This book is essential for understanding proper exposure. Great examples and discussion. Highly recommended for anyone looking to take better photos.

This is the most wonderful book I every found about Photography. Easy to understand, well explained, I learned a lot about photography in a simple but professional way.
Highly recommended!

Peterson takes the reader step-by-step through the range of topics in understanding how to obtain the correct exposure for almost every conceivable circumstance. Plain, simple descriptions and explanations make this book easy and pleasurable to read. I enjoyed it and learned plenty in the process. One of the best photography books I've seen.

I had been happy with the pictures I had taken for awhile with a dSLR camera, but I felt like I wanted more. Everyone seemed to recommend Understanding Exposure so I bought it and now I understand its incredible popularity. The explanations are clear and concise and so in-depth. I can see a noticeable difference between the photos I took six months ago and the ones I take now.

I feel like I see differently and approach photo opportunities differently and it's because Bryan Peterson taught me how to change up the way things look by playing with exposure.

Two nice perks of the book are that a) he writes in such a way that you feel like you're listening to a friend explain and break it down - it's technically descriptive but he writes it in a conversational way, and b) the photos included in the book are just stunning. One would hope that photos in a photography book would be impressive but his work is just beyond incredible.

If you're ready for the next level, I absolutely recommend picking this book up - you WILL see a difference.

It a great guide to improve your pictures. I highly recommend it. It is also full of examples you can use to practice all techniques.

There are so many reviews for this book, but I will say that some of the lower ratings have points, but it is really subjective. This is great resource for photogs that have some slr,dslr experience and don't need the detailed technical descriptions. The author inspires one to get out and try his techniques which will bring you to find your own and get comfortable with manual mode. Anyone can get the correct exposure, but as Bryan points out there is the correct creative exposure and I find this inspiring and important if you want to make truly unique photos. Some people love the techno speek and really need that, but others of us become glazed over and want to just get to work. He is a visual describer and not technical. True, it is more based on film but is also applicable for Digital. You just need to get out there and shoot! There is no limit with digital.

Beautiful pictures, great tips & trick. I have this to accompany the Scott Kelby books Digital Photography Vol 1 & 2. I recommend all of them

This is a very informative book with loads of information for beginners as well as seasoned photographers. I found it very understandable and would highly recommend it for anyone trying to make sense of exposure settings on your camera and how they work; both digital and film types.

After all the praise I'd read about this book, I bought a copy (and quickly resold it).

Nominally this is a 160 page book, but many of those pages are filled with the author's photos, and like a copy of Byte there's relatively little actual text. What text there is belies the 2004 date or the claim that it's updated: despite the occasional token reference to digital photography, this is a book about shooting film with 1980's technology, and is additionally biased toward landscapes. The author is big on focus-then-recompose shooting, which is much less feasible when shooting, say, humans than it is for mountains and distant tree silhouettes. The techniques advocated range from being inefficient with today's (or even 2004's) modern cameras to being inappropriate for modern dense digital sensors.

There is a modest to moderate amount of common-knowledge content, but an hour spent with a web browser will give the reader that and more without all the anachronisms.

This book wont make you a better photographer for sure. It did not answer main question - how to shoot?

If you're looking a book to begin with in photography, this is it. I understand this is probably quite shallow for experienced photographers, but I also understand it's not the book's aim to teach *them* something. This is a book for people who are going from point-and-shoot to SLRs and wish to explore the potential -- but actually *teaching* them something, not just providing hints without explaining the why's. As such, I would highly recommend it.

This book is fantastic! I already had solid knowledge and understanding of photography before purchasing this book and I must admit, this book is really great! Not only does it look at the technical aspects of making a correct exposure, it also gives you same more creative ways to look at taking various shots. A must have for any enthusiast photographer!

Fantastic book; easy to read and understand whether you are just starting out or have been shooting for a while. I highly recommend this book.

This book is another gem from master photographer Bryan Peterson. His no-nonsense approach to the variables that make up exposure will surely help anyone who feels (as I did) fairly intimidated by the subject. With great explanations and excellent photos, he shows what can be done when the photographer takes the time to decide what kind of photo is wanted, and then manipulate the variables to get it. Great book, and a permanent addition to my photo library.

