It's been a while since I reviewed one of my recent photography book purchases. (Purchased with commissions courtesy of those of you who have bought Amazon's products through this site.)Anyway, a few months ago I purchased Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson. The book has a subtitle, "How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera," which is about as cliche as it gets. But I'll forgive the author and publisher for their lame subtitle as Understanding Exposure was well worth its modest price.
Understanding Exposure mostly focuses on Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO in its attempts to demystify photographic exposure. (Not that exposure is mystical nor a mystery.) In the book, the author spends ample time discussing how exposure is an integral part of the creative process. After all, photography isn't just about taking pictures that are "properly" composed and exposed. It's also about using composition, as well as exposure, to tell stories, create moods, communicate emotions, and announce attitudes. I see a lot of pictures where a big chunk of the creative emphasis is mostly (and nicely) rendered with composition and not so much with creative use of exposure. Peterson does a competent job of helping his readers understand how choosing the right photographic exposure for a given capture can be a powerful creative ally. There's much more in Peterson's book, i.e., beyond aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, including, for example, using light meters, taking advantage of various kinds of light, special effects, night photography, and more.
For the most part, Understanding Exposure targets novice to intermediate photographers. But there's plenty of good info to hold the attention of more advanced shooters. And even though a fair amount of this book's contents might seem remedial to many experienced shooters, I think there's plenty between its covers that will educate and illuminate photographers of all levels of skill. Illustrating the book and its concepts are many of Bryan Peterson's excellent photographs .
Understanding Exposure, IMO, will make a great addition to most any photographer's library. It is an excellent and practical instructional resource. By the way, Peterson is the first guy to make me clearly understand how the Depth of Field Preview Button functions and how it will help me in my photo endeavors.
The image at the top is Faye from earlier in the year. I lit Faye with a 1200 HMI, a silver reflector, and the ambient daylight coming in through the windows. I probably posted this pic before. Oh well! I think I have MMD. (Memory Deficit Disorder.) Gettin' old sucks, don't it?
Oh! Almost forgot. If you're interested in purchasing Understanding Exposure, scroll the right-hand column of links and stuff and, under "Recommended Books," you'll find a link to this product.
No comments:
Post a Comment