Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers

Description

You may be passionate about photography, and own a digital SLR with perhaps more advanced equipment as well. But do the photographs you take with this powerful equipment come out as well as you'd like?

 With this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, you learn how to apply the techniques and principles of classic photography so you can make great images with today's digital equipment. Harold Davis, author and renowned fine art photographer, puts the focus in Practical Artistry on light and exposure, two crucial concepts you need to understand and master if you are to truly capture the images you see.

 Davis presents a generous number of his own images in each chapter, complete with technical information and an explanation of what he was trying to achieve. These striking photographs not only illustrate the lesson at hand, but also serve as inspiration for your own efforts. Browsing the photographs alone will tell you a lot.

 Topics covered in this book include:

* Camera, lenses, and equipment
* Understanding exposure and measuring light
* Relationship of aperture to shutter speed and ISO
* Working with depth of field
* Natural lighting, studio lighting, and the use of flash
* Light and color temperature
* Working with white balance
* Photographing at dawn or dusk
* Photography at night
* Capturing motion
* Telling a story with your image
* Capturing people, places, and things
* Setting up a digital workflow
* RAW processing and double RAW processing
* Adjusting exposure and reducing noise
* Black & white photography
* And much more Concise and to the point, Practical Artistry clearly demonstrates that photography, essentially, is writing with light, and that the type of images you produce depend on the many choices you have for using that skill. Harold Davis gives you an array of choices in full living color.

CONTENTS:

Introduction 8

1 Understanding Exposure 12

What Is an Exposure? 14

The Exposure Equation 20

Working with Exposure Modes 30

Measuring Light 38

Intentional Over and Underexposure 44

2 Working with Aperture 50

Aperture and Depth of Field 52

Selective Focus and Bokeh 62

Aperture and Narrative 66

When Aperture Doesn't Matter 72

Macro Photography and Aperture 76

3 Selecting Shutter Speed 80

It's All about Time 82

Shutter Speed and Camera Shake 88

Shutter Speed and Subject Motion 92

Creative Use of Motion 100

4 ISO and Noise 104

Understanding Light Sensitivity 106

When to Boost ISO 110

Using Noise Creatively 112

5 Using Light 116

Creative Exposure 118

Finding the Best Light 122

Light and Color Temperature 126

Working with White Balance 128

Front Lighting 132

Side Lighting 134

Back Lighting 136

Overcast Lighting 138

Night Photography 140

Using Flash 144

A Studio of Your Own 146

6 Digital Darkroom 150

RAW Conversion 152

Adjusting Exposure 156

Adjusting White Balance 160

Noise Reduction 162

Multi-RAW Processing 164

Cross Processing 168

Black and White 172

Index 176