your easy-to-understand techniques and beautifully crafted images are more than reason enough to purchase this book.

For the potential buyer: If you're tired of taking snapshots and wondering why your photos always look overexposed or underexposed, buy this book. Bryan makes it easy to learn from your mistakes and shows you how to easily handle any lighting situation. Aside from my SLR equipment, this book is the best investment I've ever made.

Excellent book for those moving on from simply point and shoot, fully automatic mode, and beginning to experiment with f-stop and shutter speed selection.

The book covers the basics in technique, presenting the material in an easy to read and easy to understand manner. For example the author explains f-stop and shutter speed, and their relationship, in terms of more everyday terms and equivalents. True, it is frustrating that the book does not provide the camera settings selection with the images (mind you not too many books do). However, this is one of the best books of its type around and if I were to have written one of them then this is the one I would have hoped to write.

Once you have read this book, and had a go and switched the automatic mode off for a while (you really must), then read this authors other book on composition: "Learning to See Creatively".

This is one of the best books i have discovered in Photography. The author explains the Photographic Triangle APERTURE, SHUTER SPEED and FILM in very easy and relative manner with one another that will clear out lot of your very basic doubts about these 3 elements of photography. He shows lot of exmaples of good and bad exposures and goes on showing creative exposures also. At the end, the special techniques section gives lot of ideas to shoot great photographs.

If you are spending too much money on films, filters and Lenses to get creative exposures stop that and buy this book. You will never regret.

I am a long time friend, and business associate of Bryan Peterson, and can honestly say that this and all of Bryans books can teach the amatuer or professional photographer more than many class room photography courses. He has a tremendous knowledge of photography, much through his career and experience, as a highly regarded professional photographer, and teacher.

I had read other books on photography and was beginning to understand most of the technical aspects of it, but after reading the first few pages of Understanding Exposure, I had more "ah-ha!" moments than I had gained from any other book. The author does an excellent job of explaining the hows and whys behind all the technical work in photography. I would consider myself an accomplished student of photography even if this were the only book in my library.

This was once a very good introduction to exposure for beginners. Alas the years go by and the book is seriously out of date. The concepts are still correct and somewhat useful. However, the book was written before the advent of serious digital cameras and before Photoshop and other programs were available to improve images. I think that if one looks at the dates of all the glowing reviews, you would see that they were written some time ago. I would look for a more up to date discussion of exposure.

A MUST buy for any person beginning their photography. Save yourself the money & time and read this book before taking any course! The author will introduce you to the "main" areas of photography and really breaks it down very simply that anyone can pick it up.

When I bought my first SLR, I honestly didn't know how to use it besides using the "P" function which made it a super expensive point & shoot camera!!! I picked up the book and started playing with my camera and I learned a lot... I knew nothing up to that point. The beauty of the author's writing style is that anyone can understand it, its not difficult to understand.

Be warned that the author is not going to make you an expert, this is not a detailed technique or advanced photography book. This is an intro book and at that I don't think anything can match it, anyone that asks me to help them with picking a course gets the same answer: "save yourself the time & money and get understanding exposure, you will get a solid understanding of photography just from reading it". You can always take a course after but I found out that most of the courses were made so that you take other classes with the photographer, and whatever they are going to teach you you will learn by reading this book anyway. I recommend advanced photography classes that will address a certain topic such as: flash photography, portraits, weddings, landscape, etc... but if you see a general photography course, I'd say just buy the book.

Hope this helps :)

I recently came upon a digital camera that had full manual controls and didn't really understand what any of the functions did. I was pointed to this book as a beginners guide to photography. The book seems to make two assumptions : That 1) You don't know a lot about photography but 2) You know how to use your camera. With Camera Manual and book in hand I went through the book and began to understand how exposure works on a camera and roles ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed play. Some of the fanciest pictures became a lot simpler as he broke down how to produce such images.

If you're new to photography this book is a good place to start. The topics range from the very basics of what your camera does to capture an image to how to use your camera, to more situational photography (landscapes at sunset, large landscapes, nature scenes, etc). I'm not even a competent photographer yet but my pictures are starting to get better. I still find myself coming back to the book often to take a look and reference what is in it.

For those who have picked up a DSLR and don't have any idea how to use it - the contents of this book do apply to you as well. It's not 30 pages of how to load and select film, it really is mostly about how to correct expose a picture. It touches on composition mildly, but isn't a book about that. If you already know the roles of ISO, Aperture, and Shutterspeed and are looking for a guidebook about how to take more situational shots, this probably is not for you.

The book construction itself is solid. It's not flimsy paper but not stiff either. Glossy pages like you might see in a photography art book.

You might also get a chuckle out of the several somewhat shameless references to his 'beautiful' wife the author intersperses at various times throughout the book.

for this book, I felt a review for this was quite necessary. I am a beginner when it comes to photography, (as far as years of experience) although going to several classes has made me realize I am in a slightly higher category. This book was a little disappointing in my opinion. I don't know what I was expecting but from all of the high ratings for this book I couldn't help but be disappointed. This really makes me wish I had gone to a local bookstore first and thumbed through the sections to determine which - if any - would be relevant for me. I didn't actually learn much until i got to nearly the end of the book in the sections that talk about metering off of the sky or reflections and when and how to adjust your exposures with those settings. The rest of the book was very basic and I guess it has a lot to do with what I've already read. I am not going to put in a shameless plug here and name other books, but most of all he has talked about can be learned in other non one-dimensional books. If this is an update, then for one, the images in the book need to be updated as well. I was not impressed by the content nor of the images. Not many pictures are in this book that make me feel like I want to go out and try to create/replicate an image like the ones illustrated. I understand the authors approach of not having only "one" exposure and the necessity to be creative, however, I think it was more beneficial for me to learn correct exposures before learning to let the creative side come out. Besides, if you don't know the correct exposures then I think you don't have the necessary know-how to know what to change to be creative. Were my expectations too high? I don't think so. Can this book be helpful for many others? Of course. I just wasn't for me. I will keep it and maybe read it again to try to uncover some things that I may not have picked up before but to be honest, I had a certain feeling of emptiness once I completed reading it. Hopefully your experience will be better than mine.

In February I bought my first DSLR camera and read The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion by Ben Long as a great introduction on the features and use of my camera. I learnt a great deal with this book and would recommend it but I was still relegated to shooting from the P (program) mode. Then in an Alleluia moment, I happened across this book by Bryan Peterson. In less than a month, and a few ages into his book, I was shooting in M (manual) mode and actually knew what I was doing. The pictures were amazing. I like the way he explains how to use the different aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. Many books will almost encourage you to cram what aperture opening goes well with which Shutter speed at a particular ISO setting. Bryan Peterson will have none of that. With several clear and easy to understand examples he teaches you the effect of these settings and makes you learn how to use them to capture a well exposed picture without ever memorizing any sequences at all. To think that I came across this book accidently, still sends chills down my spine - I would still be shooting in P mode 8 months later. This book is a must have for any one starting out.

This book is written in a "no nonsense" style and is extremely informative.

Whether you are using a traditional or Digital SLR then this book will provide a very useful introduction for those wanting to leave the "auto" modes behind and get creative with all the features modern SLRs offer.

Bryan Peterson writes clearly on how to read-the-light and seeing the creatively correct exposure.

He deals with all the basics like the photographic triangle (apeture, shutter speed and ISO) and then drills into a moderate amount of depth in each area without getting overly technical, and thats the beauty of this book - its easy to read and easy to understand.

What I found particularly useful is that relatively early on in the book he explains how light is the "heart" of the photographic triangle - and introduces the reader to "Six correct exposures vs One Creatively correct One".

Keeping this important concept front and centre, he then adds to the subject by discussing techniques like panning, specular highlights etc.

As one would expect in a book about Exposure, Peterson also covers lighting (front, back, side etc) in detail, and then puts a good deal of context around his examples.

Using the principles in the book I was able to quite quickly put those into action with a Nikon DSLR - and get results! (In my experience most camera handbooks are just tech manuals, barely covering the knobs and dials, and more often than not they are poorly written).

From my perspective this book is a must have for newbies to intermediate amateur photographers.

If you own an (D)SLR or point-and-shoot with manual settings, this book will get you out of auto mode. Make sure you know how to control the basic manual operations of your camera before you proceed.

This is not a camera operation manual, and it is not a technical treatise on focal length or depth of field. This book is a detailed, well-explained guide to understanding how the myriad combinations of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lighting, and metering mode affect the look of a photograph, and how to gauge which settings to use for your desired exposure. Peterson also tackles the concept of 18% reflectance, when to over- or under-expose, filters, and some more advanced techniques.

Every sub-section (about 2 pages) explains a particular consideration or technique, with several illustrative photos that demonstrate the technique, with an desciption of the lens used, focal length, and exposure information, and why he chose them.

This book is invaluable to those who want to get more consistent results and understand how and why their good pictures are good. The result will be less "chimping" and more shooting.

On the upside, I learned a few useful practical techniques from this book. Peterson's advice about how to get good exposures in a variety of circumstances is generally good and straightforward. There are also some nice pictures, though in only a few cases does he provide comparisons between the same scene shot well and shot not-so-well.

On the downside, I get the strong impression that Peterson is good at practical advice because he really isn't that good at theory. He explains several basic theoretical concepts, but often in very simplified and occasionally potentially misleading terms. On page 37, he writes that smaller apertures give better sharpness, but fails to mention that too small an aperture will actually lose sharpness due to diffraction. In fact, he never mentions diffraction at all throughout the book. One cannot help but wonder if he even knows about it.

His idea that f/8 is a "don't care about depth of field" aperture, while f/4 is "shallow DOF" and f/11 is "deep DOF", isn't completely wrong by any means, but it is badly oversimplified. At very wide angles such as 20mm, for example, f/8 at a distance of 10 feet provides all the DOF you are likely to need, while at 250mm, f/8 at a distance of 20 feet will blur a distant background fairly well. Oversimplifications such as these -- giving advice that may be reasonable for a 50mm lens and common subject distances, but that is incorrect even for some of the photos printed in the book -- do not serve the reader well.

There are also some factual mistakes in the book that seem very strange coming from a professional photographer and instructor. For example, on page 36, he writes that the aperture of a lens is formed by "six overlapping blades." He reinforces this elsewhere by saying that when a lens is stopped down, the out-of-focus highlights (he never uses the common term "bokeh") are "hexagonal." It seems impossible that he could have experience with more than a few different lenses, since while some lenses have six aperture blades and therefore give hexagonal bokeh, many others have five, seven, eight, or nine blades, yielding pentagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, or nonagonal bokeh. Some even have curved aperture blades to more closely approximate a circle. How can he not know this after all his years of working and teaching?

In sum, this isn't a bad book, but it really isn't all that great either. It's an okay choice for the beginner who wants to get some good practical advice without drowning in theory, but anyone who really wants to understand the subject and isn't afraid of a more complex view of what is inherently a rather complex subject should look elsewhere.

If you enjoy photography, even point-n-shoot, but you want to learn more - this is where you should start. If you don't understand the relationship of aperture and shutter speed - this is the book for you. If you are unclear when you should use a higher vs lower aperture or shutter speed - this book is what you need.

The book is short and to the point. The text is well written and practical. But the images are where this book shines. So many photography books have bad photos. This book shows you side-by-side comparisons that let you see what the author is demonstrating.

I cannot wait to read his other books. This book was my big ah-ha moment in photography. Within 10 pages, I had my digital camera out and was taking better pics. By the time I finished reading it the next day, I had dug out my old 35mm film camera and started taking good photos for the first time ever, without wasting any shots on luck. All of my shots were perfect, and I was able to reproduce shots.

This book makes photography based on scientific principles a creative project.

There are those photographers who understand exposure and those who do not. Whatever your own level of experience with either (or both) digital or film camera, this book will, at one of the scale, teach the novice a great deal about the subject. At the other end, there will be few professional or highly competent amateur photographers who could fail to learn something from this excellent work. In short, there is something for everyone in this book and, even a brief flick through the pages, is enough to generate ideas.

I particularly like the way in which the book is laid out. A great deal of thought went into a design which allows readers to build on what has been covered so far as they progress through the work. Beginning with; Defining Exposure, the author devotes considerable time to each of the main headings which also include; Aperture, Shutter Speed, Light and penultimately; Special Techniques and Filters. Finally, there is a discussion on Film vs. Digital which might be useful for those photographers who are still not convinced by the new technology.

Speaking as a self-taught photographer whose own pictures have been widely published for over 30 years, this book has explained much that I did not previously understand as well as, perhaps, I should have.

Approx. A4 size, with one of the nicest dedications I have ever come across, there are 160 pages containing 150 colour illustrations which cover just about every spectrum of the subject. These include sport, natural history, portraits, people at work, landscapes, close up, mood shots - and a great deal more. As I said, something for just about everyone.

NM

The book is good, it tells you how to properly expose for different scenarios and effects but its explained too much. Its aimed for begginers so it can be a little boring for the ones that already know the basics. The pictures in the book look old and I didnt like that. Overall its a good book for learning from scratch or maybe catch a few extra tips that you may not already know as an intermediate photographer.

I have read many photography books, and this book is my photography bible. It is suitable for beginners and intermediate. Both novice and intermediate photographers should not miss...

It contains theories and clear examples with clear explainations. Following assignments in this book provided, you will get more understanding on taking pictures.

the author keeps this so relavant. Is like being in the field with him, as he gives you the way his brain works and then helps you to get the camera set so you capture the image correctly. The exercises are helpful and fun, and with digital you can tell right away if you're on the right path or not...

His images are lovely, the tips he offers are very easy to comprehend and very useful, from setting the correct aperture, to tricks of the trade for action shots, macro and more. He also offers secrets of the pros to keep your images interesting and a bit off the beaten path so they are also noteworthy and memorable...

As someone who has been dabbling in photgraphy, correct exposure has always been a tough part of the technical side of the art for me, but Peterson makes it accessible to anyone

Although I've enjoyed taking pictures for years, I never really understood what I was doing. It was all the hit and miss approach. I bought this book several months ago as my first book in my attempt to understand HOW to take better pictures.

For a beginner like me I think this book is excellent at giving the reader an understanding of the basics of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The information is presented in a way that it is easy to follow and his writing style also makes it fun.

I think this book was likely somewhat difficult to write (had to dumb-it- down for those of us who are getting started) and in that regard there are times when he could have explained things further. Regardless, this book has helped me "get it" and I find myself referring back to it often. I see myself buying additional books written by Bryan in the future. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to work beyond the "hit and miss" approach to photography.

I am new to photography. I have a great camera and have been using it like a point and shoot. I knew that I needed to learn how to use the manual settings if I was going to have great pictures, but I haven't had time to take a class. I purchased this book, along with "Learning To See Creatively" and couldn't be more pleased. These books are like having a teacher in my home. They teach the tools, give lots of examples and even have assignments to learn how to hone the skill yourself. My photography has gotten 100% better since reading these books and they are a great reference for me to go back to again and again.

This book taught me more in the first 15 minutes of reading it than I learned from weeks of reading the same info from many different sources. It just has a way of wording things that really helped me understand how to do proper exposures. My camera hasn't been off manual since I picked this book up!! Highly recommend it for beginner dSlR users.

For anyone who already understands how to adjust for proper exposures this book may be to generic. But for me it has been a fantastic find!!

As a photo hobbyist with a Canon Rebel XT and several interchangable lenses I found this book to be very helpful in solidifying my overall understanding of how to make sense of exposure options.

The best part of this book is how it is organized. It is very clean and does not rely on technical jargon or the author's personalized attempt at explaining "light theory." Nothing in the book is revolutionary, but it is done exceptionally well with great examples and discussions of what settings typically produce what results.

This book has demystified the full manual setting on my camera and given me the "creative control" the author speaks to, in addition to simply having the camera set exposure correct settings.

It's quick reading with lots of full color photography. You can get through sections easily and I expect I will re-read several key areas as a reference book going forward.

The material seems a touch dated in that the author walks the line between film and digital discussions but he is equipment neutral in his discussions -- and really, the subject matter here is independent of a particular camera or brand.

Great book that I highly recommend for any photographer who has been using an SLR for a little while and has an understanding of aperture and speed if not all the rules committed to memory.

