Understanding exposure

What Hacker News says

1. lb1lfJul 2025
   Oh, I am saddened to hear of Peterson's passing.

   Way back when, I bought a couple of his books, probably on the recommendation of someone or other in an online photography forum - 'Understanding Exposure' and 'Learning to see creatively'. The latter in particular was wonderful for someone who had the technical aspects of photography more or less sorted, but was - ahem - deficient in the artistic department.

   Anyway, I felt his style was incredible - down-to-earth, but not afraid to go into a bit of background if needed - so I sent off a brief letter of thanks through his publisher.

   Lo and behold, got a very nice letter back, thanking my for the kind words and encouraging me (I had mentioned that I shot both film and digital, seeing as at the time, a wonderful film camera like the F5 could be had for a fraction of what even an entry-level APS-C DSLR cost) to experiment A LOT using the DSLR, as the instant feedback provided would help my analog hit rate progress leaps and bounds.

   I was already thinking a bit along those lines, but became a lot more conscious about trying to improve my skills using the DSLR upon his encouragement - and my photos improved a lot over the following years as a result.

   Thanks, Bryan.

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2. throw0101cNov 2022
   If anyone wants to move beyond using the "auto" setting on their camera (or phone), I would recommend the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, the first edition of which was published in 1990:

   * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/142239.Understanding_Exp...

   The principles involved haven't changed much in the intervening decades; the current fourth edition was publish in 2016.

   If all you have is a phone you don't have to get new equipment: just perhaps a third-party 'camera app' that allows you manual control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO/sensitivity.

   Once you know how each of these settings alter the resulting photo you can use them to alter the composition of photos, which is a whole other craft.

   Edit: seems recent smartphones have little-to-no adjustable camera settings.

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3. starkyAug 2022
   I don't find the explanation here to be clear. This suffers from the classic issue where they explain the basics and then proceed to give practically no details on how to start applying the knowledge.

   For anyone wanting to learn this more in detail I highly recommend the book "Understanding Exposure" by: Bryan Peterson.

   My personal approach to taking handheld photos in manual mode using natural light is as follows:

   1. Look at the scene and determine what the most important factor is. For example: * Do I need to freeze motion? Then I need to set a short shutter speed. * Is the image being taken in low light? Then I probably want to open the aperture and set my shutter speed as long as is suitable for what I can hold. * Do I need a large depth of field or to maximize sharpness? Then I need to set the aperture to a suitable value to achieve that.

   2. After I consider the most important factor and set either shutter speed or aperture to a starting value, set the second most important factor using the same thought process.

   3. Adjust the ISO so the image is exposed properly. Knowing your camera, is the ISO going to result in an acceptable image? If not, then go back to the first step and adjust your shutter speed and aperture to bring the ISO down to an acceptable value.

   4. Take the photo and review.

   Of course, this doesn't apply to every scenario but it generally is a good approach for the types of photos where the exposure settings are critical. If I'm shooting a landscape outdoors, then I'm probably starting off by setting ISO to 100 first and then the aperture to the sharpest value for the particular lens I'm using as I'm sure that the shutter speed will be acceptable regardless of what it ends up having to be or will be what drives me to use a smaller aperture.

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4. runjakeJan 2019
   Careful. Learning photography can be like learning the new productivity method du jour.

   That said, the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson was recommended to me a long time ago and provided me with immediate and stunning results. Buy it though, don't download one of the numerous copies online.

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5. asteadmanApr 2016
   I'm just going to throw this out there: If you want to become a better photographer you do it through practice and repetition, not theory. I know it's the counterpoint to this thread, but don't let your camera collect dust, use it every day. Critique and then delete your own work. Get muscle memory to be your friend so you never miss that split second where you have the perfect shot.

   Obviously there is always more to learn (and you should), and clearly i'm NOT advocating that you upload all of your photos to instagram/facebook. But I am suggesting you will learn more by doing then you ever will reading theory.

   That being said, I bought Understanding Exposure http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Pho... based on some HN recommendations (i think), and it covered the basics of everything I needed to know from a technical perspective. I recommend it if you are starting out.

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6. beatFeb 2015
   I always recommend two books to anyone asking about buying a camera - "Understanding Exposure" (Bryan Peterson), and "The Photographer's Eye" (Michael Freeman). These two books cover all the basics of exposure and composition in a pretty accessible way.

   Those two books will get you farther toward taking good photos than any piece of gear will.

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