At first glance I was disappointed with this book because I opened it up and saw a bunch of pretty photos. I thought I had bought a picture book with no real value of teaching me how to take great photographs.

Since I had it I decided to read it. I have learned so much! If you read the text and then read the description in the photos you can learn so much on fine tuning your photography.

I consider myself a novice photographer who, admittedly, takes more photos of the family than anything else. Nonetheless, my pictures have improved immensely under the suggestions of Bryan Peterson. I've even gotten creative and tried nature shots.

Don't underestimate this book like I suspect many have with a quick flip of the pages. It has excellent advice and is wonderful.

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

Wow I love this book because the author just really broke the terminology down to its simplest form. I started film photography class in college and was kind of lost but after I found this book I have to say that I am really excited about photography now. My camera is a Nikon N80 and shooting photography with it is awesome. I am definitely going to purchase Mr. Peterson's other books as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an idea about the point and shoot concept but if you are looking to take your photographs further then this is the book for you.

I need to get out with the book, its a little big to travel with but its worth the buy.

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.

This book is an excellent source for anyone wanting to get into Photography or already into it! The book breaks down the basics which enables you to understand how it all works together.

The best part of it, is the fact the author sends the reader into practice runs in order to solidify what has just been explained.

A must have for anyone!

A very useful guide on how to achieve optimal exposure. Easy to read. Techniques easy to apply.

When I bought my Canon XTI 400D, I found out the hard way that taking pictures w/ a DSLR is harder then it looks. After doing some searching on the net, I came across reviews of this book and decided to pick it up. After reading it my pictures have gotten MUCH better. I'm still no expert but I'm not afraid to show off my pics any more.

Understanding Exposure is written for the photo newbie, but that isn't to say that everyone who is into photography couldn't learn a thing or two. If you want to take great pictures pick this book up. And get it from Amazon. It was shipped here so fast I wasn't expecting it!

I wanted a book to get me started on Exposures and how to apply them in my photography for awesome results. This book gave me that and much more!!! In this book, Bryan tried to keep both his technically minded and "just for the kicks" readers captivated. Most amazing is the way Bryan has used simple every day things that we can easily relate with to draw analogies in what would otherwise have been complex to understand topics (See pages 24 - 26 amongst others).

From the moment I picked up this book and started reading, I didn't put down the book, except the time I took off to write this review. I honestly wish there was a rating higher than 5 star

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.

I bought this for my husband as a gift and he really liked it. He said that it was very helpful, a good book for beginning photographers, and contained beautiful photographs.

I've been a shutter bug for years but only recently stepped up to a DSLR. This book has really helped me understand setting up a shot properly. Extremely helpful with understanding the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I can't recommend it enough for amateurs.

The is is the definite topic explained,a must for anyone who asks the question ....How Why etc


cheers

This one is a classic .... Highly recommended for those who want to learn more about 'creative exposures'

This book instantly made me a better photographer. I went out and practiced shallow depth of field and nighttime tricks from the book.

If you wanna understand how to deal with light , this book explain it all in simply way !

i got one and it's my No. 1 reffrence!!

I bought this book and Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson. I now have a handle on exposure and shutter speed. I also have a few more ideas how to use this knowledge. I recommend you read both books.

This book has been terrific for me as a new SLR owner. I have gone from a point and shoot camera to an SLR, not really understanding the differences. This book is concise and easy to understand, and I have used it in conjunction with my poorly written camera manual to learn basic photography. It gives easy to understand explanations of aperture, shutter speed, ISO and f-stops and gives examples of when and how to use each of them. I would recommend this book as a learning tool for beginners.

I am reasonably new to photography and out of all of the books I have read, this one would have to be one of the best. I have learnt so much from it.

After reading this book one can most definitely move from a simple point-and-shoot perspective on taking pictures to a more deliberate choice in the process. You'll definitely want a camera that will give you some control after this.

I photograf for a while but in this book I found everything I needed for good shot.

Wow! I have a new Sony digital SLR reflex camera (after having about 4 regular 35 mm slr cameras still sitting around). This book was recommended by someone when I was researching on Amazon for cameras. It is so worth it! Beautiful photos, great easy to understand instructions for over-riding the auto features and getting creative with your photography, suggestions for "exercises" to practice what he is teaching....I just need more time to play with what I am learning. Very motivating!

This book will teach you what you need to know, and fast. Great explanations of everything!

I liked this book a lot. It has a very systematic explanation of the range of creative exposures from story telling shots, to isolated subject, to freezing motion, and blurring motion. It really covers the basics.

The big learning for me is that before I take a shot now, I think which creative exposure do I want to create. And the second thing I learned how to increase my chances of getting a correct exposure.

I have read similar information elsewhere but it's the step by step that makes it really useful.

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.

After having read several books on photography, this it the one that has clearly shown me the use of the different exposures. Peterson dwells on what each aperture range, and shutter speed range, is good for. There are many photos in the book, and next to each, a short explanation of how it was taken, and what settings were chosen.
Peterson makes a great teacher.

There is a weakness in this book, in my view, and that is the missed chance to explain a bit of the optics and physics. Not that this needed to be a technical book, but a few diagrams and a few numbers would have gone a long way to dispel some confusion.

For instance, Peterson at one point describes "stops", the settings in the camera that double (or half) the exposure. For instance, a jump in shutter speed from 1/30s to 1/60s is one stop. So is a jump from ISO 400 to ISO 800. For apertures, though, the numbers look like f/4, f/5.6, f/8, much less intuitive.