I am a beginner and recently planned to take up photography as a serious hobby. I am not sure what else to add to all the glowing reviews. I actually learned something new from almost every single page of the book. The descriptions are short and always full of information. So, you don't tend to gloss over the book and accidentally skip the important parts. Even if you read one page a day, you will take away something very very practical. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

When I first started out into photography, often times it was hit or miss with me. As time went on I practiced with and learned from friends who are professionals and make a living with photography. Yet I found that I was still lacking somewhat. For some reason I was lacking consistency with my photos especially, when it came to exposure. So I had gotten this book and read it cover to cover, twice. It came in handy in that it corresponded with what more capable and experience photographers were teaching/telling me and boy did the light finally come on! So in short I highly recommend this book. The author details all the different types of exposure along with why, how and when. Get it!

I loved this book! I had been an SRL enthusiast for many years and recently have revived my hobby with the purchase of a Canon 30D. I had a decent understanding of creative exposure, but this book brought my understanding to a whole new level. The book includes both theory and some short hands on exercises, which are very easy to follow. The exercises are particularly beneficial using a DSRL because of the rapid feedback you get with inexpensive, instant results. My only criticism of the book is it's coverage of digital v.s. film. It is very apparent that is was an afterthought. The result is that book ends very abruptly without any summarization or recapitulation--you turn the page to find the Index. This is a relatively minor criticism to an otherwise wonderful book. I still give it 5 stars and highly recommend this book!

Well written with great examples. Just what I needed to get a foundation on what to try to attain variation in my photos. The photos and what was done to attain them were easy to follow, and showed the detail needed to follow the explinations.

I have read this book now two times and find that it is profuss with insights. I plan on rereading it once a year to keep all of the information in mind. I cannot believe what all I have missed over all the years I have been shooting.

There are tons of reviews on this book so I will get straight to the point - get it.

It covers all the basics, and explains them in a way anyone can understand. The author is very good at speaking to film users, digital SLR, and even point and shoot users at the same time. Even though this book doesn't have an attention grabbing title like "How to take amazing pictures!" or "999 Photo tips to make you rich!!", now you know why they say you can't judge a book by its cover.

Get this book and you'll pretty much have almost everything you need. Once you decide to get into a specialty area of photography (macro, landscape, portraits), you can get a more specific book, but for beginners, and even amateurs who kind of know what they are doing but could use some guidance - this is the one to get. You will not be disappointed.

I was looking for more detail and a little less pictures. Not much instruction involved. Really don't understand any more about exposure. It does have some very nice pictures though.

I really learned a lot from this book. I can already tell a difference in my photographs. I bought a Nikon D200 and hadn't had to use any manual settings for so long cause I was using all the auto settings on my old camera. After reading this book, all that stuff came flooding back to me and then some. I learned some neat tricks to getting the right exposure for tricky situations. I would reccomend this book for anyone that knows nothing about manual operations of a camera to someone that is experienced, maybe not pro, but experienced cause I picked up a lot of good info.

I hadn't touched a SLR since High School (don't ask how long ago that was). When picking the hobby back up several years ago, a friend recomended I read this book to "refamiliarize" myself with what constitutes a quality exposure, and how to see exposures in a creative and effective way. In a semi-joking matter, he told me that out of the thousands I was spending on new gear, this $15 would probably be my most valuable purchase. He was right.

Peterson has a tremendous eye, and has a wonderful way of explaining the "basics" of photography in a way that benefits both novices and experienced photogs alike. His unique perspective on how to take pictures, combined with a plethora of phenomenal snaps to illustrate concepts, was extremely enlightening.

Don't think twice - get this book.

This is the exact book I have been looking for to help me understand exposure, apature, shutter-speed, and ISO. He explains it so well and I enjoyed the exercises included in the book. Now I can see light and the end of my tunnel of confusion.

I recently bought this book and after flipping through it decided to read it cover to cover. There is a lot of wonderful, easy to follow info in this book. I own a few more,but no one explains it as well as this book. the pictures are really good. They show you how your photos prolly look now and how great they can look. Cant wait to get out and try my hand at some of these techniques. Well written with only one typo,haha and easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn past the basic point and shoot.

If you are looking to have more control over what your photos look like, this book is for you! It does an excellent job of not only explaining aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and lighting, but gives you inspirational examples of photos that have required that manual touch to make them excellent. Included with all these photos are explanations of the settings used. It has opened up my eyes to a new world of photography beyond point and shoot cameras and inspired me to purchase an SLR camera almost immediately. I can't wait to try this stuff out...

With full and half-page color photos, Bryan Peterson guides us through the fine points of Defining Exposure; Aperture; Shutter Speed; Light; etc. I've taken "Understanding Exposure" with me on nature shoots and was able to duplicate depth of field and important lighting examples that he has detailed in this helpful book. It's a classic!

This was great to get me going. It was inspirational with the photos included and very pragmatic as well. I'm definitely a beginner, but it helped me understand much of the terms I see online and gave me things to come back to as I continue on the fun of photography!

Great book if you are just moving up to a SLR Camara. This book easilly explains how set your exposure manually and the advantages of doing so. My pictures quality has improved by 100%, and I'm having lots of fun with my camara.

i didn't find this book THAT helpful, it's about average.

it's definitely not the type of book that if you read it, you will know everything that you need to know on exposure and aperture. which in my opinion makes it worthless to have. why do i want endless incomplete books on my shelf in order to understand this triangle.

This is a great product which explains all the ins and outs of how to get the right exposure and more!

This is an excellent book. It has enhance my knowledge about exposure greatly. It discuss the interrelationship between aperture, shutter speed, film(ISO) and how they are used to get correct exposure as well as creative correct exposures under different types of light and color.
I recommend this book for all beginners as well advanced photogs such as myself who want to enhance their photog skills.

This is one of the most useful books I own. The author is straightforward, engaging, and dead on about exposure. I wish I'd have found it years ago. Highly recommended. If you own it, you know what I mean. If you you take pictures and don't YET own it, - you should.

Really the best primer on how to take good pictures. Since reading this book I have not shot in auto mode. You could pay $50 and take an intro class at a local rec center or camera shop and you would not learn as much as you would from this book (at least that was my experience).

Absolutely the BEST book on the subject of Exposure. You will actually understand A and S and M when you finish this book. Easy to read, very understandable and it even has some great "lesson's" you can go out and try in the field.

If you own a digital camera that allows you to set aperture, shutter speed or both...and you want to understand (truly understand) how to use these controls and how to control your depth of field...Get the book!

I have re-read this book 3 times!

this book is very easy to understand and to comprehend the complexity of proper exposure. i definately recommend it as a must read.

I am new to DSLR photograhy and this book does a great job explainging the relationship between Aperture, Shutter, and ISO.

love the ppl who recommended this book were right..i am just starting photography and this book is well worth it ..it is written so you can understand it and apply it with not much expirence.

With "Understanding Exposure", Bryan Peterson gives the amateur photographer an indispensable tool and learning guide. With the help of full color photos taken with different settings as well as clear and concise descriptions and explanations of technique mr Peterson gives the reader an easily understandable introduction to the world of exposure.

Because of the great detail in which the different photo situations and techniques are covered it is indeed very easy to go out and reproduce the photos from the book (well, that kind of photo anyway) yourself after reading.

This book gave me much more knowledge about photography than I would have expected it possible. It definitely helped me progress as a photographer.

Highly recommendable.

The publication is very well illustrated, with many practical exemples, the text is cleared and concise. It should be recommended for all ages.

The book is very impressive and informative. The author writes in a clear manner and shows sample photographs with corresponding settings. For this subject, this book is as got as it gets. "Mastery starts from knowledge foot"

I truly think you can learn more by reading this book over one weekend than spending the entire weekend shooting photos. Some think you learn more by practice which can be true, but with as many controls as they put on cameras this day in age, sometimes it is better to learn first, and practice later.

Regardless of whether you're a digital photographer or not, you could definitely use this book. I read it twice over the first two weeks I had it and still read it once every couple of months, simply because it's good to brush up on things you don't use very often. Filled with great advice, and inspiring pictures, I believe this one should be on everyone's shelf.

Well, I am not an expert in the photography area but I have read some books and several web pages related to this issue and I have to say this is an excellent book, I already know the basis but the way the author put in practice all this stuff it's really great, the pictures are beautiful and the explanations of each one are so simple, It's seems that you are taking a practical course right there and not only reading a theoretical book.

After reading this book, I feel much calmer and more focused about what I am doing both with the camera, and about whatever scene I am presented with in front of it.

This book removes a lot of the 'clutter' that can run around inside ones head while planning how to shoot a scene. By catagorizing certain shooting opportunities into a logical series of decisions that simplify the technical side, not only do you get the image you want, but it allows you to imagine the same scene in a variety of ways.

The night photography section posed more questions than it provided answers for me, but on the whole, as a foundation for understanding exposure and getting you mind on the right track from the start, this book is very good indeed.

I've been pouring through photography books for the past few months and so far, this one has provided the best rules of thumb to use in most situations you would encounter as a photographer. This is by far the best practical instructional guide I've found. Highly recommended.

I didn't order this product has there been an order placed against my account. If so Ineed details

I took 2 semesters of photographic classes when I was in the college and I have the dark room experience with B&W films. I wish I have kept learning photography as I stopped after I was done with college. This book helped me get back into photography. With this book, i have better understanding on how exposure, f-stop, and aperture work. After reading this book, I realized I only had a very basic knowledge on this even when I was learning photography when I was in college. It is good that I found this book and purchased it.

This book is great to get a handle on exposure, aperture and shutter speed. Bryan does a great job showing which which photos are better aesthetically even though they are all correctly exposed.

This is the best book in my photo-library to this day. Bryan Peterson covers all the main subjects and then some. The tone is professional and still relaxed.

I can only recomend this book

Excellent book! Explains about exposure so simple and easy to understand. Worth every penny!

This book is filled with very useful information, and while many technical issues are discussed, I found it surprisingly easy to follow. The author's writing style is great, and the book was a pretty quick read (though i'm sure i'll be reading it again!). The book is filled cover to cover with beautiful color photographs serving as examples of the material being discussed. Using some of the concepts I've learned, I'm already noticing differences in my photographs! My excitement just earned Amazon nearly $700 for a new lens. Its not a cheap hobby.

For any amateurs, serious hobbyists, or really anyone wanting to know more about photography, you can't miss with this book. The one thing I will warn about is that while you can apply the lessons learned in this book with a point and shoot camera, you'll probably get more out of it if you have an SLR camera; film or digital is fine, the book isn't terribly biased either way.

I found this book to be very helpful in helping me to understand the subject better. Highly recommeded.

I like Bryan Peterson's presentation style. He presents information on a subject. Then he shows one or more photos that depict how he used the information. I find that I am using my digital slr more effectively as a result of his instructions.

Bill Brennan

Great book. A must for people interested in developing skills in the SLR arena. A good place to start for a noice enthusiast!

EXCELENT BOOK.FOR THE PERSON WANTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY,THIS IS A MUST HAVE BOOK.VERY SIMPLE & FUN TO FOLLOW.THE BOOK IS A TEACH YOURSELF TYPE BOOK.IT HAS DO IT YOURSELF TEST THAT TAKES YOUR READING AND PUTS YOU INTO PRACTICING TAKING PICTURES.HIGHLY RECOMENDED!

Bryan Peterson explains exposure in plain english. I have many books on photography and this book has probably been one of the easiest to understand and most informative books I have come across to date. His quirky, fun sense of explaining exposure keeps your interest in the book too. Highly recommend!!

This book has really helped me understand exposure more clearly. One of the most difficult aspects of photography has been exposure. This book has helped me "see the light"!

Bryan rocks !

Very easy to understand exposure settings for common situations
and for capturing 'take your breath away' images like sunrise, sunset, in the woods etc.

I have learnt quite a bit - have shot a few roles and sent them
for processing. Will wait and see if I've been able to translate on film what I read in the book :-)

All in all, a great read !

Excellent book. I have been shooting with a DSLR for a year+ and before that with P&S for many years.

What the author says is very true - I was focusing on getting a correct shot, not a creatively correct shot. Very simple techniques laid out with necessary caveats. The rule of 7 options is very insightful and easy to work with.

Overall, the book is a collection of many good techniques I had fleetingly heard about, but never knew the background of. With this book, I now know where I need to change.

Very good book.....

Although it doesn't go quite deep enough into the topic, this is an excellent starter book for those who want to understand how cameras form images. Beginners will find it clearly written and quite helpful.

The book comes in Full color. It also provides a lot of good sample photos. I also bought with "Learning to See Creatively" the same author.

Clear, useful and full of exciting information. A valid help to improve the comprehension of photographic exposure. In this book you can find the description of all technique in catching creative exposure. Impressive images illustrate the concepts.

Due to my budget (or lack of) I have a habit of going to Borders and buying books and then returning them after I've read them. Yes - I know - terrible - so save me the comments...but I couldn't return this book. It is that good. I have been taking pictures for years and fumbling at the hard to get pictures. He explains how (and where) to meter with your camera to get the best results. It has fueled my passion to go out and try those shots that I never quite understood before from other books.

One Bryan peterson is an amazing photographer, the latest addition of this book is one of the best I've read. I like it so much that I'm enrolling in his course at www.betterphoto.com

Not only is Mr. Peterson very knowledgeable but extreamly down to earth. I wrote him an e-mail asking about the course offered at better photo and he answered my questions in detail within three hours of when my e-mail was sent. Great photographer, great book, a lot of knowledge in a short read.

Even if you are not just starting out this is worth reading and if you've been in the business awhile this is a good way to affirm what you know and get some fresh ideas.

well worth the price!

Absolutely fantastic book to learn. His analogies are fantastic. He talks sense and most impotantly something you can use.
This book will open new eyes for you.
I highly recomend it to all the people like me who sometimes get poor shots in manual mode or who keep on thinking how to shoot fantastic pictures from common situations.

I bought this book after reading all the wonderful reviews and thought I would check it out and WOW! Bryan Peterson explains it all like no other book!...very, very easy to understand and after I read it (in one night..lol) I was so excited that I just had to start shooting and my photography has already improved!

If your confused about f/stops, shutter speeds etc.. BUY THIS BOOK! you won't regret it! It has like 150 colour photographs and each photograph has the technical details that no other book has! ..well worth the price!!

In my humble opinion:
Book is for: serious amateurs.
Pros:
1)explanation of every single photo in this book, including settings of the camera for each and description by author on the subject of the photo, technique and problems solved while gaining result.
2)Patient and deep description of photo essentials.

Cons: Lacks author's experience or arguments on equipment.

Personal touch: I chose it online and was pretty surprised on the print format of the book and tongue this book has, describing stuff with experienced, but not 'you know this already, so next one is..' point of view. It became very obvious to me, that author really wanted to Share his experience, describing stuff deeply and covering it with more than basic or typical examples. I would recommend it to anyone allready knowing basics and willing to move on.

The other reviewers have said it all. I will put it simply. The book is a great reference for those who do and do not know about photography. And it's an enjoyable read. The best part, it explains f-stops and shutter speed together. This is so helpful because most books address the two separately. Mr. Peterson explains how they work together in an easy to understand manner, with pictures!! And great photographs at that. Buy the book, it's cheap and you will love it.

I've only read one page of the first chapter, and already I understand more than I ever did before. I love taking photographs, but I've never really understood all the photo terms that go along with it: aperture, f-stop, shutter speed, etc. I even asked a photographer friend to explain, but she just couldn't make it clear. This book has done that in less than one page, and I can't wait to read more. A great book for casual photographers like me who'd like to get a more professional look to their photos and sound more professional when they talk about them!

Anyone who had some years of schooling can probably reckon that there are two kinds of teachers: one who make simple subjects complex and mysterious, and one who make complex subjects simple and intuitive. Mr. Bryan Peterson belongs to the second kind, as he illustrates photography in this book of spaciously and strategically arranged subjects.

Reading the book is like listening to an old friend talking about his new found love for photography while trying to show you how easy it all is. Is there a more delightful way to learn something?

The included photographs are beautiful and support the text wonderfully. And the author makes them seem so easy to do. While reading the book, you cannot help getting the urge to go out and make some pictures of your own. I did, using an old mechanical camera, when I took some of my most memorable photographs.

