Customer Reviews
Wow - exposure made easy - By: Britta Campe, 07 Jul 2008 
I bought this book after reading the reviews...and was rewarded !
I was afraid that it would be too technical but it is indeed explainedin an easy to read AND understanding way (I'm not an English native speaker).
The many photographic examples make it easy to 'see' too.
As an avid amateur I have been experimenting & it's indeed literally a small price to pay to get nicer photo'sin the end.
Outdated and lightweight - By: James T. Moughan, 23 Jun 2008 
The book is written it a folksy, readable style with lots of anecdotes & will be pleasant reading for non-technical people. Unfortunately once you dig beneath the exterior there's nothing much there.
It covers the creative aspects of aperture & shutter speed, which you can find out online easily. Most explanations are better than Peterson's. It gives you some rules of thumb for manual metering, which are mildly useful but wildly out of date for digital photography; he never mentions exposing to the right, nor even histograms. Postprocessing, which changes the way you can think about exposure, barely gets a mention except to be dismissed as too much work. His explanation of how a camera meters & what kind of situations it handles will & poorly is very good though, & the reason I gave 3 stars rather than 2 or even 1.
If you shoot film then I would rate the book a little higher; but no-one comes to photography at this stage to shoot film & this is clearly a beginners book.
A light has been switched on for me - By: Travel-Junkie, 30 May 2008 I bought this book because I first saw it mentionedin a forum on one of the photography sites when I was trying to get some info on metering systems. When I checked it out on Amazon & saw all the great reviews I had to buy it.
I am very much just an amateur photographer, but I did already have a basic understanding of how shutter speed, aperture & ISO work together.
I was OK with using Aperture or Shutter priority modes, but I would never have tried manual mode because I just didn't know where to start with the `correct' aperture or shutter speed. And, daft as it may seem now, whenever I saw the term "meter for the highlights/shadows" etc. I thought I needed a light meter (which I don't have).
I've only read half of this book so far (have only had it for a couple of days) but I now realise that the camera not only does the metering, but provides the relevant informationin the viewfinder which I previously just ignored.
The one thing which really "switched on the light" for me was that within the first few pages I learned that,in manual mode, the viewfinder information tells me when the combination of aperture & shutter speed is correct! I thought perhaps that Bryan has some fancy camera but, lo & behold my Nikon D40x does this too!
I can't wait to read the rest of the book, & put it all into practice.
A great learning experience - By: Bo Østergaard Jepsen, 16 Apr 2008 With "Understanding Exposure", Bryan Peterson gives the amateur photographer an indispensable tool & learning guide. With the help of full color photos taken with different settings as well as clear & concise descriptions & explanations of technique mr Peterson gives the reader an easily understandable introduction to the world of exposure.
Because of the great detailin which the different photo situations & techniques are covered it is indeed very easy to go out & reproduce the photos from the book (well, that kind of photo anyway) yourself after reading.
This book gave me much more knowledge about photography than I would have expected it possible. It definitely helped me progress as a photographer.
Highly recommendable.
THE best book on learning exposure - By: J. Davies, 28 Mar 2008 I've bought a number of books on various subjects relating to photography & post processing. None have given me the same enjoyment as Understanding Exposure. I bought this book a couple of years ago & I still use it.
This book explainsin very simple terms everything you need to know about your camera's exposure & metering. He also gives great examples on how to meter scenes which you can try yourself.
Aperture, Shutter speed & ISO are all inter related & many have a problem grasping these photography basics but this book makes it easy to understand the relationship & helps you make the right decisions to get the best from your photography.
This book has had the single most influence on me enjoying my hobby (and now work)!
For a man that has been shooting images for less than two weeks (buy the book & you'll understand why) Bryan's experience & beautiful imagery is a joy to behold.
Outstanding book & if you want to learn photography this is THE book to buy first. If I could, I'd give it 10 out of 5