I'm so glad I bought this book. I thought I knew how to shoot in manual, but it turns out I was only guessing. I am usually the "trial-and-error" kind of learner, but having this book points me in the right direction so that I can begin to see WHY some of my "errors" are bad and how to fix them. I'm glad that I am no longer blindly changing my settings and hoping the picture turns out okay. I'm giving this book to all my sisters who shoot with dSLRs and don't know what they're doing!

Bryan Peterson presents this information in a very understandable style. If you are new to fairly new at photography, then this book, and others that he has written, are invaluable tools to help you better understand your camera.

Like many people I have a digital camera, and like many people I am okay at taking a standard snapshot. Enough that people like them, but nothing that is particularly great, so I decided to try to learn more about photography.

I went into the book not exepcting to be a professional photographer (and I am not), but as someone who is fairly new and does not know much about the subject. After reading this book, that changed.

Clearly written and understandable, at no time did I feel like I was missing something along the way, and Bryan Peterson makes sure to convey all the information I needed without making me ever feel like I would not accomplish what he was taching.

If you are new to photography, this is highly recommended.

This is a great book. I find myself pulling it out least once a day to read something again or to look at the great photos. This book is a great reference and a must buy.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! GREAT BOOK FOR THE BEGINNER WHO HAS SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MANUAL MODE!! THIS IS MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY BIBLE.

Of all the books I've ever studied on Photography, this one contributed the most to my understanding--and application--of getting better exposures and how to reach beyond the obvious. While the author can sometimes be unclear, following his instructions to recreate certain exposures forces you to learn it for yourself. Whether that was his intention or not, you still get a lot from this book.

I would recommend it to anyone who is ready to move past the "beginner" stage of taking photos.

Best money i spent,its will worth the read.you'll be amazed the tips you'll pick up....
Norman

If you own an (D)SLR or point-and-shoot with manual settings, this book will get you out of auto mode. Make sure you know how to control the basic manual operations of your camera before you proceed.

This is not a camera operation manual, and it is not a technical treatise on focal length or depth of field. This book is a detailed, well-explained guide to understanding how the myriad combinations of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lighting, and metering mode affect the look of a photograph, and how to gauge which settings to use for your desired exposure. Peterson also tackles the concept of 18% reflectance, when to over- or under-expose, filters, and some more advanced techniques.

Every sub-section (about 2 pages) explains a particular consideration or technique, with several illustrative photos that demonstrate the technique, with an desciption of the lens used, focal length, and exposure information, and why he chose them.

This book is invaluable to those who want to get more consistent results and understand how and why their good pictures are good. The result will be less "chimping" and more shooting.

this book is very informative. Its gives a semester's worth of knowledge in one book. I learned so much about how to take better pictures. More than I could have possibly figured out on my own.

On the upside, I learned a few useful practical techniques from this book. Peterson's advice about how to get good exposures in a variety of circumstances is generally good and straightforward. There are also some nice pictures, though in only a few cases does he provide comparisons between the same scene shot well and shot not-so-well.

On the downside, I get the strong impression that Peterson is good at practical advice because he really isn't that good at theory. He explains several basic theoretical concepts, but often in very simplified and occasionally potentially misleading terms. On page 37, he writes that smaller apertures give better sharpness, but fails to mention that too small an aperture will actually lose sharpness due to diffraction. In fact, he never mentions diffraction at all throughout the book. One cannot help but wonder if he even knows about it.

There are also some factual mistakes in the book that seem very strange coming from a professional photographer and instructor. For example, on page 36, he writes that the aperture of a lens is formed by "six overlapping blades." He reinforces this elsewhere by saying that when a lens is stopped down, the out-of-focus highlights (he never uses the common term "bokeh") are "hexagonal." It seems impossible that he could have experience with more than a few different lenses, since while some lenses have six aperture blades and therefore give hexagonal bokeh, many others have five, seven, eight, or nine blades, yielding pentagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, or nonagonal bokeh. Some even have curved aperture blades to more closely approximate a circle. How can he not know this after all his years of working and teaching?