It was a few years back when I first read the book. Today I still occasionally browse through the chapters and enjoy looking at the photographs and reading the accompanying text. I am surprised how much the modestly titled book actually taught me, and how it made the introduction such a short and fun filled journey. There are many books about photography available in any library or bookstore. Many of them are good I'm sure. But I feel very lucky to have started with this one.

i recommend this book it is simple and easy to understand and is down to earth written . it explains all the technical wording used by photographers in detail so you know what hes talking about. he gives good advice and good ideas to try out and tells you exactly how to do it. its a must for a beginner starting out trying to learn everything about photography. has plenty of pictures that hes taken that are beautiful.

After reading this book, I FINALLY felt like I understood photography. I still had a lot to learn, but this book was the only book that didn't leave me going "huh?" If you already understand the basics of exposure, this book is not meant for you. This book is perfect for someone who has just decided to pick up a camera and try to take some pictures. This book teaches you how to think about your pictures and how to make decisions about exposure. I love the examples where one situation is shown photographed with several different camera settings or at different times of day. This more than anything helped me to see what the result of different choices would be. Even if you have a short attention span and can't get through all the text, the pictures and their captions have a lot to teach by themselves.

It is very rare that I write a Review, even if I like the product, but this time I want to take a little time to tell you that you must have this book. It won't make you the best photographer on the planet, but it will definitely clear up many things about photography, no mater if you are an experienced amateur like myself. Lots of explaining and pictures. Help yourself to understanding, by buying the book... you'll be more than excited!!

Generally I do not review books but when I finished reading this book I remembered how some people gave it a very low rating. So I decided to give my opinion. The way I see it is that this book is a very solid start for any starting photographer. I also think that many parts of it can be a good addition to the technique of many advanced amateurs. This book gives a good introduction to the subject of exposure illustrated with many good examples. Implicitly, the book assumes that you have a most basic camera with a center-weighted meter. Despite that most modern cameras offer more exposure metering options, I found the reliance on the basic center wighted metering for the examples very useful and gives a good feeling of what to look for when making an exposure decision. If you are starting a photography hobby, this book will put you on the right path. I do not know how far any other book can cover the area of exposure better other than explaining the details of its theory. If you do not feel this book cover the area of exposure as well as others, we can all use a good recommendation.

There's more here than just where to set the aperture on your camera. Lots of good information on f/stop, shutter speed, and film types (I skipped the film stuff, as I have gone digital). Very useful for the photographer who wants to understand how these things affect photos. Lots of photographs with accompanying text explaining how these concepts affect each one.

This book helped me understand so much. Excellent book and easy to understand. Highly recommend for beginning to intermediate photographers.

Though published in 1990, this book is definitely a must buy for any photographer. The author takes a complex subject and explains it in a manner than can be understood by the non-professional. The information is useful regardless of the camera used, the topic photographed, or the experience of the photographer.

Based on the concept of the "exposure triangle", Peterson devotes an in-depth and comprehensive chapter to aperture, shutter speed, and film speed. He provides practical examples immediately useable advice.

If there is a single that you purchase on photography ... this is the book to get!

There are many techniques and understanding I never knew till I read this book. I had read many books including Photography by Barbara London and Ansel Adams's books. They are great books in their own right but this book brings out many knowledge not revealed in other books. The photos are arranged that they show different settings and excellent descriptions to accompany. Not for the coffee table though, rather technical for that.

Great for introductory reading and refreshing guide for people like me.....forgetful. One of my must-have technical guides.

So, you know you use a larger aperture for a shorter depth of field. And you know large apertures have small numbers. But would you like to know why that is? Do you already know? If, indeed, you know these basic principles but not 'why' they exist, then you remind me of me, and I think you'll like this book. The photos are great, the book dimensions show them off well, and the descriptions are fantastic. It's not a dry, dull technical book...not does it overdo the, um, humor (ahem, Scott Kelby....). But it makes exposure make sense of a deeper level. Of course, if you don't an know aperture from a hand grenade, you'll probably like this, too. But, you don't have to be 'that clueless' to get something from this book. For me, it's reinforcing things I already know and helping me understand them a little more...and inviting me to really use my knowledge. The author evidently loves to shoot, and that enthusiasm is infectious. Don't worry that's it's too easy or too hard for you; just read it. I think it's been around forever...and books that stay in print that long tend to do so for a reason. (Recommended for film and digital, I will add that I am reading the revised edition, 2004, and am delighted that there is more information on digital than I expected. I do remain curious about the upcoming August 2010 edition, though.)

Exposure it one of the hardest technical things to learn about in taking high quality photographs. I learned it in High School in the 70's with an excellent teacher, and in College. I went on to really understand exposure and apply it on every photo.

Today I am teaching Adult Ed Classes at the college on Digital SLR photography and I found this book perfect to help students grasp the concepts of exposure. I like the authors explanations and analogies, they make sense and make learning exposure more accessible to newer photographers.

Even seasoned pros can use a refresher and a book to help fill in the gaps, and this book helps there too.

This is not a super advanced guide, but very good basics for a foundation of taking better photos by understanding exposure.

If you can't afford a photography course then this is the book for you. If you did a photography course this is still the book to get. It has some basic pointers that will help you get better pictures.

I really like it and now use mostly program modes (P,M,S,A).

A great lesson for less than $20.

It may have just been me, but the book seems really basic. If you are like me, you read for hours online about photography; you know Digital Photography Schools inside and out, and have read countless tutorials. I feel like paying for this book taught me little I did not already know by reading dps. It is good information but you should be warned not to buy it if you read online.

Too much of film technics; sky brother exposure tip does not work that simple; conflicting info, best sharpness at the smallest opening (page 37) or from f/8 to f/11 (page 56)?

I have both this book and Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide. I much prefer the latter book. Understanding Exposure was clearly written before DSLR's and, while some things haven't changed since the advent of digital, the book simply feels dated despite some updates. The Field Guide contains many of the same images and feels much newer.

This isn't a *bad* book and Bryan Peterson does an excellent job of teaching photography techniques in either book, I just found the Field Guide to be superior.

This is a modest update of a book written years ago for the previous generation (film) cameras. While it contains many jewels of information about photography in general and parameters useful in deciding exposure philosophy I found it to be much less than I had hoped for as a convert to the digital format and a moderately experienced (amateur) photographer. I feel that it provides little value for the point-and-shoot cameras with only modest exposure adjustment capabilities. For the SLR shooter with the modern exposure metering systems, the author's adherance to a center weighted regime (which works very well for him) fails to do justice to the richness of the available technology. It could have been much more thorough for the digital devotee.
For someone new to SLR photography I think this book would offer valuable insights to the thought processes of a legendary professional and as such, could recommend it.

Bryan Peterson has written a fine book on photography. With modern digital SLRs the only challenge is finding the best exposure for a picture. Bryan Peterson has many suggestions on how to get the best picture. His chapter on the Sky Brothers opened my eyes to a new way of getting the correct exposure. I followed his advice on night an low light exposures and got some beautiful night pictures of Downtown Chicago. I purchased this book at Amazon which has a wide selection of photography book at discounted prices.

Rich R

This is such a fantastic book. It breaks down photography and gives examples. It also has pictures to demonstrate how changing the ISO, or exposure, ect can change the picture. I am an amateur photographer, learning daily on how to take pictures on Manual and this book has been the key to my success with my pictures. With every picture I take, I am learning more and more and I attribute this to "Understanding Exposure". I recommend this to aspiring photographers who are ready to start learning.

I just finished Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", and couldn't more highly recommend it to anyone who'd like to get into photography. It requires almost no previous knowledge, and thoroughly teaches concepts while at the same time motivating the reader to go shoot!
5 stars from me, and I'll be loaning/suggesting this one to friends!

... just because even if you are not a novice anymore you will want to read it at least once a year. The second copy is because 1) you won't be happy loaning your only copy or 2) at some point you will want to give this as a gift to a close friend who is on his/her first steps of serious photography.

The secret of this book lies on its simplicity and straight to the point talk. Its like a close friend teaching you with all the patience a human can give.

When I got this book I was someone with a keen interest struggling to go further with my photography. This book helped me understand both the technical and artistic aspects of photography well enough to move to the next level.

This is another one of those books that attempts to save the new photographer time and effort by coming up wth a set if "rules" about how to expose properly. "Aim your meter at the blue sky" Etc. Etc. Etc. Thirty five years ago as a newbie photographer I wasted several years of my life reading this sort of stuff in the photography magazines and the more I read the more confused I became.

Eventually I bit the bullet and purchased Ansel Adams book on exposure. Alas, try as I might I was unable to summon up much enthusiasm for reading them as they were dryer than the desert he sometimes photographed. Happily I eventually stumbled upon Minor White's crystal clear explaination of the Zone System favored by Ansel Adams. One read and things began to get clearer. Two and I was well on the road to becoming a better photographer.

So why did I buy this book? Because with the increasing sophistication of todays digital cameras many exposure techniques that once worked well for me now often seem to get me into trouble. Time and again I've used techniques that once served me well only to later discover in the lightroom that I'd made a bad situation only worse.

Simply put, while the manual that came with my camera does a pretty good job of telling which button to push it literally saids nothing whatever about how the button changes things, or, worse yet perhaps, why you would desire to change them in the first place. What I need to know as a serious photographer is what pushing the button achieves and how it achieves it. To whit, when you have an in camera computer based exposure system that attempts to make exposure idiot proof and then try to use that meter in a more traditional way you can get yourself into a world of trouble! Simply put if the camera manufacturer doesn't tell you how their meter measures light, what sort of info it gathers, and how it uses that info to determine correct exposure you are up the proverbial creek badly in need of the proverbial missing paddle.

If you are thinking of purchasing this book in an effort to best utilize your camera's exposure meter look elsewhere...

You can find basic information about Aperture, shutter speed and Light in any general photography book or even in camera manual. But this book will cover those aspects which are not generally found. Book is full of amazing pictures, some scenarios are explained with more than 2 pictures taken with different settings. Some interesting topics include -
1. Where to focus while taking story telling landscape pictures. Not very detailed but good information about depth-of-field/distance scale on lens.
2. "Who cares?" aperture.
3. How to compose shot in high contrast/difficult lighting situation, he used some funny terms (Sky brother, etc...)
4. Macro photography, some amazing pictures are given in book.
5. I also find chapter on Light very useful.
6. Some nice techniques like 'Double exposure and sandwiching'.

I agree with some of the reviewer that ISO is not discussed much in this book but not a big problem. Also this book covers only outdoor photography so you would be disappointed if you are looking for indoor photography. I am already using techniques in this book, nice book to own.

Not a bad book, but not worth 4 or 5 stars. The teaching always boils down to simple tips, and there isn't any real in-depth explanations on anything. Lots of reference to the author's Nikon gear, which is very annoying, since I don't know every single make of Nikon cameras back to the 1970's. Lots of glossed over technical explanations, sided with over-doses of simplistic discussions instead of explanations.

Missing information is everywhere. I had to read the whole book before finding out why all kinds of shots say "I pointed my lens to the sky, adjusted the exposure until -2/3 showed, recomposed and took the shot". Never explained why he uses -2/3 or +2/3 until the very end, and then only says "do -2/3 digital, +2/3 film". Everytime or just when using the sky? Huh? What? Then again, sometimes he just uses the normal setting. Frustrating since it wouldn've taken 5 minutes to really explain this, and should have been at the beginning. Anyway, other two vital pieces of information missing 100% of the time is the ISO setting and whether or not film or digital cam was used on the discussion shot. All you get is lens/f/shutter on every shot. Very dumb since an entire section is devoted to the "holy trinity" for exposures being ISO/f/shutter. And, it's apparent that a lot of shots are film, and I use both medias and I'd like to know this stuff.

There are better books.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is one of those books that when you first start to read it you say to yourself "I already know what", but if you can stay focused and actually read all of the words of this book (i.e., no skimming) then you'll discover many little nuggets of info that will help you to be more creative in your photography.

The exercises and stories Bryan talks about cause me to have numerous "ah ha" moments where I feel like my mind and view of the world changes and my photography will get better in the process.

Another thing I like about Bryan's books is that he shares his stock photo shots that have been successful and tells you how much money he has made on them. I find this valuable because I look at certain shots, like his cover picture, and say "wow that's nice" but I wouldn't expect it to be a $40,000 stock photo (in the 90's). His shots remind me that you can have a simple basic shot that is well taken and exposed and still make some good money with it. While the current stock photography market is exponentially harder now, and I don't think you are going to see $40k photos anymore, it does remind me that you don't need to travel to a national park or exotic location to make good money with a photo.

I highly recommend getting this book. For those who think they know all of this stuff, I suggest that you keep reading and pay close attention. Don't let your mind wander and start skimming pages, because you will miss nuggets of useful information that will help make you a better photographer. While this book isn't first on my reading list, it is high on the list!

Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced Value: Worth every penny Recommendation: Highly recommended. It is hard to go wrong with Bryan's books and this is no different. This was his first book that got it all started and he's got a winning formula for writing fantastic books. Learning to See Creatively should be read first, but this book is great.

[...]

I have read some books and I think this is one of the best to learn photography concepts. It give all the basic information you need to understand each basic concept of photography.

I bought a DSLR and several books (the bad of buy several books is that a lot of them repeat the same introductory concepts) but I recommend this like the first book to read :) easy to understand and with good quality contents.

This book is essential for understanding proper exposure. Great examples and discussion. Highly recommended for anyone looking to take better photos.

this book is very informative. Its gives a semester's worth of knowledge in one book. I learned so much about how to take better pictures. More than I could have possibly figured out on my own.

I can't say enough about this book. It is worth the money if you only look at the pictures. There is however more to this book than the pictures: much more. First Bryan Peterson has a great way of presenting the creative view of making pictures. He doesn't overwhelm you with technical data: just the opposite. He shows a picture, explains why or how he took it, and finally the focal length, aperature and shutter speed.

This book is now five years since publication but it is still relative. That is due to his focus on creative approaches to his images and not a heavy focus on technical aspects of picture making. His down to earth style of presenting the material in this book makes it a pleasure to read. I keep going back to it for ideas or inspiration. In fact it is so good, I am going to purchase his other book "Understanding Shutterspeed: Creative Action and Low Light Beyond 1/125 Second" just based on how much I liked "Understandin Exposure".

Bryan, great job!

At last, a nicely written and easy to understand "how-to" photography book that is satisfying on several levels. While the author supplies some wonderful tips and examples that quickly served to help me improve my skills as an advanced amateur, this book is absolutely NOT over the head of anyone new to SLR-type photography. (It won't really help point-and-shoot folks unless they have advanced cameras with Auto-M-AP-SP-P settings.) I have loaned my copy of the book to a friend who has already threatened to not return it (!) and have recommended it to another. I heartily recommend this book to anyone in need of a really good and well-thought-out approach to taking consistently good pics. You will not be disappointed if you should decide to purchase it!

As a newbie photographer I found this to be by far the best book to teach the basics of how to use an SLR camera. I appreciated most the outstanding illustrations used to explain the basic concepts of ISO, Aperture and shutter speed and there relationship with each other. I also appreciated his explanation of how to meter certain subjects to get superior results. With all the exercises throughout the book along with his explanation of how and why he took certain photos you feel like an expert by the time your finished. With the aid of this one book I have already seen outstanding results in my photographs. Obviously I recommend this book to anyone who is new to photography and wants to have a clear understanding of how to use a camera.

Excellent book. after the first chapter it actually got me excited to get my camera out and take pictures and take it off the priority mode. The author is all about creativity and he does a great job with all his explanations and outstanding examples. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to take great pictures.

This book is excellent for the novice photographer or one who just needs to re-familiarize themselves with key photographic elements. I love Bryan Peterson's books and his work! He truly breaks down the most difficult terms with his unique style of teaching. He's resourceful and this book will challenge you to do what you thought you couldn't. I highly recommend this book to those entering the digital SLR arena!

I have read dozens of 'How-to' photograpy books during my long amateur photographer career. I was very surprised to read a new book on an old subject that actually offered new slants (to me) on exposture and shutter speed. It also helped because I am using some of the same equipment that Bryan Peterson uses in this book.

This is a great book for beginners like myself. That's why I think the product description on Amazon is for the wrong book: "For serious amateur photographers who already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images but want to be more creative with a camera, here's the book to consult."

This is the book for anyone BUT the person who can "already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images." In fact, the book starts out explaining basics, like what is aperture, don't be afraid of "M" manual mode, etc. So, IGNORE Amazon's description and know that this is a useful book to teach the basics, help you to get to know your camera, and learn some tricks and tips to take better photos.

