Digital Exposure Handbook – Book Review

Are you looking for a good, well-rounded, in-depth book on exposure?  If you are, then get your hands on Digital Exposure Handbook.  This book is destined to be a classic reference on exposure.  The author, Ross Hoddinott, is an award winning, professional outdoor photographer and writer, based in South West England.

The book covers every, and I mean every, aspect of exposure in an information dense 192 pages.  It measures 8.5 x 6 inches, is made from quality paper stock, and contains lovely photo examples.  Its size, durability, and content make it an excellent quick reference manual for all things related to exposure.  Although the title says “Digital,” it is also applicable to film.

Overview

Chapter 1 — The basics of exposure (pgs. 12-67)

This is the longest chapter of the book and lays a thorough foundation for the reader, covering exactly what its title claims.  By “basics,” the author means ISO, shutter speed, aperture, metering, dynamic range, sensors, histograms, and at least a dozen other exposure related topics.  The material is strictly review for anyone who has been in photography for any length of time, but it’s also a must-know for every photographer.  You should consider it required reading if you’re new to photography.

Chapter 2 — Exposure in practice (pgs. 68-99)

Having laid the foundation in chapter one, the author shows how to apply chapter one concepts to landscape, urban, wildlife, people, still life, abstract and patterns, and close-up photography.

Chapter 3 — Ambient light (pgs. 100-119)

This chapter covers the direction, quality and color of light (i.e., white balance) concepts, using natural lighting, either indoors or outdoors, and devices such as reflectors to assist.

Chapter 4 — Flash light (pgs. 120-143)

Ambient lighting is not always sufficient for the “correct” exposure, so the author covers the use of flash for those cases.  This chapter is not an exhaustive treatise on flash, but only covers enough of the basics (flash types, modes, accessories, etc.) to assist the reader in producing the desired exposure or lighting effect.

Chapter 5 — Filters (pgs. 144-161)

Like the previous chapter, this chapter, which is about filters, is not an exhaustive handling of the topic.  Hoddinott covers only the filters commonly used by photographers, including black and white filters, and their use, purpose, and effect.

Chapter 6 — Exposure in the digital darkroom (pgs. 162-187)

Having done everything to capture the “correct” exposure in-camera, this chapter covers post-processing methods used to tweak the exposure even further.  The topics covered include calibration, raw conversion, levels, curves, dodge and burn, color and saturation, black and white conversion, high dynamic range photography, and printing.

Critique

Pros –

I thoroughly liked:

• the quality of the actual book itself, (It didn’t fall apart after one reading like another book did for me.)
• the quality of the writing style,
• the quality and completeness of the content,
• the quality of the photo examples, each example appropriate to the topic at hand, and
• the overall organization of the content and logical flow of its presentation.

Cons –

I have only two minor complaints about the book.  First, the author seemed quite attached to the word whilst; in fact, it seemed to appear at least once on every page.  This may be an exaggeration, but it felt that frequent after a while.  I understand that Hoddinott is British, and this is a legitimate use of the word in formal writing.  Being American though, I am not used to this form of the word “while,” so it hampered the flow.

The only other item, and again, just a minor complaint, is about the font.  My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and the book’s small font, though it helps to keep the size of the book down, occasionally gave my eyesight a challenge.

That’s about it for negatives on this book.  As you can see, I was hard-pressed to find things I didn’t like.

Summary

In case you haven’t gathered it by now, I enjoyed the book.  I purchased this book based upon the Amazon reviews (5 out of 5 stars), and I hit a winner.  Overall, I’d give it a solid five too.  It’s an excellent book for amateurs or for those who want a refresher in exposure concepts.  It also doesn’t hurt to hear the “voice” of a pro convey the ideas just one more time.