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Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera Paperback – August 10, 2010

by Bryan Peterson (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,908 ratings
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With more than 350,000 copies sold, Understanding Exposure has demystified the complex concepts of exposure for countless photographers. Now updated with current technologies, more than one hundred new images, and an all-new chapter, this new edition will inspire you more than ever to free yourself from “auto” and create the pictures you truly want.

In his trademark easy-to-understand style, author Bryan Peterson explains the relationship between aperture and shutter speed, including how to achieve successful exposures in seemingly difficult situations. You’ll learn:

• Which aperture gives you the greatest contrast and sharpness, and when to use it
• Which apertures guarantee the background remains an out-of-focus tone
• Which one aperture—when combined with the right lens—creates an area of sharpness from three feet to infinity
• How to creatively use shutter speed to either freeze an action or imply motion
• Where to take a meter reading when shooting a sunset, snow, or a city at dusk

With new information on white balance, flash, HDR, and more, this updated classic will inspire you to stop guessing and take control of your settings for better photos anytime, anywhere, and with any camera.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Amphoto Books
  4. Publication date
    August 10, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    8.53 x 0.43 x 11.08 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0817439390
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0817439392
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, and the bestselling author of Understanding Shutter Speed, Understanding Close-Up Photography, Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide, Learning to See Creatively, Understanding Digital Photography, and Beyond Portraiture. In addition, he is the founder of the online photography school The Perfect Picture School of Photography (www.ppsop.com). He lives in Chicago.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amphoto Books; 3rd edition (August 10, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0817439390
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0817439392
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.53 x 0.43 x 11.08 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,908 ratings

About the author

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Bryan Peterson

Bryan Peterson

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BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, and founder of www.ppsop.com, The Perfect Picture School of Photography. He is the best-selling author of Understanding Exposure, Understanding Shutter Speed, Understanding Close-Up Photography, Learning to See Creatively Understanding Digital Photography, Beyond Portraiture and, most recently, Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide. His easy-to-understand writing and teaching style breaks down the complex and often confusing aspects of photography, translating them into what his students routinely describe as "aha" moments. His trademark use of colour and strong, graphic composition have garnered him many photographic awards and a strong following. He lives in Chicago.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
1,908 global ratings
It should Read, "Understanding Exposure with a High End DSLR" !
3 Stars
It should Read, "Understanding Exposure with a High End DSLR" !
Because He never covers point and Shoot,except for a High End P&S. Not "ANY" camera. Granted if you have DSLR features on your point and shoot, Then you might be able to take something simular to what he does with his High End Nikon. But if you want pictures like the author has in the book. You'll need to spend Pro Money to get results close to his. The Book is Great for budding Pro Photographers. But for a person with "Any Camera", it may not be up your alley. The Book will teach you to look at the world creatively. I see great shots all the time now. Everywhere I look. But I cant take the same picture the author does with any camera!
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Top reviews from the United States

Irene
5.0 out of 5 stars Everything Clicked
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2012
Verified Purchase
My Photography Experience/Skill: Beginner (I got my first DSLR in October of 2011, so about 9 months ago).

This book is amazing and I'd recommend it to any beginner in photography. Bryan Peterson explains aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and the light meter really well and the explanations and examples he uses were very helpful and memorable for me. I honestly had no clue what I was doing with my DSLR before I read this book. I watched online videos about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and the light meter before, but after a few days none of the information I learned really stuck with me. After reading this book, I now have a better understanding of how to take a correct and creatively exposed picture. I'm nowhere close to being a pro, or even a skilled amateur, but at least now I'll actually know how to use manual mode on my camera.

This book is also filled with beautiful photographs that made reading this book very easy and enjoyable. I loved every single photo in the book. I only bad thing I can say about this book is that some of his explanations of how he took his photos were pretty confusing/unclear to me and still are (probably 3-4 of them). A couple of others (2-3) were initially confusing as well, but I understood when he explained it later in the book. For example, he talks about metering throughout the book, however, he doesn't explain where to take meter readings until 2/3 through the book. However, despite this, this book is probably still the best photography book out there for beginners. It's not long or boring to read (173 pages and half are filled with pictures). It really made everything click for me and it'll probably help you as well if you're a beginner.
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5.0 out of 5 stars BEST photography book I've EVER read!!!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2010
Verified Purchase
This third edition of "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is brilliant! In the first 30 pages, I've gotten more information on how to use my camera settings to take creative photographs than the dozens of books I've read, or all the courses and seminars I've taken. And all for less than $20!