Awesome book. he speaks my language. (using great analogies). it made me understand photography a whole lot better.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to improve the quality of their photography. You're given the fundamentals of making a shot and then given some general guidelines and exercises to help you know how to put the theory into practice. Granted, much of the book says I shot this type of shot this way - but, experience is the only thing that will make your pictures look like the authors.

Anyone who is interested in furthering their foundational knowledge of photography needs this book. You won't be disappointed.

I'm in the market for a new camera and have been trying to decide on which kind. I decided that before I invest in yet another camera, I should probably know exactly what it is I want to do with it! So, I bought this book to help me get a grasp on the basics of photography. It's pretty easy to follow, but I still felt a bit overwhelmed at times.

The book was helpful. However, for a true beginner, you might want to look for something even more basic. (I'll let you know if I find it!)

First - I consider photography a very heavy hobby, and spend a lot of time making pictures, and don't want to spend countless hours in front of the PC Monitor touching up my shots. I want to get it right in camera. With that said, this is one of the best books I own on understanding how exposure works. I gave my original copy away after owning it for several years, but missed it so much as a reference guide, I ordered another one. I find myself referring back to this book again and again. I love the exercises that are included. What makes you a better photographer is getting out and making pictures, and these exercises force you to do just that.

As an advanced enthusiast, I have bought this book after reading quite positive reviews about it here and elsewhere. I was hoping that it would offer a lot that I was missing. Apparently, my expectations were too high.

The book is good in terms of the general writing style, the examples & the explanations. The production quality (paper, typesetting, color separations) are also fine. I believe it contains a wealth of information which are presented nicely and in a logical order. This can make this book (considering its not too expensive price) a very welcome offer for "beginners". For "advanced" users (who might have read similar books before, who were shooting even before the digital age etc.) it has very limited appeal. This is probably fine since the author (& the publisher) probably had the beginners as their potential customers in mind. Unfortunately, this is not even implied by the title...

The book is revised to accommodate some info on "digital" cameras. There is even a short chapter comparing film & digital towards the end of the book. However, digital technology evolves too fast to allow books like this to remain current for more than a year or two. Five years is too much in this respect... The comments on digital approach are offered in a sketchy manner here and there and there is still too much info on film which is used by a minority nowadays. I do use film and I am not criticising the author for including such info. What I am trying to say is that a revised version based on digital camera exposures with additional info on film would be much better.

Peterson makes generalizations thoroughout the book. Most of these are necessary and helpful for the beginners and prevents them from getting confused by details and exceptions. However, he rarely declares that he is oversimplifying things. This can be misleading like his below sentences (from page 68) show: "To produce a background of out-of-focus circles, you must use a wide open aperture. This is the only aperture that is 100 percent circular in shape. All other apertures are hexagonal". The generalizations here are plain wrong. (Readers can see an image with an "octagonal aperture", for example, on page 91).

These criticisms are minor as long as the potential buyer is a beginner since the "basics" of exposure are essentially the same for film and digital. This book provides the necessary information for them in a concise manner. However, for advanced shooters, there is little info here that they might have missed before.

This was my first photography book read from beginning till end without getting bored and, more important, always learning something useful on every page, that I could almost immediately apply on the field. The examples given by the author are really helpful and self illustrative but he also adds enough technical detail (e.g. gives you several examples with different settings) so you can try both the technical and the 'artistic' sides of your next photo. It's not the technical perfection of a picture that makes a great photo but it's important to know how you can pursuit the image you want, and this book gives an important help archiving that step.

I'm reading now the 'Creative Outdoor' and while being a little different, I would say that 'Understanding Exposure' it's much more fun to read and more to the point.

Starting with photography? Then please buy this one, you won't regret. And if you would like to have some more technical background for your current knowledge then I would also recommend this book to you.

If you would like, you COULD search around the internet and get all the same information from varies sites/ authors. But this one book explains things in easy terms with compelling images to illustrate the point. Very easy to read and understand. I recommend this book to anyone looking to understand what their camera is doing rather than accidentally getting good exposures. I am no longer confused about ISO's and the use of f-stops to create depth.

Summary: Great book, read in two days, every "photographer" in the office is enjoying the book now.

This is an excellent book for beginners as well as advanced photographers. When I first got the book I flipped through it and I was disappointed in thinking it was mostly a picture book on how the photographer got the picture. I decided to go ahead and give it a chance. As I read it, I understood why the pictures are there and also learned how to create excellent pictures. It's one of those books you read several times as you get better and better with photography. It's great for those learning and great for those trying to improve. I thought it was easy to understand and have referred back to it many times.

This is the best book on the subject of understanding exposure for a digital camera. The author breaks it down into a few basic components that are universally applicable. When you're done with this book, you will have an understanding on how your light meter and digital sensor work and how to compensate for their inherent characteristics. The digital sensor reacts to light differently than film and you have to know what it wants to do in order to get the exposure you want. This book logically builds on what the sensor wants to do and then walks you through a number of examples that you will encounter and how to handle them. As a photographer, I can't think of any info that has helped me more. I always recommended this book to people wanting to learn about digital photography. If you truly understand how your camera interprets light, then the rest (composition, the moment, etc...) is up to you.

Bryan has obviously written a good book explaining the fundamentals of exposure and spent more time explaining the holy trinity of photography (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed) and how varying them impacts the photograph. The book is also full of educative pictures. This is the biggest strength of this book.

Bryan does not come across as a great teacher like John Shaw comes across. The book also falls short (for me personally) on the metering techniques. There is very little space devoted for Spot, Matrix/Evaluative or Center Weighted Metering in the book and the pros and cons of each method. It also does not cover in detail the pros and cons of using an external meter.

Overall a good read but I don't recommend it very highly.

Based on the positive reviews, I purchased Bryan Petersons, Understanding Exposure and The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman at the same time.

While both are good, Understanding Exposure is much easier to follow. The later is more dry and text bookish; however, it goes deeper into how to develop good shooting skills, not just explaining how exposure works. I recommend both.

This book will take you through the basics of how aperture, shutter speed, and film speed work together. Apertures are split into groups, and explanations given for conditions that are best for each group.

It points out differences between fixed lens digital cameras and digital SLRs; Such as, why there's a difference in depth of field when I used an f/2.4 on a fixed lens and an f/2.4 on an SLR. Advantages and disadvantages for both, when it comes to aperture, were enlightening.

Tips are provided for most accurate light metering, filter use, and freezing or slowing motion, to name a few. Exercises are provided so you can experience for yourself what the author is describing.

Although this book doesn't "need" another five star review, I'm giving it one anyway, because I definitely thought it was money well spent.

This is a good book for understanding exposure, very detail-oriented. But for me, it's a little bit too technical. If anyone wants to explore into this area of interest, it's the book for you.

I can't say enough about this book. Although I had a pretty good working knowledge of exposure before I read this book, I feel like I have a complete understanding now. Great images illustrate each point in the book. The chapters are well arranged and easy to read. You will not regret buying this one!

I understood what shutter speed, aperature and ISO did but I never grasped how the three worked together until I got just a few pages into this book. Just that alone was worth the money for me - he explained it so simply! I have read other books and articles but they only talked about what settings they used not how the settings worked together.

We recently took a trip to New York City and although I didn't take a tripod I got some great photos both day and night. Not professional quality yet but the best I have ever taken and more importantly, out of 500+ shots I only took a couple on auto mode!

Great book!

No matter how complex and smart are today's cameras, this book should be read by anyone who wants to make creative photos.

I think with the book, the best approach is to flip through it at the bookstore and see if the photos in it inspire you. Personally, I find the photos here to be too artsy for my taste. I bought the book shortly before diving into the DSLR world. The first chapters helped me a lot to understand the '3-legged stool' of exposure. My main interest was learning when to use what apertures and shutter speeds. I got what I need in that regard, but most of the book was wasted on me, but the styles of photos I want to take are vastly different than Bryan's. Personally, I found it a bit creepy that he used his wife and daughters in so many of the photos in this book.

One of the most common misconceptions around is that by buying the most recent and most hitech photography gear one can come up with extra-ordinary exposures.

This book has showed me otherwise. Too often amateurs like me get caught up with the jargon that we simply avoid doing manual shots for fear of missing those magical moments thus we end up doing machine-gun shooting.

Fortunately I bought this book and re-learned the basics properly. At least now I know the fundamentals and have the confidence to experiment further.

The book is very down to earth unlike other photography books who put too much emphasis on the author's ego and style. It starts off with explaining what is what and then proceeds to the different shooting scenarios.

Even now that I've advanced a bit, I still end up going back to some specific chapter to re-read a page or two to explain why a scene is what it is.

This book is written in a clear, user friendly style and the author sounds like a really nice person, but to tell the truth the advice he gives about exposure I learned by spending about a half hour with my friend when I was 15. And it's a lot better to learn this stuff while doing it than from a book. I guess the photos are good examples, but not any better than most people's who know the very basics of aperture, speed, ISO settings, and depth of field. What I don't understand is why the author--who is a pro--failed to mention the role of tripods in long exposure shots, so while he says that a 1 sec. exposure at let's say f16 is the same as f4 at 1/30 sec., he doesn't mention that a 1 sec exposure opens yourself to camera shakiness & blurring. There's a page on using a tripod, but nothing specific. He doesn't spend much time at all on explaining focal lengths of film vs. digital cameras, which is also important. I only mention these things because I'd hate to see someone take a bunch of photos without this knowledge and end up with unexpected consequences.

I bought this book after knowing quite a bit about my SLR digital camera, such as how to change the settings, and knowledge of what ISO, shutter speed, focal length and ASO are. This book was AMAZING. I learned so much within the first few chapters that I was ready to head outside and try them out, and they worked just like Scott said they would. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to sharpen their skills and take it to the next level. I will be buying his other books as well.

When I first bought this book as an absolute beginner to photography (I didn't know the meaning of basic exposure terms, camera and lens features etc.) I couldn't get thru the book. I kept reading about photography from the internet and other books and six months later I gave the book another try. This time I breezed thru the book and found it gave me a very practical framework for putting together all of the info on exposure I had learned in the past six months.

I know experts can find fault with the content but the value of this book is in its teaching effectiveness. The book does a five star job of teaching its main subject -ISO, aperture and shutter speed. The effectiveness does depend on your skill level. This book maybe too challenging for an absolute beginner and too basic for more advanced photographers but if your skills are somewhere in between you will probably find it very useful.

This book is a keeper. I highly recommend it. It is one of my most valuable learning resources.

Its a great book with an easy to follow way of explaining. Great photos taken by Bryan PETERSON.

He starts of by saying that the photos in the book have been taken with a low budget DSLR so by this way you can understand that you also can take these kinds of photos if you really wanted.

All photos in the book have an info bar below it giving you the information about which settings were used to take that particular shot.

I don have a camera yet and although I dont I had great time reading this book.

Go for it with no hesitation!

A great book. Excellent first time introduction to the "technicals" of photography or for those who had let their knowledge slip. The photos are stunning and Bryan writes in a style that is entertaining and informative. Highly recommended to those interested in photography at the beginners level.

If you are doing outdoor photography, this book is a must read. The techniques described in this book for determing exposure are excellent. If your new to photography it is a good foundation to build on and if you have been taking pictures for awhile it is a good refresher on the very basic princible of photography, getting the right amount of light into the camera.

Tim Skipper
Vision Photo Image
www.visionphotoimage.com

Understand Exposure (revised edition)

reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher, Olathe, KS: (dreric1kansas@aol.com)


Strengths: Beautiful color photos. Not a tutorial type book.This book is not a "pocket guide" but a "full meal deal." It takes time to read and " digest."
Weaknesses: Only 160 pages but is packed with information.

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 5/5

I had read information about the author (of this book) and his focus on photography and the difficulties of using exposure. The essence of it struck a cord with me. I wanted to get this book and discover further about the author insights.
I have taken photographs for many years, under many different situation with the main objective being to advance my skills and capture better photos. Since the author had beautiful award winning photos, I wanted to know further about his methods concerning explaining relationships of aperture, shutter speed and film/ digital speed (ISO/ASA) which he considered the cornerstone of making (his ) magnificent photos. Called the "photographer's triangle," the main idea is to perfect this "trifecta" of methods (aperture, shutter speeds, and ISO/ASA). I was hoping that I would find fresh beneficial ideas that might benefit myself as well as other photographers. And I was glad I did.
This book is only 160 pages but is loaded with information within the six chapters and the index. Don't expect a series of tutorials for relaying the information. What this book offers is a set of insightful and easy to grasp notions that expand your knowledge of photography, photographic methods and the ideas which involve creating photograph in general.
The way the author writes is a like an "unfolding story." The ideas and methods actually intertwine and integrate along the way. Each idea has at least one of the author's superb photos that immediately "pops out at you." He weaves his ideas and explains how the final product created this award winning photo. Basic information is included along with the final exposure and additional information. Several times the focus also includes how the photo were initially created and then gradually transformed into a "better photo" and why. One or more photos show the "before and after" effects.
This book is not only enlightening but extremely instructive. Along the way to reading this beautiful books, there is information concerning polarizing filters, double and multiple exposures. Instead of reading this book as a speed reading course, you "digest it slowly " and "think about what is being said." In this day in age, where speed is everything, this is a welcome read.
This book is not a "pocket guide" but a "full meal deal."This definitely is a book that you "slowly digest." If you desire to learn about photography and take your time learning, this is a great book from an award winning photographer. While it might take a little time to finish the book , most will learn from the author's methods and his ideas.
The best way to learn from this book is to read the information, think about the photos and then how it might relate to your photos that you have taken in the past or want to take in the future. Whether you are just starting your photographic endeavors or advanced photographer, the author will give you something to think about, learn and construct your photos to a better level.

I'm new to photography, trying to learn the basics in preparation for buying my first digital slr (I took a photography class 10 years ago, but had forgotten everything). This book is great, and I plan to read it many times. Even if you have little interest in actually using an advanced camera (like an slr), understanding the basics of photography is a good thing (and immensely interesting). As such, this book would be great for any person, even if he/she hasn't shown an interest in photography. This would be a great Christmas/birthday/etc gift for someone who is difficult to buy for.

Even though this book is primarily written from a non-digital SLR camera perspective, the information and examples all work on your DSLR. After reading the first two chapters I was already snapping better pictures!!! I had a lot of questions and this book answered them! After reading this book I have a firm grasp on, ISO speeds, light readings and the ever important F/stop.

It is a must have!!

I'm an amateur photographer who has been hacking around with cameras for about 6 years now. I have never taken a class and have just picked up bits and pieces here and there. I had a very vague understanding of Exposure.I basically understood aperture and shutter speed and how they went together but I must admit my use of my light meter was not what it should have been -- I didn't put the pieces together...This book completely demystified exposure for me.

There is certainly more to be learned but for the first time I "get it."

I read the entire book in an evening and went out the next day and had a blast shooting pictures even though it was midday and the light was crappy. While I couldn't fix the lighting I had a lot of fun experimenting with the things I learned in the book and ended up getting a nice shot of a bald eagle by chance. That shot would have been too soft based on my old shoot habits but by applying the "who cares?" rule I new exactly what aperature I wanted.

I used to shoot Ap. Priority or Shutter priority most of the time. I love Manual now! Though all three have their place I was afraid of the big M before.

Finally the other things I learned incidentally from this book are that a polarizing filter is essential equipment (probably an ND filter as well). I just ordered a B W polarizing filter.

This book also inspired me to throw away my crappy cheap tripod and ordered a Bogen because I now want to experiment with shots that will force me to use my tripod more.

For me this book was the key that unlocked the concept of Exposure for me.

This book is what I had expected - clear explanation on how to choose the creative exposure. As a novice in SLR, I find this book a must before read other books.

The beauty of Understanding Exposure is by the time you finish reading it you will know how aperture, shutter speed and ISO interact to make the 'right photo'. You will confidently be able to set your camera to Manual Mode and begin taking pictures by using the meter in the viewfinder to adjust aperture or shutter speed based on the type of picture you are trying to take. And, it was the first book I read that simply explained what the 'mysterious' ISO really is.

A great read, along with Bryan's other books. You will want to go out and practice what you are learning.

This book came highly recommended and is a good book for beginners, and would be a great book for beginners starting out with color film photography. It is clearly written and does a good job of covering all of the basics. It is also a good book for people who have only ever used "point and shoot" cameras.

