Understanding Photography Field Guide

402 Pages·2009·104.09 MB·English

by  Bryan Peterson

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By the best-selling author of UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE
BRYAN PETERSON'S
UNDERSTANDING
PHOTOGRAPHY
FIELD GUIDE

BRYAN PETERSON'S
UNDERSTANDING
PHOTOGRAPHY
FIELD GUIDE
HOW TO SHOOT GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS
WITH ANY CAMERA
Amphoto Books
an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications
New York
To my three publishing heroes, Victoria Craven, Julie Mazur,
and Alisa Palazzo, thanks for speaking my language.
ACQUISITIONS EDITOR: Victoria Craven
PROJECT EDITOR: Alisa Palazzo
ART DIRECTOR: Jess Morphew
DESIGNER: Karla Baker
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Alyn Evans
Page 1. Nikon D2X, 70-200mm lens at 120mm, fill for 1/60 sec. Page 2: 28mm lens, graduated ND filter,
ISO 50, f/a for 1 second, tungsten film (top); 35-70mm lens, f/16 for 1/8 sec. (bottom). Page 5: Nikon D2X,
17-55mm lens at 17mm, fl22 for 1/15 sec. Page 6: Nikkor 35-70mm lens, ISO 100, fl22 for 1/8 sec. Page 7:
Nikon D2X, 17-55mm lens at 40mm, ISO 100, f/18 for 2 seconds. Page 12: 35-70mm lens at 35mm, fl4 for
1/250 sec. Page 13: 17-55mm lens, ISO 100, flS for 1/15 sec. Page 26: aO-200mm lens at 200mm, f/16 for
a seconds. Page 27: 300mm lens, 36mm extension tube, f15.6 for 1/250 sec. Page 44: Nikkor 35-70mm
lens, ISO 50, fl8 for 1/60 sec. Page 45: 18-70mm lens, fl8 for 1/180 sec. Page 74: Nikon D2X, 105mm lens,
ISO 200, fllO for 1/2000 sec. Page 75: 17-55mm lens at 17mm, ISO 125, fllO for 1/30 sec. Page 116: Nikkor
12-24mm lens, Canon 500D close-up filter, fl22 for 1/60 sec. Page 117: 20mm lens, fl22 for 1/60 sec. Page
160: 20mm lens, fl22 for 1/60 sec. Page 161: Nikkor 300mm lens, 36mm extension tube, ISO 100, f15.6 for
1/60 sec. Page 252: 12-24mm lens, graduated ND filter, fl22 for 1/8 sec. Page 253: 35-70mm lens, fill for
1/125 sec. Page 322: Micro-Nlkkor 70-180mm lens, f/13 for 1/40 sec. Page 323: Micro-Nikkor 70-180mm
lens, fill for 1/125 sec. Page 344: Nikon D2X, 17-55mm lens at 50mm, ISO 400, f/3.2 for 1/750 sec. Page
345: 17-55mm lens at 26mm, f15.6 for 1/125 sec, Page 354: 12-24mm lens, polarizing filter, 4-stop ND
filter, ISO 100, f/16 for 1/2 sec. Page 355: 70-200mm lens at 116mm, ISO 200, fl22 for 1/2 sec. Page 378:
70-200mm lens, ISO 100, fill for 4 seconds. Page 379: 70-180mm lens, fl8 for 1/125 sec.
Copyright © 2009 Bryan Peterson
All rights reserved.
First published in the United States by Amphoto Books
an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications
Crown Publishing Group
a division of Random House, Inc., New York
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com
Portions of this material were published previously in the following best-selling Bryan
Peterson books: Learning to See Creatively, Understanding Exposure, Understanding
Digital Photography, Beyond Portraiture, Understanding Shutter Speed, and Understand
ing Close-up Photography.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peterson, Bryan, 1952-
Bryan Peterson's understanding photography field guide: how to shoot great
photographs with any camera. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8174-3225-6 (pbk.)
1. Photography--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. II. Title: Understanding photog
raphy field guide.
TR146.P42356 2009
770--dc22
2008053968
ISBN: 978-0-8174-3225-6
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
The question is not what you look at but what you see.
-Henry David Thoreau
CONTENTS
Introduction 8 LEARNING TO SEE 116
Learning the Language 118
A FEW DIGITAL BASICS 12 Seeing Starts with Your Lenses 120
File Formats 14 Wide-Angle Lenses 124
Returning to an Original Raw File 18 Street Zooms 132
16-Bit Mode and Color Space 20 The Telephoto 136
White Balance 22 The Fish-Eye 144
Looking Up 148
EXPOSURE 26
Shooting Down from Above 150
What Is Meant by Exposure? 28
Seeing Themes 156
The Photographic Triangle 30
The Heart of the Triangle: DESIGNING A STRIKING IMAGE 160
The Light Meter 34
Line 162
Six Correct Exposures vs.
Shape 170
One Creatively Correct One 36
Form 174
Seven Creative Exposure Options 40
Texture 176
APERTURE 44 Pattern 180
Aperture and Depth of Field 46 Color 188
Storytelling Apertures 50 Scale 200
Isolation Apertures 56 Composition 202
The Depth-of-Field Preview Button 64 Filling the Frame 204
"Who Cares?" Apertures 70 Backgrounds 210
Horizontal vs. Vertical 220
SHUTTER SPEED & ISO 74 The Golden Section
The Importance of Shutter Speed 76 and the Rule of Thirds 224
Breaking the Rules 232
The Myth of ISO Exposed 80
Avoiding Mergers 236
Freezing Action: Fast Speeds 86
Framing within the Frame 240
Slowing Down 94
Working Your Subject 242
Panning 96
Picture within a Picture 246
Motion with a Tripod 102
Composing Action 248
Motion in the Background 106
Motion in Low Light:
1 Second and Beyond 110
THE IMPORTANCE
OF LIGHT 252
The Best Light 254
Frontlight 260
Sidelight 270
Backlight 274
The Sunny f/16 Rule 282
Exposure Meters 286
18% Reflectance 292
The Sky Brothers 298
Mr. Green Jeans
(the Sky Brothers' Cousin) 302
Night and Low-Light
Photography 306
HDR Exposures 314
CLOSE-UP
PHOTOGRAPHY 322
Close-up vs. Macro 324
Extension Tubes 328
Zooming 364
Canon Close-up Filters 332
Attaching the Camera to .. 370
Backgrounds 336
Photographing "Ghosts" 374
Ring Flash 338
Deliberate Overexposure 376
