Book Review: Understanding Exposure

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

This is my second book on photography and it's a really good book.

Who the book is for?
The book is most useful for an amateur or an advanced amateur, who wants to understand the basic tenets of photography: Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and Metering. In other words all encompassed into one "Exposure"

How the book is structured?
The book is based on a unifying theme of determining the CREATIVELY CORRECT EXPOSURE. The author tries to sew this theme by building up an introductory understanding of Exposure, and then deep diving into Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Light(Metering). The icing on the cake is the second last chapter called "Special Techniques and Filters" which talks about multiple exposures and filters.

What did I learn?
In this section, I'll try to explain what kind of photos I could take after reading this book. I'm categorizing photographs according to the learnings from thsi book. I'll highlight a learning and then I'll display a photograph about how I could put that learning to use. Please keep in mind that I'm a novice. I just bought my first camera - I didn't even have a point and shoot before - a month back. Please don't have high expectations of these pics. They are more of my experiments...

1. Aperture

Depth of Field
a. Shallow DoF: This is a pic of Chrysanthemum against the grass in the garden. The book tells us how to get a shallow DoF with the camera settings. It also leaves the reader with the question, what kind of picture do you want? Depending on the question, it guides us to use the appropriate settings.


b. Great DoF
The book also tells us about how to achieve great DoF. Of how to keep the foreground, subject, and background in focus. It also tells you about a wonderful concept of Who Cares aperture range of F8 - F11. Coupled with this video on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfOC_Msb1dI
I could easily understand the concept of DoF

2. Shutter Speed

a. Freezing Action
The book then takes the reader into another dimension of taking the creatively correct exposure: Shutter Speeed. It talks about three types of shutter speeds: Freezing Motion, Panning Motion, and Implying Motion.



b. Implying motion
This is the same photograph as of the ride above. I was thrilled to get this photograph. Though I would agree that the exposure isn't proper - perhaps I could have waited 30 more mins - yet it explains the concept of what beautiful pics one can achieve after understanding shutter speeds.



As you delve into more details in the subsequent pages, the book starts to talk about the relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. Of how effecting one of three you can have a totally different pic, but only one of them would be creatively correct :). The creative correct pic idea must be killing you :), but I think you'll have to read the book to understand it...

3. Metering(Light)

The book then adds another dimension to understand th creatively correct exposure, i.e., METERING.

a. Spot Metering
The book then talks about the concept of the light meter. It explains the difference among various metering techniques. This pic is an example of Spot Metering - It's that of lamp post by the road that is seen from my rear garden. Notice, only the lamp is visible but nothing else...


b. Matrix Metering
The same pic now shot with MATRIX metering. Notice, that now the lamp post, the adjacent roof top, and the garden fence is also visible.




c. Low light photography
The book gives a bit of an understanding of what to shoot and how to shoot objects at night. I just chose this pic because i was thrilled to get one. You'll find lots of good examples in the book though




The book also talks about the following:
- Backlight
- Frontlight
- Sidelight
and where to get the meter reading from. I haven't had a chance to experiment with these lights because its just yesterday that I finished reading this book.

4. Special Effects and Filters
The book then emphasises the aspect of using filters. It covers the use of Polarizing filters, Neutral density filter, and Neutral Density Graduated filter

a. Polarizing filter
This one's of the sky without a circular polarizing filter






This one's of the sky with a CPF on.







At the end of this book, one gets a feeling of a filled stomach, or that of the graduation day - assuming that you're through :), but for me it was a feeling of having an appetizer before the ordering the main menu. There is so much to be learned from this book. For e.g., after reading this book, I can now look at a photograph and tell what kind of aperture:shutter speed:ISO:Metering would've rendered this shot. Isn't it amazing...I now have to experiment more and as in some of his videos on youtube Bryan Peterson says, Keep Shooting... :)