Someone who started out with a camera that used an external light meter, or even on a manual camera will find that 95% of the material in this book is review. While concepts such as stopping down to increase depth of field, or changing the shutter speed to control blur are important basics, they are indeed basics which anyone with a modicum of experience should already know.

There were some interesting techniques that I picked up from this book like taking exposure readings off of the sky, and compensating when most of the subject matter is green.

The book is a bit dated when it comes to digital photography, most of his comments are about fairly primitive point and shoot digitals.

I passed my copy on to a friend who is just beginning photogtraphy.

I understand the basic concepts of shutterspeed, aperture, iso and lighting. Looking at the reviews I was looking for this book to take me to the next level - teach me how to meter a situation, give more indepth undertanding of advanced equipment and lenses etc. This book was a good read but disappointed me on those fronts.

I really loved "John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide" which did provide me with all that information and has become my defacto reference for now.

Learning about photography, this is a great first time /review of things you for got and thing you just didn't know how book.very helpful.

I have some experience with photography, but I needed to start again with an emphasis on the fundamentals. Peterson's book was very good for me in that regard. He has the book well organized on the important elements of exposure, digital or film. The book includes good large sized photographs to illustrate Peterson's instructive points.

I got this last year for Christmas (Christmas 2006, I mean) and I had read it twice before New Year's! When I got the book, I considered myself an "advanced amateur" photographer, but this just opened up a whole new world. I couldn't wait to get out and try some of the techniques. This gave me the "push" I needed to put my camera on manual for most of the time, and to feel confident that the pictures would come out as expected (most of the time, anyway!). Many of the author's images in this book are very inspiring - they make me wish I could go to the same place and see what kind of shot I could make of the same scene. In the past year I've read this book several more times, and whenever I feel like I'm in a photographic rut, I'll flip through this book, and it'll give me ideas that I can't wait to try out. Definitely a two-thumbs-up book. I must say that sometimes the style does seem a little "dumbed down" but the quality of the information way outweighs that little annoyance. I'd also give the same two thumbs up to his similar book on composition.

This is an excellent book for newbies and seasoned photographers. The author's text is clear and concise, and the images he's chosen to illustrate his points are fabulous. My favorite example of "creative exposure" is the sequence of shots of the ferris wheel. A picture is, indeed, worth a 1,000 words.

This book is excellent in the way that the lessons are exposed. Very easy to understand and apply. Very well done!

The book is very good in explaining the basics of photography and how to use the settings of a camera. It gives basic information on the technical side of photography with real examples on how to take picures without using "auto" mode.
I would welcome more information on how to use flash more effectively.

I like the way the concepts are presented using pictures with what the author was thinking and trying to accomplish.

This book is very well written and I would recommend it to everyone wanted to get involved in photography. Everything was explained so well and the visual examples are wonderful. Highly Recommended!

Works for film as well as digital; an excellent study on the subject of receiving reflected light that you want to capture.

Even though I'm still in the process of reading this book and read only first half yet, I can give you my thoughts.
This book is really Amazing one.
Either you're a novice in photography, or you already have some experience, or you're photography enthusiast for years, or you prefer shooting on film or you prefer digital, this book is for all of you.
Real novice will learn how camera works - what's the apperture, shutter, ISO and how they interract. More experienced photographers will get new perspective on things they already know and I'm sure that everyone will find out some new things you've never known or thought of.
Each author's explanation is documented with appropriate picture (including used lens, focal length, ISO, apperture and shutter speed) which will further help you understand the theme.

A real Must Have Book. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody.

I am still learning. I love this book! It's teaching me more than anything else I've read thus far about how to be a better photographer.

This book ties everything all together, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture and it's easy to understand. The pictures are great and help in understanding the information presented. I have many books on photography, and this is at the top of the list.

I have always struggled with proper exposures. I would have to take many shots to get what I want. Bryan Peterson has given us an easier method to exposing the images we want.
Thanks to this book, I'm less frustrated with the final result.

This book contains pretty much everything a beginner would need to know about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO relationships. It talks an awful lot about "light metering", but never really explains *exactly* what to look for on your camera. After figuring that part out on my own, I feel I got a lot of useful information out of this book. The pictures he includes for examples are also (for the most part) quite enjoyable to look at.

This is a fantastic book that does a great job of explaining exposure. The author does a very good job of using detailed examples to get his point across. The book is full of wonderful photographs that are a pleasure to look at while illustrating the techniques he is explaining. In addition, he gives some really nice real-world tips for improving exposure while out in the field.

Great book for beginners and pros as one. Everything you ever wanted to know about lighting, aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

Very basic book, mostly for those who are absolute beginners in photography or for point-and-shooters that are upgrading to SLR.

No question, this is an excellent book. I am a intermediate level photographer, it is filled with great tips. Stop reading this and buy the book!

Relatively new to photography, no formal training, taking my first photography class next spring at community college :) this book was easy to read, read entire book in one sitting, while keep my camera at my side to experiment.

Bryan Peterson definitely knows his stuff and it really brought me to the next level in my photography. Many times in this book, I keep thinking, "ahh huh!" and my eyes opened wider and would realize I just became a better, smarter photographer because of the paragraph I just read.

Talks about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, putting them all together, light, book is full of great examples, before/after pictures, crops of pictures of exactly where the author is metering the light, etc. There is little or no hand waiving in the book!

Awesome, 5 stars! worth every penny.

This book is an easy read with plentiful illustrations and good use of white space. its target is the amateur making the change from 'point and shoot' cameras using full automatic exposure to manual, thoughtful exposures. While it won't tell you how to shoot great exposures it will show you how to get proper exposures in many varied situations.

Peterson delivers on his premise: "Learning to see the multitude of creative exposures that exist is a giant leap toward photographic maturity."

Finally! I just counted 12 other how-to photography books on my self. I've learned from them all and from workshops by pros with award-winning work, so I came with an intellectual understanding of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and their relationship to each other. This is the book that helped me jump from intellectual understanding to instinctual control and creative choice.

Understanding Exposure cuts through the jargon with concise explanations and just enough analogy, simile, and stories to make it stick. Peterson illustrates each point with his own beautiful and to-the-point photographs, often with alternate photos and settings so you can see the results of different choices. Read this book, do the exercises, and feel like a photographic grown-up.

I really found this book a great resource. I started taking better pictures after just a few chapters. Very accessible, but not too elementary. He tells good stories, but not so many that you feel like you are reading a novel instead of a photography text. All about natural light as well, he really doesn't like flash. Really breaks it down into useful pieces of information so you don't feel overwhelmed and you feel like you can go out and do this stuff yourself.

This book really takes you through all the ins and outs of camera exposure in cleverly designed way. I have read many technical documents that get into the math of dof and the science of the color itself, but this book simply takes you step by step through what matters to the camera each time you take a shot. It is illustrated with several creative exposures and often shows a plain one next to a creative one and describes how to achieve both of them and the conditions to attempt them in. After reading this book I have a much better understanding of things to look for when setting up for a shot, as well as a better knowledge of how my camera is going to interpret the different aspects in it.

I read a couple of general how-to type books and realized that I needed a better understanding of how to creatively expose each shot. This book does just that. Plus it gives very useful and straight forward tips to ensure you get it right. Nicely done. Absolutely recommend it.

This is a great book. Explains everything in good terms. It is interesting and easy to read and gets you to your goal of becoming a better photographer. Highly recommended

No other book is so masterfully organized and written around the theme of "creatively correct exposures". Regardless of the medium used (film or digital), the professional experience of the author as a photographer and as a teacher comes together in this highly readable book.

I got the book ontime without any damage.The package and condition of the book is great.A good book to learn better photograpghy.

for bringing quality products to your site and making them available to the public at great prices with super professional customer service and user friendly ordering procedures that anyone can follow. great communication, followup and transaction documentation make you the site we check first for any upcoming purchases. thank bill britton

This is a great book for beginners and experenced as well. He pointed out things that I haven't thought of. And he put them in terms that are easy to understand.This book really gave me the knowledge and understanding that I was looking for.

If there was one book to get in photography this would be it. This book really gets into the the three main components of photography, Aperture, Lens speed, and ISO. These three components are the foundation of photography. It also adresses lighting.

If you have any interest in photography, this is the MUST have book. It is a photography bible.

Unlike some of the other books I ordered, this book actually explains "why", not just "how". So if you are the type that just wants to be told "use f/8 for portraits", get another book. But if you want to understand _why_ to use a f/8 setting for portraits, this is your book. My only quibble would be that it didn't discuss enough about adjusting the ISO, which is useful for those of us that have digital SLRs.

It's a good book. More so for beginners, who have some idea about shutter speed, aperture, focal length and depth of field. This book will acquire you a much better understanding of how these four basic elements of photography correlate in each and every photo. The book provides easy-to-use tools for choosing different parameters for every given situation, or for every desired outcome.
I do find it lacks some explanations beyond the basic "wide aperture for portraits", "stopped down for deep landscape" logics. As an advanced amateur, I was glad to get my thoughts and ideas organized, and that was done quite well, but was also looking for something else. Well, something I don't know, perhaps. Some theory, some star dust of life time experience.

!Excellent! Very good book. I'm taking a photography class and this book explain better than my teacher.

This book gives a great introduction to the use of aperture, shutter speed, and light in getting good exposures. The book is a very quick read and every page has pictures with many illustrating what not to do. He could have gone into a few things in more depth such as the chapter on metering light and ISO, and the section on special techniques and filters is so short it either should have been left out or expanded upon. Overall I am very glad I purchased this book (was pretty cheap too) and it gave me a good base upon which to build.
BTW, this the author obviously loves to photo his wife!

This really tells you how to shoot different photos in different places and under different circumstances.

No wonder so many people recommended this book when it comes to photography.It's a very good book! Other than explaining the basic stuff of the 'photographic triangle' - aperture,shuttle speed and ISO,it also teaches me about metering and using 'Sky Brothers'.
All photographers must have a copy of this book!!

This book is the best! It's written for beginners and in a manner where I could understand everything he was saying. It's been so helpful and I'm still going back to reference to it once in a while.

Bryan Peterson does an excellent job at making it easy to understand exposure. I'll recommend this book to anyone who takes photographs. Very well done.

This is a must read book for anyone wanting to take professional looking photos, or hopes to move up into the professional photographer ranks. Mr. Peterson explains in wonderful detail, along with stunning photos, how to accomplish getting the shot you want through proper exposure. I go back to this book constantly to reaffirm what I am doing and to remind myself of anything I might have forgotten or overlooked, when it comes to making exposure choices. If nothing else, it makes you want to become a better photographer so that you can take amazing photos like the ones in this book.

Well written with a lot of good examples. The author came off as some what cocky to me with his writing style but I guess he's allowed this since his photos appear very nice and pleasing. I especially enjoyed his segments where to point your camera for metering with your camera in different lighting conditions.

Hunting for the finer points of DSLR photography, I found this book very helpful.

great book for anyone trying to understand camera exposure. good details and updated edition for digital.after reviewing the updated version, i noticed he removed stuff that was in the first version.left out some good stuff.

This book is wonderful. He describes the concepts and relates them to something that is easier to understand. He gives you guidelines to follow. It really gives you an understanding of Exposure and how to get the correct one. I know I have a better foundation for my photgraphs and I wish I would have read this book 5 years ago!

This is a very good book to have. It's all the stuff I learned in photography class but had forgotten I learned! Very good analogies to make you understand concepts and great pictures to show you the concepts.

I have learned lots from this book!

The author is upfront, photography is about consistently finding the creatively correct exposure. This books is more than simple "What button do I press to do this...." or "how do I get this to print?"

I firmly believe the majority of a photographer's work should be done in-camera, not on a computer program. This book will help you do that. You'll understand the basic principles of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, type of lighting, field of depth, and so on, which will empower you to make good (if not creative) exposures (or photos) with your SLR--digital or film.

I found this book very informative and exactly what I needed to know on the "HOW TO" of photography. You'll learn on how to take photos in MANUAL mode! And understand how and why this is important! You'll learn how to take control of the camera. Are you frustrated with taking photos that are dark, fuzzy, flat and without depth? Then I recommend this book.

This book is a great help for beginners and provides insight for those experienced in photography--not to mention the photographs in the book are inspiring. The color photographs do a more than ample job on helping the reader visualize the concepts that the author is trying to communicate to his audience.

Well written, easy to understand, provides the information relative to the title that all people interested in photography need to know.

Awesome book - love the examples, the color photos, the way Bryan explains the specifics of what defines and shapes correct exposure - a must have for all photographers beginners and experts alike

This is a wonderfully written book, with great example exposures. It's written in an easy-to-read style that makes you feel as though your photographer uncle is explaining things for you. It's the perfect book for the person who has owned a camera just long enough to be bored with "Full Auto Mode."

Very well explained. Each section is full of example. With this book I surely add a better value to each of my picture.

I found this book to be a terrific resource for understanding how to shoot better pictures. The author has an easy to understand writing style and includes lots of shot specific details so that you really feel like you were there. This is one of the best photography books that I have purchased. I'd buy it again without hesitation.

pleasure to do business with; very fast shippment and excellent quality.
Thanks

This is a great book with so much great information. The example pictures are wonderful and there are so many of them. This is a excellent book for new and intermediate photographers, it clears up some of the confusion on getting the right exposure with straight forward techniques. I like the light humor and witty explanations that the author uses. The only draw back I found is that the author doesn't show the exact focal point where he meters his shots. I would have liked more details, all in all this is a very good book and you won't have any regrets in picking up your own copy.

This book rates right up at the top of the ladder regarding understanding exposure. The author Bryan Peterson shows the practical aspects of exposure as relates to shooting great photographs. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in digital photography. BILL RHYNE, Am Photo Man

This book was sugguested at my beinging photography classes.... I can't tell enough people about just how well it is written --- then I purchased Bryan Peterson's other book as well!

I learned much from the author of this book...I'm not a professional but now I can shoot like one.

The purchase of this book along with a light meter has improved my photography to the point that I am really kicking myself for not getting both much sooner. Don't delay, buy today.

If you're just starting or a pro this is a great book! I'm learning a lot.

Bryan Peterson is to be congratulated on producing an easy to read and understand book on exposure. His obvious talents as a photographer and teacher flow through to his book. I found it exceptionally useful and very well illustrated.

It is very well written book to understanding exposure in photography. Perhaps, given information is known by pro's but Peterson's written style also deserve special acclaim. He gives all exposure details of every shot which are not avaiable in all photography books helps starters valuable information to understand exposure and taking "good" photos.

The author's explanation, examples and exercises are easy to follow and understand. There are beautiful photos on every page; and each photo lists the settings the author used and includes helpful comments so the reader can achieve the same creative effect. The first exercise for the reader is using the manual setting on your camera. I took my camera and the book outside with me, followed the instructions--and achieved beautiful creative photos for the first time!! It was very "empowering!" Before reading this book I relied completely on the automatic settings of my camera. I have taken an on-line class and read lots of photography books, and the message never really clicked--but this book has allowed me to finally understand. This book has become the photobook I take everywhere for "how to" and for inspiration.

I signed up for an online photo course with the author of this book. The course structure was so good that I purchased the book.

This book is absolutely fantastic at taking people from using the auto settings to manual mode. I cannot believe how simple the the principles are and how easy it is to understand the topic of perfectly exposed pictures.

If you want to get into to real photography, buy this book, get off auto settings and get into manual mode. Your images will improve beyond belief.

Hi, I'm at most, an amateur photographer who don't even have time to shoot, let alone, read. I've been hooked on photography since 1982 but have never attended any formal courses. Through all these times, I've read just under a dozen photography books and believe it or not, this is the first that I've read from front to back! The sad truth about me is I love photography, but hate reading! I only read in the hope of gaining deeper knowledge and thick books doesn't help because by the time I get to the 3rd chapter, I've got a headache and forgotten what was in the 1st. This one is special, it's thin, but that doesn't mean it lacks depth. The funny thing is I've only read this book once over the course two weeks (yes I know I'm a slow and lazy reader) and yet I do remember what I've read! I remember what Bryan meant by 'the correct exposure'. Then there's things like the 'sky brothers', the left side of the sun, the 18% reflectance and the light meter in your camera ... to name a few. Oh it's also very enjoyable to read because Mr. Peterson takes you all over world in this book. This is one of those books I can go back on and flip through the pictures in the pages, and the words in the paragraphs would automatically register into my head. Highly recommended for lazy readers who loves photography.