It would not have killed the author to explain that to double the surface area of the aperture, one needs to multiply the diameter by the square root of 2 (approx. = 1.4). This is simple geometry, available to most.
Then it would be clear that f/5.6 = 4 * 1.4, is one stop down in exposure from f/4.

Peterson explains exposure by comparing it to a faucet. If you open it wider, more water comes out, and less time is required to fill your glass. OK, but most people would have understood that if you let in twice as much light, you require half as much time to record an image on the sensor.
Depth of field and it's dependence on aperture is VERY easy to explain with a simple diagram. Another missed chance.

Another example: ISO. The metaphor here is that ISO is like bees, and more ISO equals more bees collecting honey, so they get done quicker. So why does higher ISO increase the noise and granularity of your photo?

If Peterson had included a bit of technical information, I would have recommended this book as the best one-stop resource. As it stands, I can just say it's very very good, but you need supplements. Kudos.

I love photography, and have traded my "hobby" for a "job" and books like this help me take better pictures, therefore making my customers happier. These type of books are very helpful.

Great book to read to learn how to take accurate exposures. The author does a fine job of explaining the concepts clearly with good enough illustrations (photographs or exposure if you will) to buttress his point. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to go beyond the point and click auto paradigm of modern DSLRs.

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.

What a great book! This guide gave me the confidence to switch off of Auto and really put my camera through the paces. Great insight, pretty easy explanations, and beautiful pictures.

My only 2 negatives, and neither were promised, so they don't count against the rating:
1. Written (even in the revised version) heavily leaning to film photographers. Not to say there isn't a lot of commentary on pros and cons of digital, and some specific advice pertaining to them, but you'd be even happier with the book if you were shooting on a 20-year-old Nikon.
2. No commentary or advice on the use of flash. Not expecting a comprehensive guide (because there can be a lot to it), but some basic pointers would have been good.

Overall, well worth the time and money.
Off to shoot...

I'm glad this is the first "how to" book on photography that I purchased. It provides in clear words the effect your shutter speed and aperture have on obtaining the correct exposure. It also explains in an easy to understand manner why a photographer would occasionally want to go with different settings for a more creative exposure. Also it has great photos to help explain how the different settings will help you obtain similar types of work. I would highly recommend this book as a good starting point for beginning photographers. It should provide a good basic understanding of how cameras work before moving on to more advanced books.

This is a great book and a must read, at least for the beginning photographer. It definitely helped me in taking better exposures.

2 thumps up

Oscar

THIS BOOK HAS BEEN A BIG HELP IN MY PHOTOGRAPHY,JUST WHAT I NEEDED,I HAVE TOLD MY PHOTO CLUB ABOUT IT..

After purchasing many photo books to try to learn more about tricky exposure problems, this is the book that finally solved the mystery for me. There are many examples of situations similar to the ones that gave me fits and I was able to dramatically improve my photography in low light, landscape with infinate depth of field, and many other situations. I am on my second reading and am sure that I will read it many times over, as well as keeping it at close at hand for reference.

Lots of great information with plenty of pictures to illustrate his points. He even includes lots of photos that show what happens when you don't do something correctly.
If I have any complaints it's that the book is relatively short and only covers the basics.

After purchasing many photo books to try to learn more about tricky exposure problems, this is the book that finally solved the mystery for me. There are many examples of situations similar to the ones that gave me fits and I was able to dramatically improve my photography in low light, landscape with infinate depth of field, and many other situations. I am on my second reading and am sure that I will read it many times over, as well as keeping it at close at hand for reference.

Lots of great information with plenty of pictures to illustrate his points. He even includes lots of photos that show what happens when you don't do something correctly.
If I have any complaints it's that the book is relatively short and only covers the basics.

I'M TAKING MUCH BETTER PICTURES WITH MY NIKON FM2 THANKS TO THIS BOOK. ALSO I CAN NOW SELECT THE BEST LENSES TO USE WITH THE FM2. OH AND I THINK HIS OLD LADY AND KIDS ARE VERY CUTE.

Photography plays a big part in my profession.
Though I have always been complemented on my photography, this book has taken my images from "great shot" to "brilliant photo".

I would say that this book, single handedly, has made for the best improvements in my photography to date.

If you are serious about your images, you won't be disappointed!

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.

Excellent excellent book to learn from. Some parts of it are kind of technical for newbies (like me), but after taking the book outside with me and practising with my camera and the book at my side, it began to make sense. I've learned alot from reading this book. Would definately recommend it to beginner to enthusiast level photograpers.

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.

I am an experienced photographer and I found this book helpful. It is written very well so that photographers of many levels can get something out of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in perfecting their exposure.

My three copies are worn out! When technology exist for a book to be transplanted into memory (my brain), this will be amoung the first photography books I choose to have implanted! Thanks for writing it.

This book is a great primer to get you started understanding how exposure effects your photographs and how to take more control over your photos and make them more interesting.

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.

The book provides a generic introduction to photography for what regards light. Of particular interest the emphasis put in picture comprising slices of sky suggesting invariably to expose for the sky in most daylight situations.

Well written, concise overview of the most important concept of photography..."proper exposure" and how to "get there" !

If I had to sum up this book in one sentence I would describe it as "A map without any roads".

The title is misleading because there is no real "How To" involved in this book. If the author's goal was to say "Hey! Look at my pictures and the setting I used to get them" then he has succeeded. The rest of the books are some sectioned off background information to help the reader to understand the images better.

The reason this book gets a 2 instead of a 1 is because there are some really nice images in the book. I was going to give it a 3 but then I just remembered how the author was breaking his arm patting himself on the back when ever there was an image of his wife & kids involved instead of leaving them anonymous like the other subjects.

As far as teaching, you would receive better information from the person working at the local camera shop.