Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure: The Professional's Guide to Capturing Perfect Digital Photographs |  | Author: Michael Freeman
Publisher: Focal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 12851
Media: Paperback
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 10.2 x 9.8 x 0.6
ISBN: 0240811712
Dewey Decimal Number: 778
EAN: 9780240811710
ASIN: 0240811712
Publication Date: April 14, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Clear, direct and guaranteed, the perfect exposure method looks at the way professionals work, and lays out the decisions and sequences with absolute clarity, while incorporating the latest, powerful post-processing techniques. Chosing the exposure for a photograph is infinitely complex and one of photography's most absorbing paradoxes because it affects everything in the image and its effect on the viewer. Understanding how and why exposure works is essential, not only because it helps you to decide what is instinctively "right," but this book will give you confidence in that decision--an invaluable skill for every single photographer. Full of beautiful photographs taken by Michael Freeman, this book will arm you with the tools you need for perfect exposure of your photographs.
* Written by world-renowned expert photographer and author Michael Freeman
* Ground-breaking exposure system for digital age photography
* Uses clear examples from real photo assignments with in-depth explanations
* Foolproof flow charts enable quick and easy comprehension
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
 First Intelligent Writing on Exposure in a Long Time May 1, 2009
T. Campbell
38 out of 42 found this review helpful
Freeman is one of the busiest and most versatile photographers going. He is constantly travelling the world from one assignment to the next and seems to be working simultaneously on the assignment de la semaine and on more than one book at at time: the next instructional book and probably a portfolio/thematic picture book. Either he has an outstanding team back in UK, or he is blessed with extraordinary energy. Maybe he has so much book writing time because of all the time he is in the air....
This is the most intelligent, systematic writing on photographic exposure I know of since the first two issues of Peterson's Photographic magazine in the late 1970s, when it started either as a bimonthly or a quarterly - I forget which. Those two issues carried long, detailed articles on the correct uses of reflective and incident meters in light, shade, and with gray cards. Nothing since has been as comprehensive and useful, until this book.
Freeman uses the capabilities of digital equipment as an integral part of his argument. The core of the book is his breaking the population of exposure situations into twelve categories - three groups with several types - that are easy to recognize in real shooting situations. The crux of this categorization is the histogram. He specifies what the specific characteristics are of each situation and what the most likely manipulations are that help a shooter evaluate and improve an image. I think his use of a "tonal matrix" is particularly interesting and has the potential to be useful, too, with color distribution to understand the abstract structure of an image. This section alone makes the book worth buying.
None of the other books on exposure currently in print is anywhere near so systematic. They tend to be aimed at beginning photographers and are generally presentations of pretty pictures and how the author/photographer used exposure for that image. The arrangement is generally of over/underexposing, movement, night shooting, and such topics.
I do have some concerns and wishes, though. There are a few instances where I could not quite see or understand the point of a set of illustrations and the captions. Too, I wish he would have spent a few more pages looking at exposure and specific hues/colors.
But the numbers of such instances are so few as not to threaten my judgment of the value of this book to any photographer of moderate to high sophistication. This will be a fine addition to his "Photographer's Eye" and "Color" as longstanding references. His approach is an obvious teaching method that I suspect will be taken up soon in many a class and workshop.
Getting Serious About Exposure September 13, 2009
Sheryl L. Battin
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is directed at digital photographers. He explains how digital and film photography have some differences as far as exposure. He goes into how a sensor works to capture light and he defines terms used to talk about exposure.
Freeman feels that there are 12 exposure situations divided among 3 groups. He explains these well using the idea of key tones.
Then he talks about "The Zone System". As invented by Ansel Adams, the zone system was for cameras using black and white film. But Michael Freeman feels that the idea of zones is a good one and adapts it to digital, color photography building on the use of key tones.
With all this, he then goes into using the exposure that will make the photo you see in your mind. Correct exposure is the exposure that takes you where you want to go not any particular correct or incorrect method. If you see flares in your mind, he explains those. Black and white? He shows how to get the exposure you need. Freeman includes high key exposure, low key exposure, and so forth. He enjoys making low key photos and covers it as well as I've seen anywhere.