This book is perfect for the begginer photographer. It covers all the basic stuff along with a few tips for the intermediate photographer. If your a pro looking for something alittle more deeper than shutter vs. aperature..then this book might not be for you. I do love the book and will always keep it amoung my many others!

I have all of Bryan's books and if I had to choose only one book to keep, it would be this one. Understanding Exposure de-mysstifies the often tricky camera settings and makes getting a "correct" exposure seem relatively easy. He explains things in plain English and gives you tips and tricks that you can use right way. Another book I'd recommend to any photographer. On a side note, I have a lot of photography books, but Bryan's are the only ones I've read cover-to-cover. Always inspirational.

The first few chapters of this book are very basic. But it you have never ventured off of the automatic settings on your SLR or dSLR, they a great foundation for the remainder of the book.

The book is easy to understand and the author uses excellent photographic examples. It covers much more than just exposure. It covers: composition, thought process for analyzing a scene and taking pictures and much more.

A more appropriate title for this book is Understanding Photography: How to Shoot Great...

I am fairly new to the world of photography, and part of the fun for me is reading everything I can get my hands on to learn as much as I can about my hobby. This book is, by far, one of my favorites and one I would recommend to any do-it-yourself amatuer photographer. It's easy to read, it's not overwhelming (like some "technique" books can be), it's well-organized and, most importantly, it's easy to understand.

This probably isn't the book for more experienced photographers -- it's pretty basic in its explanations of the elements of exposure. But, if you're like me and are basically just having fun teaching yourself photography and growing in your hobby, then this is a great book for your collection.

This is a great book for someone just getting serious about photography or as a reference book for more advanced photographers.

Well writen, easy to understand and clearifies confusions about exposure. Great example shots.

I purchased this book to help me get a better idea of how to use the settings for on my new digital Rebel XT. The book writes in a style that is as if the writer is talking to you and walking you thru how to take the photo you see in the book and what his thought process was, all in an easy to comprehend passage. The photos were impressive, the writing was even more so. I have been looking for other books that match the quality of this one, and I am still looking! You will not regret this purchase!

I'm new to digital SLR photography, I've had my Nikon D50 for about a month and got great information from this book. I wanted to know how create 'correct exposures' fast, this booked helped me to do that. Money well spent.

This book is well-written and easy to understand. Bryan is a good teacher and able to convey his learnings to others without confounding us with technical stuff. I highly recommend this book to both beginners and those who are more experienced. The text is well-illustrated with examples of what he is teaching. I like his easy-going style, too.

Emotions, Resonance, Security ... are all attributes that Bryan invite us to pass-on/convey/reach in every exposure we take, in a very insightful, hands-on,(no show off), and revealing way.
The final quest is a creatively perfect exposure - not just a perfect or right exposure.
Content is V A L U A B L E and the way it's put forward, is just so inviting.
i have been recommending this book to most the people i know and would look forward to meet Bryan in one of his workshops.

This book is well written and easy to understand. I highly recommend for anyone who wants / needs to understand the basics of exposure. Brian Peterson makes a difficult subject very simple to learn.

Everybody who is starting on photography should have this book. His explaination is much easier to understand than others.

A great book for someone who is curious about more than turn on and shoot. If you want to have more control over the output of your pics, and do not know where to start...this book is a good place to begin.

What can i say. This book is wonderful! Full of great information and a must have for any new photographer. Every time i re-read it i learn something new. Just buy it and you will not regret it!

I am a noobie, basically, to dSLR photography. I had a point and shoot for many years and then decided to step up to a digital SLR. With all the bells and whistles of this camera getting off FULL AUTO mode was difficult, but I wanted to learn. I read the bulliten boards and forums, which were a great help. But most of them recommended this book. Now I recommend this book with them to all new photographers of both dSLR and Point and Shoot cameras. It gives wonderful easy to read and in "plain english" the do's and dont's of shooting. When and where to use what type of apeture vs. shutter speed. GET THIS BOOK!!!

This book really is specific and is great for beginners and intermediate photographers. The author really touches on the basics and goes into depth about light metering and aperature settings, etc..

A must have for any beginner!

This book by Bryan Peterson was recommended to me by several photographer friends and is well worth the money. I'm halfway through reading it for the second time. Lots of tips and great advice for the beginner and veteran photographer. I shopped around locally for the book, Amazon beat the best price by at least 25%, even with the shipping charges. This is the photographer's "Bible" for sure.

I love it. Very clear in both word and explanation. The pictures are so tied in with the written word it is so easy to comprehend what the author is trying to tell us.
The first book that clearly explains all of the details behind good, no great, photography. I learned so much from this book. I look forward to more books written by this author.

This book may help you for finding concepts of exposure.

I was very happy with my purchase; I got it quickly and the book is in great condition. Thanks!

I'm a newbie to photography and when I seen the reviews posted by others on this book, I didn't think it could hurt! I can say that I really enjoyed the insight the author has on what to look for and how to set the scene. The insights on basic exposure was exactly what I was needing. I highly recommend this to all beginners.

Just the right balance between theory and exercises, beautiful pictures, written in a clear not boring language.

This book is incredible! I learned a lot of different techniques from reading this and really improved the quality of my pictures. This is a definate for anyone starting out with photography.

This book is NOT for a novice. It is very confusing, and presents exposure to the reader as if the one reading it would already understand the concepts of light, metering, aperature and exposure. After reading about 6 pages, I put it down. This will be a dust collector until I can learn more about the basics.

I have read sections of this book numerous times to continue
to understand all the aspects of exposure w/ a camera. I highly
recommend this book for beginning and experienced photographers.
I plan to purchase his new edition which comes out in August, 2004 as soon as it comes out. Go buy the book--you will not be dissapointed.

Anyone who had some years of schooling can probably reckon that there are two kinds of teachers: one who make simple subjects complex and mysterious, and one who make complex subjects simple and intuitative. Mr. Bryan Peterson belongs to the second kind, as he illustrates photography in this book of spaciously and strategically arranged subjects.

Reading the book is like listening to an old friend talking about his new found love for photography over a cup of coffee. Is there a more delightful way to learn something?

The included photographs work wonderfully with the text. They are beautiful, and the author makes them seem so easy. While reading the book, you cannot help getting the urge to go out and make some pictures of your own. I did, using an old mechanical camera, when I took some of my most memorable photographs.

It was a few years back when I first read the book. Today I still occassionally browse through the chapters and enjoy looking at the photographs. I now realize and am surprised how much the book really taught me, and how it made the introduction such a short and delightful journey. Lucky was I indeed.

Having read many, many photography books to better understand proper exposure, Bryan Peterson delivers crystal clear techniques and methods that will help anyone improve their camera skills. Peterson notes that even advanced students with extensive photography experience profess greater understanding of exposure after reading his simple, but effective explanations. I've personally found this to be true. Having shared the book with several friends, their reactions have been equally emphatic. Buy this book and you may have trouble keeping it in your library!

This book has wonderful pictures and contains the right time, light and exposure to make those photos happen. The only problem is that the author freely admits to having taken fourteen, twenty, thirty rolls of film for one fantastic shot. Sure, they're classics- but who has that kind of money or that kind of time? Not me. The best part about this book is that it makes you feel like, "Oh, man- I could do that- easy!" And I think that is what the author is trying to convey. But 600 shots of your neice to make one saleable photo? That's a little extreme.

I am so excited about this book. I am new to photography and this book makes it easy to understand and fun to learn. I am excited about getting back my first roll of film to see how my pictures came out using these easy to follow techinques given by Bryan Peterson. I think this is a fabulous book for beginners!

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.

This is the most comprehensive on photography I have ever read. Bryan Peterson does a great job of detailing how a camera works and what goes into creating beautiful, artistic pictures. His explanations are clear and concise and the book is filled with information that is usable.

This is the most clear and concise book that I've read on photographic technique, and I have read many! It is written in such a way that it should appeal to both the amateur and the advanced photographer, and its content is applicable to all fields of photography. The text and examples support each other fully. I have recommended this book to nearly everyone I know with an interest in this craft.

If your brand new to serious photography and want good, solid, quick tips on shooting better THIS WEEKEND go for "The Digital Photography 1,2,and 3 books. Good info quickly given..(a bit of crappy humor mixed in but oh well)..If you want a wordy graphic novel about exposure then here you go.
I'm the odd man out here I guess but this book, "A must read" I'm told...did me no good!
This guy has some great video's...watch those and save some time.

I am new to photography and needed something to get me started. This book was great. Peterson gives great easy to remember tips and techniques. I have read much of this information online but it was never explained in the manner that he explains it in. He uses helpful analogies that really make the concepts easy to grasp. I would highly recommend this book for any beginner/intermediate photographer.

This is a great book. I wish I had read this years ago. The author took complex information and explained it in a way that is much easier to understand. Some sections take a little more concentration and applied learning to really achieve a full understanding. The average person should be able to take this book and gain a great deal of knowledge. I highly recommend this book.

I'm currently enrolled in my first basic (digital) photography class at my local art institution. After my first class I realized that photography is much more scientific than I thought! I decided to get this book hoping that it facilitate my learning. It totally did! Peterson's writing style is consistent, clear and easy to read without comprimising his obvious expertise. He writes as if he is teaching you verbally in a real class. The ordering of the material feels a natural flow. Not to mention the fabulous examples he provides with his own images. (I especially love how he provides the actual metadata for EVERY image which is very helpful for future reference). Great book...highly recommend!

I am a beginner and I try to get my hands on as many photography books as I can. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is not the first photography book I have read but this book is where I really learned! It doesn't use complicated terms and is direct to the point.

Bryan Peterson does a great job in review in the first part of the book that most who are reading it will appreciate it for what it is. Very interesting ideas for creating that perfect photo combining use of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Most informative.

I purchased this book used and was in like new condition.

This is an excellent book. In fact, I need to read it again. At first, some of the lingo may be over your head if you are just getting into photography but it's well worth the read. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in photography - it's one of the best books out there!

This book is fantastic. In just a few chapters, Bryan Petersen has taken the mystery out of manual settings on my camera. Prior to reading this book, I thought only professionals could use manual settings. To me they were Greek. Now I have the confidence and understanding to use this setting on my camera thanks to Bryan's excellent and clear explanation. Would highly recommend this book for any photography novice.

I just bought a DSLR in order to learn more about how aperture, shutter speed and ISO interact with each other, and this book really helped me understand how they work together and create different depths of field. He uses simple analogies to explain various topics like ISO, and through lots of pictures, he shows the effect of the different settings.

He gives you exercises to try that help you better understand how each setting affects the outcome - this was a great way for me to actually see how aperture and shutter affect your images. He breaks up the book into separate areas (one on Aperture, one on Shutter, etc.) which helps you keep the information presented in an organized manner. Plus, once you master one section, you move on to the next building block.

The other great thing for a beginner like me was to look at the photographs and learn how different focal lengths are used to achieve the various results - now I want to get a telephoto lens! He also has side boxes that describe various features that your camera may or may not have (Depth-Of-Field Preview, fixed lens, etc.) which, when applicable to my camera, helped me understand what these features were and how they should be used.

The book has really spurred my interest in photography - I feel that in a very short time, I've learned to take some very creative pictures! To a beginner like me, this book was like taking a class in photography with exercises that actually further your understanding of exposure.

UPDATE: I finished the book, and he gives you a lot of great tips on how to use ND filters, various types of lighting, exposures against the sky and green areas and tips on how to use gray cards to help with exposure. There's a lot of information presented which helps gives us beginners a direction to work with.

I really liked this book when I got it from the library, which must have had an older version or printing. The book I received was about the size of a piece of paper. The photos aren't nearly as helpful when they're so small. It's a great book, but given that it's a photography book it's kind of waste to make it so small. Try to get an older, larger printing.

I really cannot recommend this book enough. It's amazing! I learned so much from it including some unexpected but fun techniques in addition to the most important basic pieces of knowledge you need to handle a camera. Basically, it taught me what ISO is, which no other article, blog or book had done successfully. I had pretty much ruled out ISO as something that I didn't understand but had to keep low to avoid noise. But yeah, this is one of the many things explained, of course. :) I do think that a very, very simple understanding of photography may be wanted to follow this one like a breeze. It's a little bit more technical, which is great, and it's still totally accessible for anyone. You just might not follow as well if you know absolutely nothing about cameras. :) I also highly recommend Scott Kelby's digital photography books, they're even more accessible, but then again they don't give you quite as much understanding of your camera! Another plus is that the book itself is great, it's quite large and it's filled with beautiful photos by the author. One thing I found really great is that the aperture, shutter speed, ISO and focal length information are all marked up for every single photo in the book. It's great to see the techniques in action and really grow comfortable with all these settings and beginning to understand when to use what.

So yeah, definitely recommend this book. It'll be completely worth your while. An absolute must if you are a beginner photographer. :)

book in fine shape, however, i expected the most current version. this was a very dated version, wouldn't buy again from this seller.

This is a great book, it taught me about exposure theory and practice when it comes to photography. However with some caveats; a new edition is coming out so you might wait to check it out. this book as more oriented for analog cameras with spot metering while this is great as it was an important step in the evolution of photography, most if not all dSLRs have a very complicated matrix systems now that bypasses some of the tips and tricks in this book. However knowing the theory will probably enhance your understanding for exposure which is what this book is all about. I'm actually considering reading the new edition when it comes out as I really enjoyed my reading for this edition.

I really enjoyed reading this book. If you want to make great photographs, it all starts with understanding exposure.

I bought this book based on the many positive reviews, and after reading the first 30 pages or so, I thought I might have wasted my money. It felt gimmicky... page after page telling me that I was about to uncover the secrets to the "creatively correct exposure" for every photo moment. The book sat unread for several weeks. I picked it back up, and it IS helping me understand photography basics (I'm a newbie). I'm not always able to follow what he is saying without doing other research - he speaks in "photographer lingo" as if he's talking to someone who already has a solid grasp of the basics. However, he gives lots of GREAT examples to illustrate concepts - and his writing style is fun. Good book, one that I would recommend to others - but with the warning to hang in there past the beginning!

For every photographer, be that beginner or not, this book is written very well, easy to understand. A must for photographers of all ages.

Only finished first 20 pages, found it very useful. Not only for beginner as I've read lots of tutorial about photography and this book still like a charm.

I would definitely recommend this book to any photo enthusiast who is looking to expand their knowledge and thus lead to taking "better" photos. Very well written. Easy to understand. LOTS of photo's. Very Helpful!

It's an overall decent book with informative techniques and tips. The photos themselves are not spectacular, but they are not meant to impress and instead teach about the concepts. He does have a few very striking photos in the book which speaks about the author's creative talent. The book is slightly ruined by his elaboration on how much money he made off certain photos, and uncomfortable descriptives about his wife. Also, he overuses the term "who cares" aperture. I know it sounds cool and irreverent to say "who cares" but since the "who cares" aperture seems to have been used quite frequently, I'd say it is an aperture to care about. To be fair, he has a whole column on the f8 to f11 aperture which completely makes sense. The author also writes about little tricks (making fake rain) and mention very helpful tips (the brother skies). Coupled with his photographic examples, the author is successful in conveying his message.

Forget any other books about exposure. This is the best book that I have ever read or seen that covers how to use exposure and shutter speed so well. I recommend it even over the other books that Bryan Peterson has written. It cover the subject so well that no other book is needed. Highly recommended for any user of a camera, digital or film.

I last took a photography class 14 years ago. Having not owned an SLR in the interim until just recently, I had forgotten most of my knowledge. This book brought me right back to where I was then and took me even further. Definitely applicable to digital SLR photography in 2010 (though I hear a revised edition is coming out in August). Enjoyed the writing style as well. While the Sky Brothers and Mr. Green Jeans might sound cheesy, they stick in your mind and remind you of what you learned when you're out in the field shooting. Brilliant book.

I've taken a lot of photography classes and bought quite a few books on photography. What striked me from the getgo on my photography endeavor was the complete reluctance by everyone to give me some examples of how to make a correct exposure with my camera. Sure they would give me a list of measurements for each light situation but this book goes the distance: takes the photo and gives you the measurements. My only wish for this book was to have included the time of the day, but I guess that would have been a bit too much. For an amateur self starter like me, this books makes all the difference in understanding depth of field and of course how to compose the right exposure. The photographer takes a step back and tells you hey this is what I wanted to shoot, this is what I shot, and this is how I shot it. You will hardly get any other photographer to share that with you. I highly recommend this book.

