Review: Exposure for Outdoor Photography

New ebook from Craft & Vision

I got my review copy of Exposure for Outdoor Photography by Michael Frye, which was released by Craft & Vision on Thursday.  I’ll give you a really short summary and review of this new ebook to help you decide if it’s something for you or not.

First of all, why you’d want to buy this book:

• if you’ve ever wondered how to use your camera in Manual mode, this book will help you understand the settings
• if you want to know more about aperture, shutter speed and ISO – what they do, and when to adjust each of them to create a desired effect, this book is for you
• if you’ve never quite grasped the concept of “depth of field” and how to control it or why, get this book
• if you feel like you’ve got a handle on these basics but want a handy reference sheet just in case you need to look something up or confirm your thoughts, this will be useful for you
• if you’re curious about that funny little graph thingy that shows up when you view your images, this book will help clarify what it is and how to use it
• if you’ve got $5 and figure, what the heck it’s only $5 – just get it!

Even better, if you buy by February 20 at 11:59pm PST, you will get a discount – pay only $4!!!  Use the code EXPOSURE4 to get the discount, it’s only  good until that date and time, after that it’s regular $5.

Why you might not want to buy this book:

• if all the above seem really simple to you, this book is probably too basic for you
• if you don’t have $5
• if you can’t read, but then of course you probably aren’t reading this right now so forget that one

Why buy Exposure for Outdoor Photography and not others on this subject:

• this book goes into a fair amount of detail in its descriptions and uses screen shots and images of camera menus to explain things very well
• the writer is an experienced author and photography educator and trusted authority and landscape and nature photographer, being a regular contributor to several magazines
• for all its detail it’s also short and to the point and easy to follow
• it’s only $5 for heaven’s sake!   So unless you fall into one of the categories above in “why not to buy it” I’d say just get it, if only for a reference.

What topics does this book cover:

• the exposure triangle:  ISO, aperture, shutter speed in easy to follow explanations
• how to demystify and read the histogram
• exposure and metering modes
• using aperture to control depth of field
• using shutter speed to freeze/blur motion
• shooting into the sun, and how to expose for that situation
• using the zone system and spot metering for correct exposure
• using exposure to creatively match your vision for the image

 Summary:

I’d say Exposure for Outdoor Photography is a great little book for the money and covers the subject of exposure and how to make the correct exposure quite well.  If your photography skills are intermediate or advanced it may be a bit basic for you, but it can’t hurt to brush up on the basics and it’s always good to affirm that you know what you’re doing.  As always the Craft & Vision team puts out a great resource for photographers of all skill levels and this book is another good addition to their line up.