Last, he covers post-processing. Now Michael Freeman wrote a book called Mastering HDR Photography so his views on the subject surprised me. He is not sure it is always wise to try to compress an hdr scene into low dynamic range medium such as a computer monitor or a print. He does think the technology will improve though. He does offer some good tips on processing but don't buy the book to learn to process photos.
I feel this is a good book if you are serious about learning about exposure.
Superb coverage of a core photographic principle May 23, 2009
Charles I. Maas (Anchorage, AK USA)
21 out of 25 found this review helpful
Nothing is more fundamental to the photographic process than the concept of exposure -- the delivery of a certain quantity of light to a sensitive medium to record an image. And while there are an infinite number of factors that influence a "proper" exposure, there are still only three physical elements that control the actual dosage of a single frame...aperture, shutter speed, and film/sensor sensitivity.
"Proper" exposure, of course, is a value judgment based on the limits of the equipment, the photographer's intentions, and final use of the resulting image. Technology has a big impact in this process since varying types of recording media behave very differently with regard to color rendition, dynamic range, and other significant factors. In addition, digital post-processing now impacts exposure as well, due partly to the manner in which digital sensors record light, and the fact that some data can be adjusted (within limits) even after the original exposure is made. There is a considerable amount of information to sort through on the way to a thorough understanding of all the considerations in the decision-making process of arriving at a "perfect exposure," some of which is very technical but crucial to the process.
So, is this book a good learning tool? Yes; the best I've seen. The author, Michael Freeman, is among the most prolific writers in the photo-book industry, and possesses a style that is exceptionally lucid, accurate, thorough, and engaging. In this guide he takes on a daunting topic and delivers a gem -- a reference that belongs on every serious photographer's shelf. For those who now only understand "exposure" to be setting their camera to "P" or the "green rectangle," this will be a real eye-opener. In a nutshell, the concept of "perfect exposure" is at the very core of the technical side of the photographic process, and developing a deep understanding of it is crucial to becoming a truly competent photographer.
What makes this book stand out? Elegance of style, organization, content, and supporting illustrations. Starting with a basic decision flow, the author carefully explains the steps and the technical terms, always placing them in the context of a day-to-day professional shooting environment. He then expands the flow discussion while elaborating on additional factors right on through to describing 12 types of exposure situations that cover the vast majority of lighting circumstances with recommendations for determining the proper exposure for each. The descriptive text is excellent, the supporting illustrations superb, and all of it is wrapped up in a beautiful, high-quality imprint.
Don't expect this handsome reference to be a quick read; you'll need to really study the material to convert it to useful personal knowledge, but the exercise will be eminently worthwhile.
essential reading for anyone with an SLR and ambition April 23, 2009
Fred Kranich (Vienna)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
There is a world of difference between getting a "correct" or even an "ideal" exposure and achieving the one exposure that is consistent with what you want to record and express as a photographer. There are plenty of books out there on how exposure affects things like depth of field, freezing or exaggerating motion, the color and quality of light, how your subject is presented, etc. etc.. As in any such book, most of the given information you probably already know. Perfect Exposure is refreshingly not another one of those.
Unlike the previous reviewer, I do not think that a good book on photography is about recipes for shooting, exact quantities, measurements, settings and parameters. Just as a good cooking book is not about lists of ingredients, temperatures, cooking times, and stuff. It is about complex and chaotic processes, about combining available and always varying ingredients to a perfect meal, and which you are always seeking to take to a higher level. That's what good cooking is about and photography is not that different.
Freeman talks about his own convictions as a seasoned photographer in the digital era and combines them to a coherent approach to how and why exposure works. If your thinking and style is compatible with Freeman's, you will start to look at what you learned before in quite a different way. As for myself, I always prefer the wisdom of the sweating cook in a messy kitchen over the polished TV celebrity chef.
Perfect Exposure is well worth the cost and should be read carefully and gratefully by any ambitious digital photographer in search of meaningful guidance.
In depth! June 3, 2009
Grampa
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I can't emphasize how much Freeman's in-depth approach to understanding exposure will help you gain real knowledge. He uses an analytic method to divide all common shooting situations into a dozen different types, and then shows you how exposure should be approached for each of these types. Once you've mastered this comprehensive list, you'll feel confident in your ability to come back with the perfect exposure, every time. Other books on this topic are too basic, and assume you know nothing. This book assumes you want to start with the basics, and then learn a great deal. Recommended.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
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