In sum, this isn't a bad book, but it really isn't all that great either. It's an okay choice for the beginner who wants to get some good practical advice without drowning in theory, but anyone who really wants to understand the subject and isn't afraid of a little math should look elsewhere.

This is a great book on how exposure works. It has tips and tricks on how to get the right exposure the first time. I would reccommend it for any photographer from the beginner who wants to learn about exposure to the pro who needs a refresher on exposure.

I can't say enough about this book. It is worth the money if you only look at the pictures. There is however more to this book than the pictures: much more. First Bryan Peterson has a great way of presenting the creative view of making pictures. He doesn't overwhelm you with technical data: just the opposite. He shows a picture, explains why or how he took it, and finally the focal length, aperature and shutter speed.

This book is now five years since publication but it is still relative. That is due to his focus on creative approaches to his images and not a heavy focus on technical aspects of picture making. His down to earth style of presenting the material in this book makes it a pleasure to read. I keep going back to it for ideas or inspiration. In fact it is so good, I am going to purchase his other book "Understanding Shutterspeed: Creative Action and Low Light Beyond 1/125 Second" just based on how much I liked "Understandin Exposure".

Bryan, great job!

At last, a nicely written and easy to understand "how-to" photography book that is satisfying on several levels. While the author supplies some wonderful tips and examples that quickly served to help me improve my skills as an advanced amateur, this book is absolutely NOT over the head of anyone new to SLR-type photography. (It won't really help point-and-shoot folks unless they have advanced cameras with Auto-M-AP-SP-P settings.) I have loaned my copy of the book to a friend who has already threatened to not return it (!) and have recommended it to another. I heartily recommend this book to anyone in need of a really good and well-thought-out approach to taking consistently good pics. You will not be disappointed if you should decide to purchase it!

As a newbie photographer I found this to be by far the best book to teach the basics of how to use an SLR camera. I appreciated most the outstanding illustrations used to explain the basic concepts of ISO, Aperture and shutter speed and there relationship with each other. I also appreciated his explanation of how to meter certain subjects to get superior results. With all the exercises throughout the book along with his explanation of how and why he took certain photos you feel like an expert by the time your finished. With the aid of this one book I have already seen outstanding results in my photographs. Obviously I recommend this book to anyone who is new to photography and wants to have a clear understanding of how to use a camera.

Excellent book. after the first chapter it actually got me excited to get my camera out and take pictures and take it off the priority mode. The author is all about creativity and he does a great job with all his explanations and outstanding examples. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to take great pictures.

This book is excellent for the novice photographer or one who just needs to re-familiarize themselves with key photographic elements. I love Bryan Peterson's books and his work! He truly breaks down the most difficult terms with his unique style of teaching. He's resourceful and this book will challenge you to do what you thought you couldn't. I highly recommend this book to those entering the digital SLR arena!

I have read dozens of 'How-to' photograpy books during my long amateur photographer career. I was very surprised to read a new book on an old subject that actually offered new slants (to me) on exposture and shutter speed. It also helped because I am using some of the same equipment that Bryan Peterson uses in this book.

This is a great book for beginners like myself. That's why I think the product description on Amazon is for the wrong book: "For serious amateur photographers who already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images but want to be more creative with a camera, here's the book to consult."

This is the book for anyone BUT the person who can "already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images." In fact, the book starts out explaining basics, like what is aperture, don't be afraid of "M" manual mode, etc. So, IGNORE Amazon's description and know that this is a useful book to teach the basics, help you to get to know your camera, and learn some tricks and tips to take better photos.

Awesome book. he speaks my language. (using great analogies). it made me understand photography a whole lot better.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to improve the quality of their photography. You're given the fundamentals of making a shot and then given some general guidelines and exercises to help you know how to put the theory into practice. Granted, much of the book says I shot this type of shot this way - but, experience is the only thing that will make your pictures look like the authors.

Anyone who is interested in furthering their foundational knowledge of photography needs this book. You won't be disappointed.