Moving On with "Understanding Exposure"

[bayhli]

Has anyone else in our reading thread started Chapter 4? Xmas is right around the corner so I'm moving on...

Maybe one of the Moderators would kindly move us to the Photography Section now that we have one - please? (Reading members check the Photography Section if you discover that the threads are "missing" !)

[GaryK]

Pat

I think I just started 4 (light???) but have not done the assignments up to now just trying to get caught up.
I'll pretend I did them my first time through the book.:D

[bayhli]

Sounds good to me Gary, good job at catching up.

Yep, we're starting Chapter 4 - Light. My favourite !! :eek:

Keep up - I'm gonna need ya! :D

[GaryK]

Pat

This is my second time through and I am enjoying it all over again.

I like the little hexagon shaped highlights.:)

[bayhli]

My 2nd time too Gary.

I skipped a lot the first time I read it because I was new to even the basics so a lot of it was over my head. :confused: I'm enjoying this second read as well and find my understanding much better - so I've learned something in the meantime. Just not Chapter 4! :D

[JulieM]

I'm with you - reading Chapter 4 for the 2nd time now. Hope some will sink in this time! :D

[bayhli]

This is a heavier chapter and probably all we're going to get done before Xmas. What's left after this is more speciality topics anyway so it's a good split.

I'm finding it a little less muddlesome to break it into these areas of concentration:

Exploring the types of light - pages 94-113
Metering - pages 114-127
Low Light and Night Photography pages 128-135

I wouldn't mind bringing ISO into this as well (pages 154-55) as I'm sure it will crop up and it strikes me as a basic we haven't talked about. There's not much to it but to me it rounds out the exposure equation.

Shall we set our objective as completing the whole chapter before Xmas actually hits, each to their own level of satisfaction? (my vote)

Break the chapter up and continue with it in the New Year, cram and finish the whole book before Xmas ;) - what's your pleasure!?

[JulieM]

Pat, that sounds good to me. Were you ever a teacher? :D

[bayhli]

Were you ever a teacher?

No-waaaah! :D

However, I may lean toward being just a "bit" methodical by nature. ;)
Try being creative with that around your neck!

I went ahead and posted a thread for Chapter 4 for all the great information we're going to share...

[DMurray407]

Is it too late for me to join in? I've read the book before and would love to go over it again-I learn something new every time I open it!
Let me know-
Thanks-

[JulieM]

Never too late, Deb. We're glad to have you. See you over in the Chapter 4 thread...

[bayhli]

By all means, join us Deb.

We've just started Chapter 4 - Light. Share any questions, discussion or practice images on this thread so we can learn from each other. There are also links there to the previous chapters we've covered.

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32086

Welcome...

Sorry Julie, we jumped in at the same time.

[DMurray407]

Thanks! I have the book in my work bag to take with me when I go to work tonight-that probably is jinxing me to an incredibly busy night, but just in case I have down time, I can get started!

[Elemobe]

Great, I really need to study this Chapter.

Thanks Pat.

[bayhli]

Well, I'm glad I'm not alone Linda; this is the big one for me too and the one I'm most interested in.

[nkeevers]

I agree on the time frame...and I need to concentrate on these chapters! Not that I'm an expert at the others yet though!:eek::D

[elizabeth]

hi. I know i am WAY out of the loop, but could someone give the reference for the book. I would like to have a look and maybe eventually join in.

thanks. elizabeth

[bayhli]

Hi Elizabeth,

We've been reading and discussing our way through "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

Visit this thread for our current chapter 4, where you will find links to what we've covered so far. We've just started Chapter 4 of 6 total.

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32086

You are certainly more than welcome to join us. :)

[elizabeth]

thanks Pat. I will have a look - and pick up a copy of the book.

cheers. elizabeth

[lexcell]

Great idea guys! Bryan Peterson's books are great! He takes some pretty tough topics and makes sense of them. If anything isnot clear, be sure to jump in with questions.

Light is what makes or breaks a photograph...it's very important to understand the quality of light, the quantity, the direction, etc.

Beautiful light is why photographers get up at o'dark thirty and stay out late when every sane person has gone in for dinner or bed.

A good assignment would be to photograph the same subject in different light...sunrise, midday, overcast, sunset. It won't be accomplished in a day but, it will give you an excellent basis to understanding what light is doing and how it may affect your images and what you want to communicate about your subjects.

[nkeevers]

The more I read the book, the more I get confused! I understand everything well enough but there are so many variables involved I could never remember all of them. I'd have to take a cheat sheet with me. Everything seems to be dependent on something else. Wow, lot to remember.

Not sure I understand what they mean by "reading the meter" I have three metering modes; evaluative, partial and center-weighted. I leave mine on center-weighted. But how do you read it? Where do you read the "meter" when you are pointing at the sky or whatever to get a shot of something? Where is the light meter indicated?

[lexcell]

Norma,

By reading the meter, I believe that Bryan means understanding how your meter reacts to the scene and making decisions as to whether or not you need to override the meter by going to manual or using exposure compensation when in auto.

I would suggest that you try evaluative and see if you like it. It gives an average of all the light values in the scene.

The problem with some images is that the range of light is greater than our cameras can capture. When this is the case, we have to take matters into our own hands and decide what is the important part of our image and expose for that. I use exposure compensation to do this.

Depending on how proficient you are with Photoshop, you can capture images at different exposure values and blend them together, using the best parts of each image to create one that has a greater range of exposure than our cameras can capture.

Remember, there is no perfect exposure...just one that comunicates what it is you want to communicate about your image.

[bayhli]

Hi Norma,

Bryan is in Manual Mode when he's reading the sky etc. In this mode, on my Canon at least, there is a scale (exposure level icon) at the bottom of the screen when you are looking through the viewfinder. Adjust the shutter speed and aperture until the indicator is in the middle and this is the exposure you would use to take the photo.

(It looks like the exposure compensation scale)

p.s. I carry a little notebook in my camera bag with all the stuff I don't remember!