I feel it is a solid book on topic. The photos are tremendous. The text does a very good job of covering the mix between exposure and shutter speed. It also covers the depth of field relationship to exposure. His books are all solid well written texts. I spent years and years in film with none of the gadgets in exposure that digital cameras allow for use. He reminded me of what that experience means in using exposure as a part of the art of photography.

Easy to read, and makes one look at the use of exposure to create the effect that one wants to capture. Good reminder tool for new or experienced.

I purchased this book based on the other reviews I had read. I'm quite the "newbie" at a DSLR camera and hoped this book would help me understand the mechanics of photography and my camera. It did both -- and in a very easy to understand way. I see it as being a continual reference also as it is quite comprehensive.

After I had already ordered the book I visited our local library which had a copy of it. Yeah, I could have just always checked it out whenever I wanted to reference something in the book, but I'm much happier knowing that I have my own copy. Again, very well done.

Always enjoy taking pics. I recently bought my first DSLR - Canon Rebel Ti1. I am very much a beginner who struggles to understand Aperture, Shuttle Speed, ISO, and my advanced DSLR camera features. On my quest to expand my knowledge, I went to Amazon. It search engine points me to Scott Kelby's book "Digital Photo". Too take the advantage of Amazon free shipping, I decided to add on this Bryan Peterson's book - that is, not my first choice. However, to my total surprise, I extremely enjoy reading this book. Even as a slow reader, I almost finish reading it in just one weekend. It is very easy to understand, very concise, with good illustration. I feel much smarter now, armed with knowledge learned from this book. I could have paid hundreds of dollar for beginner seminar just to get the same result as this $16 book.

I took several pics in manual mode last night in my dark room, under difficult lightning, and quickly saw good results. I now know what a perfect exposure means and how to get it. Going forward, what I need is to turn off the auto mode of my camera, get more practice with Av, Tv, & ISO, to achieve the consistency. Looking forward to read more of Mr. Peterson's books.

This book is for EVERYONE who shoots. Exposure is made very easy after reading this book..

Great pictures which are explained how those are composed, good hints to get better pictures. I like it a lot.

Great read if you are moving to digital-SLR and need to put more work into exposure. It's easy to devise assignments for yourself from each chapter and go out and practice these techniques.This book is for the amateur who wants to lift their game to the next level.A good teaching resource too!

Instead of taking snapshots, the principles in this book teach how to take a better image. I've been very please with the results by knowing how to get proper exposure, set the depth of focus and to take pictures that consistently wow those who see them. This is the book by which I'll evaluate all other photographs books.

If you are having a difficult time understanding exposure get this book, it is a great one!

This is just a great book, I like how easy it is to read, put more in basic terms for a beginner to understand. I keep this book near for reference and have re-read many pages; it has just opened up photography for me and I can't wait to read more of his books.

Every book I've gotten by Bryan Peterson has been well worth it. Not only does the book have some great photos in it to please the eye, he tells how he took each shot and many times, gives extremely creative ideas that I'd never thought of before. As a result, I've gotten some really nice shots myself by trying the things he explains. I recommend this book, and any book, by Bryan Peterson!

This is an excellent and quick read with lots of visual content representing the topics being discussed. My guess is that most of us are visual learners and this book caters to us.

The book is clearly written by an artist which in this case is good. Being an IT person, I would have liked to see a few diagrams illustrating the concepts and ideas. I think many things like aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc. could have easily been explained using diagrams instead of words. Perhaps in the next edition.

This book has helped me connect the dots (as we say). It clearly explains the reason for selecting the various settings on the camera and the results to expect.

This book was recommended to me and I will recommend it to others.

To the author: Thank you for helping me get introduced and excited about photography. Although my true passion is video, I have learned a lot about the value of still shots.

This book is for beginners. It explains the same thing again and again.
Anyway, for beginners, it is a good book and you can enjoy the good pics.

This book will make older photographers happy, rather than the younger digital generation photographers.
That said, after I read through the book, I did learn a lot of things. So I guess it still does it's purpose well, despite the aging content.

We are really enjoying this book. It is filled with information, not only on the functions of a camera but also on other aspects of photography.

I'm a novice photographer with a new Nikon DSL and looking to understand more about the basics of light. This book gives you a great basic understanding of many of the fundamentals such as shutter speed and depth of field. Excellent pictures are included to visually show you the points being made. Probably not for experienced photographers but would definitely benefit novices as well as those with some experience.

Learned all about exposure with my film camera with this book. Well illustrated, both in examples and photographs from what I remember. Can't imagine it's not still useful for the digital age, even the non-updated version.

I love this book. The book tells you every single thing you should know in order to create superb exposure. Never failed to have this book on hand.

This is just a great book. I found it very well written. Some people called it basic info. But if you are a pro, then you don't need this book. But if you just started photography, or you just didn't get the idea of Exposure, then this book is going to explain it well to you...

I do recommend this to entry-level and photographers that want to increase their knowledge and skills taking better shots..

Understanding Exposure had me shooting in manual mode in under 10 minutes. It is incredibly easy to do once you know how. Also getting to know about your cameras metering system will help you advance your photography ten fold. This is a must read book for new photographers. Just got your new DSLR? Just get this book, period!

This is one of the only instructional texts I've ever read cover-to-cover. Admittedly, that was painful at times, but I managed. I have mixed feelings about the value of having made the effort.

Part of the problem is the misleading title and product description, both on Amazon and on the book itself. This is NOT a book for someone who can already reliably make satisfactory exposures, nor is it expansive enough to be justifiably called "Understanding Exposure". I needed basic instruction on some subjects covered by the book, but if I were a more experienced photographer seeking advice on advanced exposure techniques, I'd be tremendously frustrated with this book. Even at my level of experience, I occasionally found it to be pretty over-simplified.

And yes, the writing style is truly insulting and juvenile.

I also had some theoretical problems with the treatment given to photography in general. "It's easy to make pretty photos, which can be sold! Hooray for boring-but-lucrative stock images!"

I still give it three stars because the challenge it presents - that of sifting through a lot of crap in order to determine what information is really useful - is part of the deal with most how-to books. While there are some gaps and inconsistencies (the discussion of metering is slapdash and really quite useless), it still helpfully describes the basic components of successful exposure, which makes it an acceptable reference text for the beginner.

The book itself is very much advisable, both for beginners and for little bit more experienced photographers. A great variety of different circumstances of exposure are illustrated in an excellent manner. Worth every penny.

The books were, however, slightly bruised during the shipping. The shipping package for three books was oversized and there was no filling whatsoever to cover the books. Clear minus for Amazon.
The shipping (economy) was, however, quick indeed. Plus for that.

The book is an absolute eye opener for people like me who are just stepping into SLR or Pro level photography..you learn about the basics of an exposure: Aperature, Shutter speed and ISO..The only problem I can think of with the book is that the basics about metering have been discusses a little too late in the book though Bryan himself considers light to be the heart of the photography triangle..but still a great book

I'm an average amateur in photography but I love to read about it and I read
pretty much anything I can get my hands on.

I got this book hoping to know more about exposure and paired it up with a
manual 50mm lens to practice because I wanted the hole experience.

The book fell short... It's way too technical, even to the point when it
became boring for me to read because i could have well been written in japannese
for all I care, and then the easy to understand parts where the ones that only
said "check your light meter until it says your exposure is fine" :s

Maybe for more experienced photographers this is THE BOOK, but for me it felt
short and I couldn't relate to the author like I have in other books like the
ones from Lee Frost for example.

This book is a wonderful asset to anyone wanting to go from a 'point and shoot' method of photography using automatic settings to manually tweaking the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture of a SLR type camera. If you are the type of person that wants to truly comprehend the hows and whys of photography and actually capture the image as you see it in your mind's eye, then this is the book for you.

Before this book I read at least 6 (probably more) photography books cover to cover and still didn't 'get' exactly how the photographic triangle of ISO, shutter speed and aperture work. This book explained it, taking it one concept at a time, and offered beautiful visual examples of the concepts he's presenting. It is a fabulous first course in photography from a motivating teacher.

5-stars, A+, This is no contest the best introduction into the world of manual SLR photography I found. It took my photography to a completely new level. If you are already a professional, adjusting your aperture and shutter speed without a second thought and obtaining the perfect results, this isn't the book for you. If you want to get to that level, it is.

I am very satisfied with this purchase. Amazon has great prices and the book was in excellent shape.

This is by far in my 10 years as a hobby photographer the best instructional, sample oriented, informative read I have come across. Since my purchase of this book by Bryan Peterson I have purchased 2 additional titles authored by him, Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography, as well as Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography. If either of these books are representative of the Understanding Exposure title, I will have certainly found my favorite Photography book author. With many examples given, reasoning for why pictures were taken and the thoughts represented for the composition given for each photo in this book, this book is a wealth of knowledge for any photographer at any skill level. Instead of being lost in a sea of complicated verbiage and theory, Bryan writes in a straight forward manner that is easily understood and absorbed. This is the 9th photography related book I have purchased and by far has been the best.

Plain and simple I have not used my camera in automatic mode since I picked this book up! The manual modes are so much more creative! A very nice well written book, that will have you learning and trying new things with your camera, that you never dreamed possible!

This book has taught me how to shoot in manual setting on my camera! Wonderful!

Beautiful picture illustrations too!!

Exposure is very important to the outcome of opening and closing a shutter. This book brings out all the important things you need to think about before recording a picture on a digital sensor or film. Bryan Peterson has been all over the world recording pictures and shows you how you can improve your pictures by understanding the importance of the hole (aperture) in the front of the lens. Depth of field is one thing I learned over 30+ years ago when I started out with my first SLR. It can make or break a picture. Read this book and you to will learn the importance of depth of field along with a lot of other useful information.

I found this to be quite an inspiring book. Not only does the author relay to the novice how best to approach exposure, which resides at the heart of hearts of photography, but he does so in a conversational, highly engaging style. You not only get so much from the book, but you also don't tire of reading it. Very, very well done.

My girlfriend is a novice freelance photographer. She loves the book, considers it her photography bible. She says she loves the way he breaks everything down and makes the content easy to understand. Pictures are great. Excellent learning tool.

This may be the best book there is explaining how to capture great images with your DSLR using the manual settings. Included in the different sections of the book are multiple photos of the same subject, with the camera settings tweaked in different ways so the reader can see first hand what can be accomplished.

The book came in a reasonable amount of time and was in good condition. Would do business again.

Good pointers and pictures that are instructive. Book covers a little bit of everything, but you will take away some points.

I just bought my first DSLR camera. I bought ten photography books on amazon. I'm evaluating these books from the perspective of a semi-advanced amateur. (On things I've learnt is that book by the same author tends to be very similar. So make sure you vary your authors when buying more than one book. Rather than saying this author is good, let me buy more from him/her.)

This is a very beginner book on how take photographs using manual settings on your SLR/DSLR. The vast majority of it is probably common knowledge to anybody who has looked up beginner guides for DSLR photography online. The book did a few things well:

1) For each photo, the author commented on shutter and aperture setting and on how he metered the shot. This was very helpful in understanding the step-by-step process in taking a good photo.

2) The author provided a few brief, but helpful pointers that made the book worth it. This included tricks for metering, how to approach different lighting situations, and a simplified approach for choosing aperature.

Unfortunately, the brevity of this book leads to lots of confusion. The technical side of photography is glossed over, and I do not have a true understanding of exposure after reading this book. One example of this is his explanation of the various metering modes. The author repeatedly describes how he metered various photos using center-weighted or spot metering, but then recommends matrix metering to his readers. Never does he describe how matrix metering must be handled differently than the center-weighted metering he uses for the books photographs.

In the end, the tips and pointers were helpful, but I'm more confused on some aspects of exposure now than before I read it.

I read this book from first page to last and loved it. It is a very good intro for beginners to understanding exposure. I have recommened this book to two people and they too found it useful.

I can't say I was disappointed in the book as it gave me a great deal of "exposure" information. This book is great for explaining the types of exposure shots you are capable of achieving. Putting that knowledge to use might be a little difficult until a person gains some experience with their camera. Shows great examples of exposure techniques, and the pictures are fantastic. Handy reference tool for later on, when I'm ready to take it all in.

This is a great book for a beginner like myself. I love it for it's ease of use and it's plain and simple explanations.

This is a marvelous book. The first fifteen pages easily got me to understand how to take a better picture. The remaining chapters provided me with creative insight into taking perfect pictures. The material is easy to understand and immediately apply and will result in better pictures. The book is well written and has quite a few example photos. Bryan has a natural ability to teach in a way that is interesting and fun. I have been able to apply the material when using all my cameras, from SLR, DSLR, and digicams. There was a time when I was afraid to shoot in manual mode because I didn't want to miss a shot. Those days are gone. After finishing Bryan's book, I now shoot entirely in manual mode and haven't missed a shot. In fact, my pictures have improved beyond expectation and I have discovered a new passion for taking pictures. If you have struggled with getting the best shot, get the book. You won't be disappointed.

This book is a classic and the reputation and stellar reviews below are well deserved. The concepts of Apeture, Shutter Speed, Light are all explained very clearly to provide a good understanding of exposure. The author stresses that you should not only seek to obtain the correct exposure for a photograph, but also the creatively correct one and provides bountiful examples and ideas for doing so. The book is very well organized and has multiple examples in full color on each page. The revised version continues to film photography for those who still use that medium.

this book is a must read and read again- anybody can shoot pictures but to get them right your need to know about exposure and this book gives you a step by step way to learn it- it doesnt make you a photographer it makes you learn to be a photographer - great reading

This one is very plain and simple - got a digital camera? You need to read this book!

The author explains very easy way how to shoot photography and the exposure, shutter speed and etc. Very good book and recommend to especially the beginner photographers.

The author explains in plain terms the basics of exposure. I like his approach to aperture for 3 basic situation (Story Telling, Subject Isolation, Who cares), although the explanation for focusing in Story Telling situations is quite confusing (I haven't been able to grasp it yet). I recommend this book for beginners like me.

Seriously, with so many reviews and such a high rating, this great book does not need another review, but I can't stop myself to write one for it. About more than an year ago, I graduated from the point-n-shoot to a DSLR level and bought a D60. Initially, I was happy with the crisp & clear pictures, but soon realized that there is lot more to learn & explore. Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) provides the knowledge and helps in understanding of the concepts of photography, and not the photo-processing. A good shot is the one, where you need to do as minimum processing to achieve the desired result. And right exposure is undoubtedly a must to get that ideal shot. The author who is a known photographer has done a terrific job in explaining those concepts and provided plenty of photographs to explain his points. These photographs also gives me ideas while shooting pictures.

If you are serious about photography, don't think twice, just get this reference!

The book is really to good even for armatured photographers like me. Has simplified details from the basic concept to professional ticks.

Not only does this book include beautiful images but it speaks to a variety of situations that the typical photographer will experience. Not too technical but useful. Most images include EXIF data. Practical. Readable

I've really enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in photography. You will be able to shoot in manual mode by the time you finish the first chapter. As you continue through the book, the author goes into more detail with the three key factors which create an exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and light (ISO). Reading this book will take you out of the point and shoot crowd and have you on your way to being as good as the pros!

the book has some pretty good hints and examples of photos in the book really help out. good purchase

Another wonderful book by Bryan Peterson! Recommended by a podcaster to whom I listen and worth every penny! Even if one THINKS one understands the exposure triangel (aperture/shutter speed/ISO, one should read this book. Along with the great images in the book, one gets a clearer understanding about how these three variable settings affect the outcome of an image. Good examples and easy and entertaining reading.

Regardless of your skill level with photography, this is a book every photographer should own. A friend recommended this book when I started shooting with a digital SLR and I've recommended it to many people since. It's a great primer for those just getting started with photography, but it also serves as a great review for those of us that have been shooting for a long time. Pick up this book every couple of months and flip through the pages, and you'll constantly be reminded of things you should be doing which may not be fresh in your mind as you've developed certain habits or a particular style. Even if you already know everything there is to know, you should still have this book so that when your friends come to you for advice on how to make their pictures better (you know they will), you can lend it to them to read.

This is a decent book - with loads of useful tips for a beginner photographer like myself. The problem is that, as you read on, you realise that the author is really "old-school" in the sense that he is referring to manual adjustments, and a newbie photographer is not going to understand that - for example, he keeps saying stuff like, "I select f/x aperture and adjust the shutter speed to 1/x seconds, which the camera says is the correct exposure." Yah, but for us, once we select the aperture, the camera selects the shutter-speed for us. Took me a while to figure that one out.

