Jeff Revell - Exposure: From Snapshots to Great Shots

From Snapshots to Great Shots

Jeff Revell

Exposure: From Snapshots to Great Shots, Second Edition
Jeff Revell

Peachpit Press
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Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education

Copyright 2014 by Peachpit Press
All photography Jeff Revell except where noted

Editor: Ted Waitt
Production Editor: Tracey Croom
Interior Design: Mimi Heft
Compositor: WolfsonDesign
Indexer: J&J Indexing
Cover Design: Aren Straiger
Cover Image: Jeff Revell
Back Cover Author Photo: Scott Kelby

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

All Nikon products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nikon and/or Nikon Corporation.

All Canon products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Canon Inc.

From Snapshots to Great Shots is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN-13 978-0-321-96813-5
ISBN-10 0-321-96813-1

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

For Mom and Dadthanks for everything!

Most of the books that I write tend to have a shelf life based on the camera that it is based on. The reality is that cameras dont last forever and there will always be a next big thing right around the corner. But thats the beauty of this book. Cameras come and go but the principles of photography have remained unchanged for almost 200 years, which means that this book will continue to be relevant for the foreseeable future. That being said, even the sturdiest of houses needs a fresh coat of paint every now and then, which is why I appreciate the good folks at Peachpit allowing me to give it a little bit of a refresh. A big thank you to Peachpit and my editor Ted for seeing the value of this book and allowing me the opportunity to spruce it up and update it to ensure that it remains a valuable resource for years to come.

I have written quite a few camera-specific books in the From Snapshot to Great Shots series. Unfortunately, I cant write one for every camera out there, but what I can and did do is take all of the great information from those other books and place it into this book. If you already own one of my camera-specific books, you might want to take a pass on this one since it will seem very familiar. If, however, you dont have one of the earlier books, then this one is for you.

I have tried my best to give everyone reading this book a good foundation of photographic knowledge and then build on it in order to create better photographs. If you still arent sure if this book is for you, read the Q&A on the following pages.

Q: Does the material in this book apply to any camera?

A: You will probably take away some good stuff no matter what camera you have, but to get the most benefit you need something that will let you take control. The automatic modes are okay but most of the material in this book is geared towards taking control over specific camera functions such as shutter speed and ISO. To really get the most out of the book you will need something like a digital SLR or, at the very least, an advanced point-and-shoot.

Q: Is every camera feature going to be covered?

A: Nope, just the ones I felt you need to know about in order to start taking great photos. It would be pretty difficult for me to cover every possible feature in every camera (actually it would be nearly impossible). What I did want to cover was how to harness general camera functions and photographic principles to truly benefit your photography.

There may be times in the book where I mention a camera function that might not have the same name for your specific camera, like the Shutter Priority mode. If you have a Canon, you have the same shooting mode; its just referred to as Time Value (Tv). The function, however, is the same for all cameras. I tried to be as generic as possible but you may still have to do a little investigating to associate your cameras terminology with that used in the book.

Q: So if I already own a camera manual, why do I need this book?

A: The manual does a pretty good job of telling you how to use a feature or turn it on in the menus, but it doesnt necessarily tell you why and when you should use it. If you really want to improve your photography, you need to know the whys and whens to put all of those great camera features to use at the right time. To that extent, the manual just isnt going to cut it. It is, however, a great resource on the cameras specific features. You should use it like a companion to this book.

Q: What can I expect to learn from this book?

A: Hopefully, you will learn how to take great photographs. My goal, and the reason the book is laid out the way it is, is to help you understand the basics of photography and all the elements that you need to really start creating great images. From there, you can begin to utilize your knowledge of exposure as it relates to different situations and scenarios. By using the features of your camera and this book, you will learn about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lens selection, depth of field, and many other photographic concepts. You will also find plenty of large full-page photos that include captions, shooting data, and callouts so you can see how all of the photography fundamentals come together to make great images. All the while, you will be learning how your camera works and how to apply its functions and features to your photography.

Q: What are the assignments all about?

A: At the end of most of the chapters, you will find shooting assignments, where I give you some suggestions on how to apply the lessons of the chapter to help reinforce everything you just learned. Lets face itusing the camera is much more fun than reading about it, so the assignments are a way of taking a little break after each chapter and having some fun.

Q: Should I read the book straight through or can I skip around from chapter to chapter?

A: Heres the easy answer: yes and no. No, because the first four chapters give you the basic foundation that you need to know for creating proper exposures. These are the building blocks for making photographs with your camera. After that, yes, you can move around the book as you see fit because the later chapters are written to stand on their own as guides to specific types of photography or shooting situations. So you can bounce from portraits to shooting landscapes and then maybe to a little action photography. Its all about your needs and how you want to address them. Or, you can read it straight through. The choice is up to you.