Reddit mentions of Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition

I'd recommend a book named Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004FEFS5E

It's an amazing book. That Rockwell guy advocates using auto mode- this book will have you hating it in about 30 minutes.

Also, shoot RAW + Jpeg. Ken Rockwell's Jpeg-only advise is horrible, imo.

You have no clue how many people wished a Hasselblad 500C/M fell in their laps. You're lucky.


No, about learning on film. I see no problem with that. If you understand exposure and can get your hands on a cheap light meter, you will have no problem shooting film. The Hassy is very simple. You have aperture and shutter speed. You tell it those values on the lens, you compose, then focus, and then press the shutter. Not much different than a DSLR, really.


Two books come to mind: Understanding Exposure and Creative Camera Control. The 2nd book is very short and very simple. I'd recommend that because it easily explains how to get shallow Depth of Field, how to use slow shutter to blur movement, etc.


Here are some films ordered by cheapest first. If you shoot B&W, you can process it at home for much cheaper than having others process it for you.


Check out some of these shots taken by other Hasselblad owners on Flickr.


Or, if you change your mind, I have $200 in my paypal account that I can send you for the Hassy.

> Start with manual and don't touch other modes for a while until you learn how to expose the way you want to.

I could not disagree any more strongly.

If he starts in manual, it'll be harder to understand how aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc, each individually affect exposure (among other things) because it won't be obvious which change to which function caused which effect on the outcome of the shot.

On the other hand, if he's willing to take classes, then I might - note that I only said might - agree.

I definitely DO agree that he needs a good foundation. Perhaps a book like Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, among others. And I definitely recommend downloading the manual to the camera.

I believe that a strong understanding of the fundamentals of photography is important.

I don't agree with all the teaching techniques in this book, but it's the one that seems to get recommended most often.

Understanding Exposure.

Bet yet, IMO, would be to take a class. Most people learn better and faster when they have a knowledgeable instructor to walk it though with them in person.

I teach photography classes and our most popular class is along the lines of 'how to use your DSLR'.

Classes certainly cost more than a book or watching youtube videos, but good knowledge pays for itself over and over again for the rest of your life. 99% of people who take my classes are more than happy with the value they get for the cost of the class.

r/photoclass_2016

This book is often recommended -
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004FEFS5E/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I bought this book about five years ago when I was just starting out and it was such a great resource. I always recommend it to friends and family when I know they've just bought their first DSLR. I hope it helps!

I think what you're really missing here is proper lighting. The valley is shaded except for that lip of sunlight in the back-right of the photo. You can play around with some color settings to try to get what you're looking for, but I don't think it'll come off looking quite as natural as what you'd want.

I always suggest taking a look at Understanding Exposure.. It's a great help in learning 1) the relationships between ISO/Aperature/Shutter Speed to achieve proper exposure, and 2) how lighting affects your image.

The exposure seems correct for the lighting situation, but the timing/composition is where you missed the boat on this particular shot. Good work, though, composition just comes down to lots of practice and exposing yourself to other photographers' works!

Understanding Exposure

I am a hobbyist wildlife photographer but it was only a few years ago that I started so maybe I can point you in the right direction.

First what is your basic understanding of you camera? If you don't have the basics a specialized wildlife instruction session isn't going to help you too much. For the basics I highly recommend the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson, it's the best beginner book for photography out there.

Off the top of my head I can think of photographer named Steve Mattheis up in Jackson Hole who does instruction. He's also got an awesome YouTube channel.

Frankly YouTube is your friend, I spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos on photography.

Faster shutters speed = higher number. This is incorrect. Lower numbers are faster shutter speed. (1s is faster than 5s right?).


You've basically describing the exposure triangle. A good book for folks starting out is... "Understanding Exposure" by bryan peterson http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FEFS5E/

Only it's not really a triangle, you can also learn a lot about exposure by reading this lengthy stack exchange post about why a triangle is a terrible analogy:

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6598/what-is-the-exposure-triangle#12441

This is a good primer: http://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography

This is a great book: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-ebook/dp/B004FEFS5E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375110728&sr=8-2&keywords=understanding+aperture

Canon, Nikon, Sony or other? (Not like it really matters, they are all just tools)

I have been told that Understanding Exposure is supposed to be the gold standard for beginner photography education. Unfortunately I can not personally attest to the merits of this book since I have not owned or read it.