This book gives all the info and the explanation about basic photography principles that anyone needs. Read it, look at the photos, check out the different settings and then go and shoot.

This is a well written and easy to understand book, the kind of thing that should have been available when I was learning all of this back at school!
The book goes into the finer details of learning to understand lighting and exposure and is a good read.
It isn't light so be prepared to concentrate to get the best results but if you're happy to read you'll get an understanding of photographic exposures and the information contained in this book will help you create some wonderful pictures.

For those seek to create more interesting images, this book will have you understand how a camera works and how you can use that knowledge to create images with which you are more pleased. Written in an easy to understand manner. If one were learning photography and had only one book, your would not go wrong in having this volume be that book.

Buy this book, follow the simple instructions and text and you will know the basics to the mechanics of photography. Must have for anyone who has ever picked up a 35mm camera.

I bought this book with an already full understanding of the basics of exposure, so I didn't need it for what the title claims it is, but I expected some additional insight into the nuance of exposure, and how to handle tricky lighting situations. It delivered. The book is not brilliantly written or well organized, but it's logical and coherent. I also lent it to a friend who was an SLR beginner and it was very helpful to him. Overall, a good, solid effort that does impart valuable knowledge to both the beginning and intermediate level photographer, though perhaps not much to offer those with advanced skills.

This is a good book on the basics of photography. It is not updated as well as it should be for digital photography. I was disappointed because I have similar books that are 20 years old. I was expecting some new revelations.

I found this book to be very helpful and easy to follow. The author gives a lot of great common metaphors for exposure processes, which I found to be perfect for the visual way that my mind works. The book covers virtually every type of exposure situation, but without making it feel overwhelming or too complex. He really keeps the information down to clean, simple processes that make sense and work for any level of photographer. I definitely recommend this as a staple in any photographer's library.

For every camera whether film or digital, understanding the relationship between aperture and shutter speed is essential for being the master of your shots. This book teaches you the know-how and the how-to. I would recommend this book to those of you who want to understand what goes on inside the camera everytime you press the shuter button.

Very disappointed in the book. Best thing about it is the cover photo. Basic info. covered which I already knew and rather scant info. at that. You could read the whole book in just a couple of hours (I did).

As a long time amature photographer looking to improve my shooting techniques, I found this book really helpful. It was easy to understand, had a lot of useful tips (especially using and understanding the light meter in my camera) and exercises to practise. I am now able to shoot most of my photos using the manual setting on my DSLR. Also had lots of beautiful photos to look at. One day hope to shoot photos just as beautiful.

Before getting this book, I thought I understood exposure. Apparently I was wrong.

Exposure is much more than making the aperture and shutter speed line up. Aperture effects depth of field (and thus bokah), shutter speed effects motion blur, and much much more. Excellent book, would and do reccomend to anyone who enjoys photography.

I've only just started reading this but I've had a terrible time figuring out the relation of aperture, shutter speed, and when to use what. I think this book is going to be my bible. Just through the first chapter and already, it's starting to make sense. The author uses great analogies and examples to clarify the concepts. I can't wait to start doing the practices...and I've already started a Wish List for all my new must-have items for the fun shots.

I have just started photography and I love this book! It's meant for absolute beginners like me! It has a lot of pictures that helps you understand and reinforce core concepts like ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings. Highly recommended!

Vijayant Bhatnagar

This book answered questions about how to shoot in tricky situations such as snow scenes, low light, water reflecting sky, sunsets and city nights. Some photography books have a tone like the reader is a complete moron, but this one does not. He talks about a point and then shows 3-4 example photographs, with specific comments on each. He gives you the technique clearly and succinctly, without lots of extraneous chatter.
The book does not cover composition, the business of photography or studio lighting (this is not a criticism: I don't think it should, just an FYI).
Lots of pictures, so if you don't want to read cover-to cover you can flip through and when you see something you don't know how to do stop and read about it. Recommended.

This is the most wonderful book I every found about Photography. Easy to understand, well explained, I learned a lot about photography in a simple but professional way.
Highly recommended!

Peterson takes the reader step-by-step through the range of topics in understanding how to obtain the correct exposure for almost every conceivable circumstance. Plain, simple descriptions and explanations make this book easy and pleasurable to read. I enjoyed it and learned plenty in the process. One of the best photography books I've seen.

I had been happy with the pictures I had taken for awhile with a dSLR camera, but I felt like I wanted more. Everyone seemed to recommend Understanding Exposure so I bought it and now I understand its incredible popularity. The explanations are clear and concise and so in-depth. I can see a noticeable difference between the photos I took six months ago and the ones I take now.

I feel like I see differently and approach photo opportunities differently and it's because Bryan Peterson taught me how to change up the way things look by playing with exposure.

Two nice perks of the book are that a) he writes in such a way that you feel like you're listening to a friend explain and break it down - it's technically descriptive but he writes it in a conversational way, and b) the photos included in the book are just stunning. One would hope that photos in a photography book would be impressive but his work is just beyond incredible.

If you're ready for the next level, I absolutely recommend picking this book up - you WILL see a difference.

It a great guide to improve your pictures. I highly recommend it. It is also full of examples you can use to practice all techniques.

There are so many reviews for this book, but I will say that some of the lower ratings have points, but it is really subjective. This is great resource for photogs that have some slr,dslr experience and don't need the detailed technical descriptions. The author inspires one to get out and try his techniques which will bring you to find your own and get comfortable with manual mode. Anyone can get the correct exposure, but as Bryan points out there is the correct creative exposure and I find this inspiring and important if you want to make truly unique photos. Some people love the techno speek and really need that, but others of us become glazed over and want to just get to work. He is a visual describer and not technical. True, it is more based on film but is also applicable for Digital. You just need to get out there and shoot! There is no limit with digital.

Beautiful pictures, great tips & trick. I have this to accompany the Scott Kelby books Digital Photography Vol 1 & 2. I recommend all of them

This is a very informative book with loads of information for beginners as well as seasoned photographers. I found it very understandable and would highly recommend it for anyone trying to make sense of exposure settings on your camera and how they work; both digital and film types.

This book wont make you a better photographer for sure. It did not answer main question - how to shoot?

If you're looking a book to begin with in photography, this is it. I understand this is probably quite shallow for experienced photographers, but I also understand it's not the book's aim to teach *them* something. This is a book for people who are going from point-and-shoot to SLRs and wish to explore the potential -- but actually *teaching* them something, not just providing hints without explaining the why's. As such, I would highly recommend it.

This book is fantastic! I already had solid knowledge and understanding of photography before purchasing this book and I must admit, this book is really great! Not only does it look at the technical aspects of making a correct exposure, it also gives you same more creative ways to look at taking various shots. A must have for any enthusiast photographer!

Fantastic book; easy to read and understand whether you are just starting out or have been shooting for a while. I highly recommend this book.

This book is another gem from master photographer Bryan Peterson. His no-nonsense approach to the variables that make up exposure will surely help anyone who feels (as I did) fairly intimidated by the subject. With great explanations and excellent photos, he shows what can be done when the photographer takes the time to decide what kind of photo is wanted, and then manipulate the variables to get it. Great book, and a permanent addition to my photo library.

I'm so glad I bought this book. I thought I knew how to shoot in manual, but it turns out I was only guessing. I am usually the "trial-and-error" kind of learner, but having this book points me in the right direction so that I can begin to see WHY some of my "errors" are bad and how to fix them. I'm glad that I am no longer blindly changing my settings and hoping the picture turns out okay. I'm giving this book to all my sisters who shoot with dSLRs and don't know what they're doing!

Bryan Peterson presents this information in a very understandable style. If you are new to fairly new at photography, then this book, and others that he has written, are invaluable tools to help you better understand your camera.

Like many people I have a digital camera, and like many people I am okay at taking a standard snapshot. Enough that people like them, but nothing that is particularly great, so I decided to try to learn more about photography.

I went into the book not exepcting to be a professional photographer (and I am not), but as someone who is fairly new and does not know much about the subject. After reading this book, that changed.

Clearly written and understandable, at no time did I feel like I was missing something along the way, and Bryan Peterson makes sure to convey all the information I needed without making me ever feel like I would not accomplish what he was taching.

If you are new to photography, this is highly recommended.

This is a great book. I find myself pulling it out least once a day to read something again or to look at the great photos. This book is a great reference and a must buy.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! GREAT BOOK FOR THE BEGINNER WHO HAS SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MANUAL MODE!! THIS IS MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY BIBLE.

Of all the books I've ever studied on Photography, this one contributed the most to my understanding--and application--of getting better exposures and how to reach beyond the obvious. While the author can sometimes be unclear, following his instructions to recreate certain exposures forces you to learn it for yourself. Whether that was his intention or not, you still get a lot from this book.

I would recommend it to anyone who is ready to move past the "beginner" stage of taking photos.

Best money i spent,its will worth the read.you'll be amazed the tips you'll pick up....
Norman

This is a great book on how exposure works. It has tips and tricks on how to get the right exposure the first time. I would reccommend it for any photographer from the beginner who wants to learn about exposure to the pro who needs a refresher on exposure.

Bought this as a gift for a beginning photographer after someone gave me a copy. It is an excellent book on photography with clear and detailed descriptions on different exposure settings. Really teaches you everything a beginner would need to know about photography and I keep it to reference from time to time, book also has a very artistic slant to it and encourages you to experiment with natural lighting instead of leaving the flash on permanently, I was a total beginner when I received this book along with a Nikon N80 and it really helped me have some fun with my new camera and use a lot of the functions aside from the auto focus button

This lets you take control of your camera. I really am getting a lot from this book.

Mr.Peterson has been intriguing in his teaching of the photographic technique particularly Exposure. I have read one of his books before and have acquired "Exposure" lately.Never a dull page or a repeat of a statement in his approach. I have always thought that his technique of dealing with exposure is quite unique and can read the pages over and over , only to learn more each time and enjoy the new understanding I acquire.

Obviously don't need another long winded review for this book. In short, for the complete amateur to the semi-pro photographer....each will find the book informative and easy to read. Great binding on it so it's not going to fall apart and the paper and photos are of a high quality. It will be in my library for a long time as a constant reference....

A great introduction for those who want to move from using the "program" setting on their cameras to beginning to understand the cause and effect behind great exposures. Simply written, the author explains ISO, aperture, depth of field, shutter speeds, light, and other subjects not only though explanations but though his experiences while shooting pictures. The photographs are stunning and a inspiration in themselves.
I have shot pictures for years with film SLR's and now digital. Digital is more unforgiving and his sections on aperture, depth of field, and lighting have changed the way I shoot pictures.

This is a book responsible of getting me started shooting in manual. Enough said. I highly recommend this for starter.

Excellent book on exposure with very nice examples. A clear explanation on what really matters. It is not technical based but a stimulus for creativity.

I already had a book on composition by Bryan Peterson and I was so engaged by his informative yet simple style that I was looking for something else from him. The photographs in the exposure book I find stimulating and very relevant and I want to grab the camera and try to imitate what I see. However whilst the visual impact is significant it isn't what its all about. Many photographic books have super photos but I find quite a few leave me under-whelmed as the text lets them down. Bryan makes a story of it so you devour the text and want more.

The structure is important and Bryan excels at making the "story" both logical and fun and also balances well the data and the context and then completes the 'picture' with the just the right focus on the compositonal aspects.

I am new to DSLR, having only owned point and shoots in the past. This book helped me to understand the relationship between shutter speed and aperture and when one is more important than the other. Now it's a matter of practice, practice, practice...

this is an excellent book on photography but the only bad thing is that the author never tells us why he chose a particular lens for a particular photo

Understanding Exposure is a great book for anyone who is starting out in photography or wants a simple summary of how to attain certain results with their camera. It also give the reader some neat ideas if they are naturally creative so they begin to see things in a different, more creative way.

For advanced photographers this would simply be a survey of basic techniques and is more written for the amateur -- which I am so the book was great. The author has good wit as well.

... this should be it!

I'm not going into a lengthy explanation of why I think this book is great - it just is. For a beginner, I couldn't recommend anything better.

It explains everything you need to know about the 3 all-important controls - aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and he also explains some very useful rules of thumb which I still use to date!

It does not go into much about composition or framing, but that was not the intent of the book. He does have other books for that (Learning to see creatively etc.) but I can't recommend those as much as this one. Taking good pictures comes with a lot of practice and/or luck. Flickr is your best resource for inspiration!

Good luck!

Don't waste time and money reading book after book looking for "recipes" for good pictures. Don't waste time and money reading old-school pre-digital photographers guidebooks and textbooks on how cameras work. I could go on and on...

Just skip to this book.

It's that easy. For years I searched for a book like this. If you understand exposure, you can finally have the skill to shoot the vision in your head. Photography doesn't have to be so much trial and error. There is a way and this book teaches the path.

This book is amazing. It's the only book I've read that gives you a true UNDERSTANDING of what photography is. Forget about supposed pro tips and having to learn about specific settings for your digital camera (sunset, portrait, landscape...)! With this book you 'll not need to remember because you'll understand what is a good exposure and you'll be able to make your own artistic choice depending on situation (low light, blurred waterfall, frozen kids pictures...)

Thank you B Peterson! On the other hand we are left with no excuse to miss a shot now...

After reading all the rave reviews I was disappointed when the book arrived. It's very general and brief. I was looking for something more than just colorful examples of broad photographic principles.

There are those photographers who understand exposure and those who do not. Whatever your own level of experience with either (or both) digital or film camera, this book will, at one of the scale, teach the novice a great deal about the subject. At the other end, there will be few professional or highly competent amateur photographers who could fail to learn something from this excellent work. In short, there is something for everyone in this book and, even a brief flick through the pages, is enough to generate ideas.

I particularly like the way in which the book is laid out. A great deal of thought went into a design which allows readers to build on what has been covered so far as they progress through the work. Beginning with; Defining Exposure, the author devotes considerable time to each of the main headings which also include; Aperture, Shutter Speed, Light and penultimately; Special Techniques and Filters. Finally, there is a discussion on Film vs. Digital which might be useful for those photographers who are still not convinced by the new technology.

Speaking as a self-taught photographer whose own pictures have been widely published for over 30 years, this book has explained much that I did not previously understand as well as, perhaps, I should have.

Approx. A4 size, with one of the nicest dedications I have ever come across, there are 160 pages containing 150 colour illustrations which cover just about every spectrum of the subject. These include sport, natural history, portraits, people at work, landscapes, close up, mood shots - and a great deal more. As I said, something for just about everyone.

NM

The book is well written and easy to understand. Unless you are a very seasoned pro, I highly recomend it. It contains some invaluable tidbits of info. and is well worth the money. I loan my copy to anyone that ask me about a question about exposure.

This was a very informational book for someone learning about ISO, aperature and shutter speed. I had a little knowledge on the subject, this book made things much clearer. Written in a way that was easy to understand and then apply to photography. Great for the beginner, but probably too basic for the more experienced photographer.

This is a great book. Covers how to put together a perfect exposure very well. Are you tired of always struggling becuase there just wasn't enough light in that shot? You just had a bit too much blur then you wanted? You just don't understand how shutter speed, film speed and aperature work together and which one should be modified for this particular shot? Then read this book and have fun shooting in manual mode from now on and stop hoping that auto mode will get the picture right. :)

This was a very informational book and I learned from it, but the photos are of horrible print quality due to a poor selection in publishing.

I had read a couple of other books on digital photography, although they were not specific to "exposure", but have to say that this book goes above and beyond those others (but they were good in their own rights). Bryan Peterson does an unbelievable job explaining the difference between a "correct" exposure and an "artistically correct" exposure. He gives you examples of what not to do, in addition to how to correct the problems - and doesn't just put perfect picures in the book to say "look how good I am". He breaks the different parts of exposure down so that even the beginning photographer - whether you wish to be a pro or not - can understand the different aspects of exposure. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is having trouble understanding exposure or wants to be a better photographer. Very well done, Mr. Peterson!

Great book clearly illustrating basic exposure principles. Explains clearly and illustrates with images all of the major aspects of exposure. A must read for any beginning photographer wanting to understand exposure (whether shooting film or digital--I shoot digital only), and a good brush up for intermediate photographers.

Author explains all details in plain English with some very useful practical tools to use in field. The book helped me to understand better the "secrets" of correct ex