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Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/125 Second | 
 enlarge | Author: Bryan Peterson
Publisher: Amphoto Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $17.13
You Save: $8.82 (34%)
New (24) Used (6) from $15.00
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 1540
Media: Paperback
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0817463011
Dewey Decimal Number: 771
EAN: 9780817463014
ASIN: 0817463011
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
The first book in the Understanding Photography series, Understanding Exposure, was a runaway best-seller, with more than 250,000 copies sold. Now author Bryan Peterson brings his signature style to another important photography topic: shutter speed. With clear, jargon-free explanations of terms and techniques, plus compelling "before-and-after" photos that pair a mediocre image (created using the wrong shutter speed) with a great image (created using the right shutter speed), this is the definitive practical guide to mastering an often-confusing subject. Topics include freezing and implying motion, panning, zooming, exposure, Bogen Super Clamps, and rendering motion effects with Photoshop, all with helpful guidance for both digital and film formats. Great for beginners and serious amateurs, Understanding Shutter Speed is the definitive handy guide to mastering shutter speed for superb results.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 More Understanding Exposure April 10, 2008
Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA)
42 out of 48 found this review helpful
I've seen photography books on many subjects but this is the first one I've ever seen that claimed to limit itself to an understanding of shutter speed. How could I resist?
Bryan Peterson is the author of "Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)", a very popular book with photographers just getting into using cameras that allow them to adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO for a proper exposure. This book might well have been entitled "More Understanding Exposure".
The book, which reads quickly and clearly, offers chapters covering the range of shutter speeds from 1/2000 of a second to several seconds and shows you when their use is appropriate. Peterson shows the reader how the use of different shutter speeds may be appropriate for the same subject, as when photographing action one might use a fast shutter speed to stop the action dead or a slow shutter speed to achieve deliberate blurs. Along the way, he scatters tips some of which are directly related to shutter speed, like shooting into the light in the rain at 1/60 of a second to get the best rain trails, and some only indirectly related, like using a Bogen Magic Arm attached to a broom to get a broom's eye view of sweeping. Occasionally the pictures offered in illustration are extremely striking, like the image of a cat making its way down a flight of purple stairs, and sometimes quite banal, like the pictures of his daughter running toward the camera. The final chapter of the book, a summary of the rules of composition, seemed more like an add-on to make sure the author had a book's worth of pages.
I found Peterson's description of clinging to the roof of a car without handholds, while being driven down a road taking pictures, to capture a sense of movement, alarming. It also seemed to me that a great deal of the information related to capturing blurred images, either as a result of camera or subject movement. I've used the procedure myself to convey my artistic intent, but here there seemed to be a suggestion that the result would inevitably be art, and I'm certain that's not a correct conclusion.
New photographers who have just begun to master exposure may benefit from the wide array of techniques offered and may find the inspiration to experiment. On the other hand, there is little here that will be new to experienced photographers, most of whom will have already learned the virtues of slow shutter speeds.
Another Excellent Book April 3, 2008
M. Warriner (Surprise, AZ United States)
37 out of 39 found this review helpful
I have read and used the material presented in all of Mr. Peterson's books and I have found them all to be extremely helpful in my quest to learn photography. "Understanding Shutter Speed" is yet another fine example of his excellent teaching abilities simplifying even the most complex topics so beginners like me are able to "understand". This book like his others is full of beautiful sample photographs vividly illustrating the subject he is discussing. I highly recommend this book for any beginner photographer!
 Good, but not great July 7, 2008
Michael R. Stoller Jr. (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I first bought "Understanding Exposure" from this same author, and felt it was one of the best books I have ever read re: photography. A manual of sorts I still keep nearby. This edition focuses on the sub-point of shutter speed as it relates to exposure.
The Good:
Great color photography with good examples of how varying shutter speeds will affect an image. There are a number of tricks -- like you can shoot action coming directly at you at 1/250, but need 1/500 for lateral or vertical movement.
The Bad:
I felt the book had a lot more fluff than the author's other effort. Some of the images were re-used -- or at least came from the same shoot -- and it had a lot more creative examples which I personally didn't like. It was outside the box a bit in terms of how to use shutter speeds, my complaint is that the results, even if intended, were not desirable.
Overall:
I liked this book, and glad I have it as a supplement to my growing photo library; but, I would not buy this before having his other edition. Shop price on this. I wouldn't overpay. I would give this 3 1/2 stars if Amazon allowed it.
Leaving the intellectual muddle out of it, this is a book you'll want to own as a glorious idea generator July 8, 2008
Harold Davis (Berkeley, CA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
When I first looked at "Understanding Shutter Speed" by Bryan Peterson on Amazon I wondered how shutter speed, only one of the components of an exposure, made up a book. In fact, there are some organizational problems that are caused by choosing this particular slice as a wedge into the topic of photography. A good editor might well have wondered what the final chapter on "Composition" is doing at all in this particular book.
The great strength here is idea generation. It's hard not to look at the illustrations in this book and say, "Hey why don't I try that?" The caption information is explicit enough so that you can recreate the ideas shown for yourself, or use them as a jumping off point. As an idea book, "Understanding Shutter Speed" is well worth its price.
Personally, I find the text (as opposed to the photo captions) problematic. Peterson seems out of his depth when it comes to digital. He really seems to think that from a noise viewpoint you are better off underexposing by two stops and adjusting in RAW as opposed to boosting the ISO and exposing properly (he's wrong). His discussion of ISO using a metaphor of hundreds of carpenters struck me as simply silly and without much point.
But leaving the intellectual muddle out of it, this is a book you'll want to own as a glorious idea generator.
Another wonderful book by Bryan Peterson April 19, 2008
Robert J. Gladys (Cleveland, OH USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I ordered this book my first thought before receiving it was that I didn't think I would learn too much but I have always loved his photography.
Boy was I wrong. After reading the book I realized how many of my photos could have been better if I paid more attention to shutter speed. I had become so used to all of my photos stopping the action, that I realized if I had slowed the shutter and let some of the background blur, it would have actually improved the photo.
shutter speed was something I was taking for granted and this book helped remind me of a creative element I had forgotten.
Like all of Bryan Peterson's books, this book is easy to read and all concepts are explained in a clear and concise manner. another plus is that many photos have two different versions to show what a change in shutter speed can do.
and if nothing else, this book is worth it for the fantastic photos within it's pages. He truly has a wonderful eye.
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