Some reviews have suggested that this book is only for the very basic beginner. I beg to differ. I have been counseled by and shadowed many professionals who've been in the industry a number of years, (never mind all the money spent on books, videos, seminars, clinics and courses). After spending any time with the pros, I was always certain that the only way to get the best photos was to get a bigger bank account to be able to purchase the best, most up-to-date gadgets, special lights, expensive strobes (in multiples), and super expensive/fancy lenses. Oh... let's not forget the assistants that you'll also have to hire to hold some of the gadgets. And yet, most of their photos looked so homogenized and truly a product of all the photographic "stuff" rather than the camera. I kept thinking that maybe I was just not getting it. I was almost convinced that obviously, all the creative photos are just good quality, basic photos which have been processed, and re-processed in one or more editing software programs such as Photoshop (another one of the "must have" gadgets). NO!! Bryan Peterson explains how to really use the camera to get that creative shot. After all, capturing a photo, is really nothing more than capturing and manipulating light. He makes it simple enough for the beginner to understand, and yet, without being condescending, can teach (or remind) the pros of the all-too-frequently overlooked simplicity of how to use only the camera, considering ISO, aperture and shutter speed to work in harmony to get a 'one of a kind' photo.

One of the statements I have heard all too often from professional photographers is that the on-camera flash is useless. Interestingly, I have found it to be a godsend in many photographic situations, and then get accalades from the same professionals about the quality of the lighting. Hmmm... Anyway, Bryan Peterson shares information on what I've already discovered; the on-camera flash is another great tool that already comes with your camera.

I will, in all fairness, confess that I have a DSLR, so I can't deny or confirm the book's subtitle of "how to shoot great photographs with any camera" and how it relates to the 'point and shoot' cameras.
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EH
4.0 out of 5 stars Best book for understanding exposure, but not the best for the rest of the concepts the author also covered in this book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2013
Verified Purchase
I chose this book to be my first book for learning photography after I bought my DSLR (Nikon D90). I just entered to the world of photography and everything was new to me. So, when I started reading this book, I found many concepts were explained nicely, and some of the concepts could be explained better.

The best chapters I found are Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO.
The chapter on LIGHT is ok.
To my point of view, the chapters those could be improved were : Flash, 18% Reflectance, White Balance, HDR.

Brian explained Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO very good, no complain about it at all. And as these three things contributes to the exposure, the Title for the book made valid judgment. But, he also covered White Balance, Reflective Light-Metering And The 18% Reflectance, HDR, Flash,.. which were not explained well. Again, as this book is already titled 'Understanding Exposure', I should not complain, but I am just giving a little feedback. I really could not get the White Balance concept at all from this book. After some failed attempt to grasp White Balance concept, finally I understood what is White balance from internet blogs. At the end of the book, he covered Flash. I really felt hopeless when I was reading that chapter. I wish I did not attempt to read that 'Flash' chapter at all. He explained Flash in 2-3 pages, that was really overkill for me. I was really struggling to understand why and when I would need Flash, what is the correlation between Photographic Triangle and flash. Later, I bought his book ' Understanding Flash Photography: How to Shoot Great Photographs Using Electronic Flash ' which satisfied me in the fullest. Actually, Flash is a broad concept, it needs a dedicated book, but as a beginner, it was confusing me a lot from his Exposure book's 2-3 page short notes.

Brian covered HDR in this book. Same like Flash, HDR is a broad concept which needs more examples and details, maybe a dedicated book. From his writing, as a beginner, I could not make any sense about what is HDR. I got the HDR concept later from reading internet blogs as well.

The Chapter on LIGHT was not bad. But I wish the author provided some diagram on what is Front Lighting, what is Back lighting and what is Side Lighting. A diagram is better than thousand words of explaining what is Front Lighting/Back Lighting/Side Lighting. When I read this chapter for the first time, I was confused. After a while when I read some other books and internet blogs, and came back to this book and read the chapter about Light, it made good sense to me. Maybe as an absolute beginner, I found that chapter little bit confusing at the first time. So, I cant say, this chapter was bad. But as I said, some diagrams with pointing how light casts shade from angle could help better for the beginners.

The Bottom Line: In order to understand just the 'EXPOSURE', as a beginner, this book could not be better. I am happy that I bought this book.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars E' il libro che spiega veramente le basi della fotografia digitale
Reviewed in Italy on January 20, 2024
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Da tempo ne avevo sentito parlare in diverse recensioni su canali dedicati alla fotografia ed avendolo potuto acquistare in amazon con ad un buon prezzo ho potuto confermare le aspettative
Spiega gli argomenti alla base della fotografia digitale in maniera concisa ed efficace
Lo consiglio a tutti quelli che iniziano il percorso fotografico con la loro prima camera digitale
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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo livro
Reviewed in Brazil on May 19, 2020
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Ótimo livro com muitas dicas interessantes, abordando o uso dos diversos recursos do equipamento e tėcnicas fotográficas de maneira criativa
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to "Exposure"
Reviewed in India on June 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book helped me understand mistakes I was doing and the book will also serve me as guide in future to get correct exposure!
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Amazon カスタマー
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and informative
Reviewed in Japan on April 5, 2020
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Very helpful for a beginner. Helped me in understanding the concept of exposure.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great and easy to read.
Reviewed in Australia on January 11, 2018
Verified Purchase
I found this book really easy to read and understand. The theory had comparative examples that put the concepts into perspective then follow up with real photo examples. Highly recommended.
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