Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Understanding exposure third edition. Although it could be called understanding your camera This is a fairly complete overhaul of the second edition. It covers all of the things covered in the second edition and additionally Author Bryan Peterson covers HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. One of the sections I enjoyed the most is Peterson's photographic triangle. aperture, shutter speed and iso. All three are of equal importance in the photo tough I sometimes forget about the effects of different iso's so this section brought that to life for me. Some of the other subjects that were interesting to me was his explanation of white balance and how it's over rated "It's my opinion that, next to the histogram, the white balance is one of the most overrated controls on the digital camera". Another section I liked was one entitled "The sky brothers" Here Peterson talks about difficult light and contracts situations that meters have difficulty with. Peterson moves the light meeter to one area or another to get a reading that's not so effected by bad light or contrast including the always difficult photos of snow. Peterson also covers in detail all of the camera settings and discussed the advantages of one setting over another, aperture priority versus shutter priority etc. One of the things he covers in detail is the usage of automatic settings and how they can hinder photographic creativity. Including Exposure Peterson covers all aspects of photography, lighting, DOF, sports settings, portrait settings, landscape, night and low light photography. Paterson does a great job of describing who each of the settings work together and effect each other. Peterson really encourages the reader to think outside of the box (or view finder) to understand and use all of the creative features of the camera and your imagination. The book is a good mix of photos and descriptive writing that gives the reader the camera setting information but the thought process in deciding what settings to use. Peterson's writing style while describing the subject matter and the settings used on the camera really bring the reader into the idea behind the photo. The appeal of this book is really for the novice to intermediate photographer. I can't think of any one subject about photography that Peterson doesn't present and explanation about. Beautiful photography, nice writing style, detailed but concise explanations makes this one a keeper. If you like the second edition you'll find the third edition invaluable.