Perfect Exposure

In a previous post, I reviewed a book called "The Photographer's Eye - Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos" by Michael Freeman. I think this is an excellent book that any person looking to improve their photography should read.

One of the keys to a successful photograph is proper exposure. I won't get into an endless discussion about what the "right" exposure for a given scene/subject is, but we all tend to "know it" and "feel it" when we see it.

In addition to composition skills, learning to go beyond the 'Auto' exposure mode on your camera and get creative with exposure and lighting is another big step most photographers need to take. This is the subject of another book that I'm reading by Michael Freeman called "Perfect Exposure". It's another must-read from Freeman! Here is a video about the book.

In this book, Freeman discusses how to move yourself away from Auto exposure mode and get into expressing yourself creatively with exposure. As with his "Photographer's Eye" book, it seems like a lot to digest at first but if you start at page one and work your way through then it all makes complete sense.

Freeman opens the book with some exposure basics to level set the reader and prepare for the following chapters with a discussion of the concept of "key tones". In Chapter 3 called "The Twelve", which is the heart of this book, he then dives into the twelve most common exposure scenarios with examples and case studies that contain great discussion about how to recognize and handle these various scenarios.

The good thing about the book is that Freeman doesn't slide into the mode of telling the reader "what" to do. He's merely trying to help the reader recognize the most common exposure situations so that you can react to them creatively and let yourself run with them using effective metering techniques to achieve your photographic goals.

I'm currently on a quest to take my photography to the next level using creative exposure and the concept of key tones, so I discovered this book at just the right time. It's fantastic, and I would highly recommend it to everyone who wants to take their photography into the next creative realm.