Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera

Every book by Bryan Peterson should be in your photography library to be refered to over and over again

for black and white photography. Has some good photographs. Typical of many modern books however in that the content is somewhat thin, having a chapter on everything but none to much depth. I don't care for the chapters about how to photograph traditional subjects. But I find myself coming back quite often to look at the photo samples, and the tables of the author's description of different films and developers. The descriptions again lack depth, but for beginners, they give you some idea about what's available. The author states that he likes Ilford's HP5 film and Microphen developer, so that's the combination he used for majority of the photos. It's a good book that will get you started, and in the right direction too.

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 speedb) Aperturec) FilmLearnt 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 abouti) Light metersii) Quality of light (sidelighting, backlighting etc)iii) Depth of field iv) Close-upsv) Freezing the action, blurring the subject, panning, implying motionvi) 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 explainsa) Tungsten balanced filmb) Pushing and pulling filmc) Multiple exposure and deliberate

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!

OUT OF ALL OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS I HAVE READ, JOHN GARRET DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB IN THIS BOOK. THEIR IS NOT ONE DETAIL HE MISSES IN INFORMING THE READER OF HOW HE CREATED THE PHOTGRAPH. HE ELABORATLY GOES INTO DETAIL FROM THE LIGHTING ALL THE WAY TO THE DEVELOPING PROCESS.