Nontraditional Subjects 342
USEFUL TOOLS 378
PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE 344
Tripods and Tripod Heads 380
Overcoming Your Shyness 346
Self-Timers, Mirror Lock-up, and
Approaching and Respecting People 348
Cable Releases 384
People Psychology 101 350
Polarizing Filters 386
Neutral-Density Filters 390
UNCONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES 354
Graduated Neutral-Density Filters 392
Making "Rain" 356
"Painting" 360
Index 396
2
INTRODUCTION
I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't had to spend at each location
expressed at least once in their lifetime, actually drawing these im
ages as I traveled around the
"Where did all the time go"? For me, writ
Pacific Northwest in my VW
ing this field guide has been a real eye
van. It was Bill who suggested
opener in many respects, in particular in
I borrow his camera, photo
making me suddenly aware of where all
graph these landscapes, make
the time did actually go. More than 38 some 8 x lO-inch prints in his
years have passed since that fateful day darkroom, and then draw my
landscapes from the photos
when my oldest brother, Bill, placed a
while seated in the comfort of
camera in my hands. If nothing else, this
my own home.
sudden awareness of time is proof that
With minimal instruction, I
passion is truly the great, invisible time
headed off and shot two rolls
keeper. I know that the calendar tells of black-and-white film over
me I'm 56, but it is in marked contrast the next three days. A day
later, with my brother's help in
to what my "18-year-old" heart still feels
the darkroom, I was absolutely
today-that every day is a photographic
mesmerized by the immedia
opportunity!
cy of the photographic print
and I was hooked! I bought
Back in 1970, fresh out of high more black-and-white film and shot
school, I honestly had no plans to everything I could for the next eight
be a photographer. Back then, I had months, when I made what proved to
already made my career choice as be one of the best mistakes of my life.
a commercial artist and cartoonist, Reaching into a basket on the counter
having begun to enjoy the success in a local camera store, I bought three
of selling my pen-and-ink landscape rolls of "outdated" Agfachrome 35mm
drawings at local arts and crafts fes film, not having a clue that it was
tivals. My one and only complaint in color slide film. I spent the weekend
my life back then was about the time I photographing, and when I showed
8
up at my brother's darkroom, he was this journal that enabled me to go
pointed out that the film wasn't black back and see exactly why some of my
and white but rather color slide film. I exposures worked and some didn't,
wasn't thrilled to have to make the trip why sometimes the depth of field was
to the camera store to have the film exactly as I had hoped while at other
processed, but my brother convinced times it wasn't, and why sidelight was
me that I should "because you never in fact best for textures and backlight
know ... you might like the colors." for silhouettes.
Just how happy was I with the colors? So much has changed in the world
Let's just say that over the course of of photography since the summer of
these past 38 years, I've shot 99 per 1970, not the least of which is the ad
cent of everything in living color! vent of the digital age. Yet it needs to
In so many ways, I feel fortunate be said that the more things change,
to have been introduced to photogra the more they stay the same. Every
phy when it was still a "manual world," camera is still nothing more than a
since I was forced to learn the me lightproof box with a lens at one end
chanics of things. In addition, I was and a light-sensitive device (be it film
forced to invent, to find ways to make or a digital chip) at the other. The pro
the shot work, since my gear was also cess of light entering through the lens
limited to one basic lens back then to record an image (be it on film or
(a fixed 50mm F1.4). I did eventu digital media) is still the same. And
ally buy a Nikkormat FTN, along with the recorded image is still called an
a 28mm F3.5 and a 200mm F4, but exposure.
only after my brother Bill called to ask, I recall joking at a seminar I
"Any chance I can get my camera gear taught back in 1990 that I was wait
back?" Bill is, obviously, a patient and ing for the industry to come out with
kind brother. a 20-400mm F2.8 zoom lens with ED
Back in those days, there weren't glass and internal focusing. Although
a lot of how-to books on photogra there's still no such lens on the market
phy either, and that actually forced today, I can truthfully say that we're
me once again to really learn how a lot closer today than I would ever
my camera and lenses worked. I had have imagined. Today, you can leave
to unravel the mystery of exposure, the house with no more than a cam
of depth of field, and of depth and era and one lens and be ready for just
perspective, and I had to learn both about any subject that crosses your
the challenges of making a well path-whether it be a close-up of a
composed image and the need to butterfly, a distant brown bear, or that
pay attention to light. I kept journals big ball of orange flames setting in the
of the f-stop, shutter speed, and lens western sky. Due to optical advances
choice of, literally, all my exposures. I in the zoom lens arena, zoom lenses
also noted time of day and location. It now rival, and compete head-to-head
9