Understanding Exposure-Bryan Peterson

I recommended this book to a co-worker and she really likes it and has learned a lot. But she did comment on the "pornographic" pictures of his wife. Yeah, an exageration - but a good point.

Stefan

photoguy6405 wrote in post #5085501
It seemed to me that he's still letting the camera's meter do the metering for him, merely from the back end so to speak, not really doing it himself.

To expand a bit on my own point here...

Basically, he's in manual mode... he sets the aperture to the desired number based on the effect (read: depth-of-field) he wants to achieve... then he dials the knob on the camera to adjust shutter speed until the camera tells him what the correct exposure is for that aperture.

And this is different than setting the camera to Av mode and setting the aperture and letting the camera determine shutter speed... how?

Am I over-simplifying what he's teaching? Or, is he making what he does sound more complex than it really is?

photoguy6405 wrote in post #5085846
Am I over-simplifying what he's teaching? Or, is he making what he does sound more complex than it really is?

No, that's basically it (and a big part of why I say "over-rated"). Aside from the "Triangle of Exposure," there's very little to the book.

Besides what you've said, the only other things he's offered is that you can use your palm (+1/3 or +2/3, IIRC), that you should under-expose dark foliage by a third of a stop or so... etc. Basically, there are a few times when you don't want a +/- EC of 0, but rather you want something + or - a bit.

As the original OP for this thread I ended that every time that I take the camera out that its a learning experience. As a keen amateur with a lot to learn I was able to step on to the manual mode path and be in control somewhat of the type of exposure consistency that I have been so far unable to attain. Yes I have been close but since putting the suggestions into place that the book gives I have been able (with many others by the sound of it) to become a better photographer. If this book helps people enjoy their photography then to my mind it is a winner.
This is an example of how I feel my photography has improved. Last week I was shooting my Irish Setter and colors and exposure were all over the place shooting on AV but playing yesterday I was able to capture this shot. Whilst it may not be the most inspiring shot in the world I feel that its close to the exposure/color/contras​t that I am after. Let me know if I'm missing the mark.

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I also didn't get the concept of setting aperture in manual and then dialing up shutter speed. I thought it was the same thing that Program mode does (or Av), only more complicated.

There may be very little to the book for you, but I learned more than a little from reading it. Different strokes for different folks. As was said above, it's not a best seller and nearly all positive reviews on Amazon without reason.

I respect to the vast majority of others here i am new


but i think what he is trying to learn his reader is to think about what you are setting the camera to to get the result you want


sure you can use Av to do the same , but IMO you need to understand the basic way ( manual mode ) before you can understand what the camera is doing


its the same ( in the UK ) its best to learn with a clutch (Stick shift for the US guys ) and gears before you drive an auto car that way you LEARN

What about the thong shot used to box in the windmill??? There is no way you had thought of that!!!

ivan_drago wrote in post #5085950
I also didn't get the concept of setting aperture in manual and then dialing up shutter speed. I thought it was the same thing that Program mode does (or Av), only more complicated.

How do you usually manually expose?

Lordedmond wrote in post #5085992
sure you can use Av to do the same , but IMO you need to understand the basic way ( manual mode ) before you can understand what the camera is doing

its the same ( in the UK ) its best to learn with a clutch (Stick shift for the US guys ) and gears before you drive an auto car that way you LEARN

I disagree with the analogy. I hardly consider manual mode the "basic" mode. It requires the most work, is the most complex, etc. The basic mode is the green box, or the P, or the modes with the pictures on it.

And why learn with a stick shift or clutch if you're never going to drive a car with a stick shift/clutch? That's just a waste of time.

As I've said, I do think the book has value. At the reduced price ($17), it's close in my eyes to being a good value because I place a lot of value on individual tips, and $17 isn't much. But let's make good analogies in support of the book if that's the way you lean... bad analogies might have the opposite effect you intend. Someone might just think to themselves "I don't want to use a stick shift (manual mode) - Av is fine for me" and treat what you intend to be a positive note as a negative.

Lordedmond wrote in post #5085992
I respect to the vast majority of others here i am new

but i think what he is trying to learn his reader is to think about what you are setting the camera to to get the result you want

sure you can use Av to do the same , but IMO you need to understand the basic way ( manual mode ) before you can understand what the camera is doing

its the same ( in the UK ) its best to learn with a clutch (Stick shift for the US guys ) and gears before you drive an auto car that way you LEARN

I suspect this may be the real value in Peterson's teaching methods... not really to teach how to set exposure in the camera, but rather teaching how expsoure works and getting people to think about what they're shooting and how it relates within itself.

I think that the book teaches about balance between shutter speed and aperture with regards to depth of field, freezing movement and the getting the type of shot that you want. This is obviously in connection with ISO to get the look that you want i.e. waterfall or drag racer or portrait correctly exposed.

My personal opinion is that the book may have been good in its day but that day has long passed. Now that we're in the digital age I do not understand why budding photographers are being directed to a book that makes no mention of using histograms and blinking indicators for blown highlights. Where is the discussion on how to expose when shooting raw vs shooting jpeg? What about ETTR? - not a word. What about the effects of diffraction at small apertures when used on digital cameras with high pixel density sensors? The book encourages f/22 for a large DOF but does not discuss the degradation of sharpness throughout the whole image as a result.

I find the presentation to be long winded, rambling and obtuse. His method of metering at a completely inappropriate aperture and then adjusting aperture to what he really wants and altering shutter speed to compensate is bizarre in the extreme. This is surely the way to sow confusion in the minds of newbies, not clarity.

Why is he always fiddling with aperture and shutter speed but rarely adusting ISO to get the shot he wants? It's because the book is all about the film days. Let's not confuse the learning experience by teaching outdated practices that are inappropriate for modern digital equipment. It's time to move on.

Do worker bees really help the understanding? Why not just say that increasing ISO is like turning up the recording level for an audio recording. An audio analogy would also work extremely well for explaining the noise issues that come with increasing ISO, just like turning up the levels on a quiet recording. It's all about amplifying weak signals. It has nothing to do with worker bees.

I actually think his book makes really hard work of the whole subject. On the other hand I find the short (free) tutorial by Ben, posted here - https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=414088 - to be clear, concise and relevant. Sure it is basic and could be expanded to become a more complete work but it really doesn't need 160 pages, or worker bees and faucets to get the necessary points across. We just need a section on metering techniques and a few trial exercises for practice and we're golden.

etc. etc.

tdodd, you have proven one thing...This book is well written and like a good commercial, it did its job...

Look how much you can recall...Its like you studied it 4 or 5 times...

Also, reading what you wrote, you obviously aren't his intended audience. You aren't just picking up a camera for the first time wondering how to get some properly exposed shots while you learn.

For 20 bucks, (28 here in Canada), you buy your camera, buy this book to get you going and then you move on.

Btw, I'm sure many people know what that is about turning up a recording level, but I have no clue...

Im fairly new to photography and bought the book from ebay for a tenner after reading recommendations on here...

I agree with a lot of the comments about the information being repetitive and stretched out, it wasn't anywhere near as in depth as I expected and even as a novice I found a lot of the info was nothing new to me. I also think even the revised copy doesn't sufficiently cover digital techniques.

However what I did get from it was an understanding of when to choose which mode by thinking about what I want to capture in the picture, how to get a decent exposure in different situations by knowing where to take a meter reading from... it does what it says on the tin, helps you understand exposure. What more do you expect from a book called 'understanding exposure' ?

If you've just bought your first SLR or you've always used the auto modes it's a tenner well spent imo