New eBook: Exposure for Outdoor Photography

by Michael Frye | Feb 16, 2012 | Announcements, Photography Tips | 31 comments

Exposure for Outdoor Photogoraphy

I’m pleased to announce the release of my second ebook: Exposure for Outdoor Photography.

In photography, creativity and technical skill are both essential. It’s great to have a wonderful eye and imagination, but no one will appreciate your genius if your images are washed out and blurry.

The most essential technical skill a photographer must master is exposure. On the surface, exposure seems easy. It’s simply a matter of making the image bright enough—not too dark, and not too light. But the endless variety of light makes exposure challenging. No two situations are the same, so there can be no exact formula for getting the right exposure. On the other hand, exposure doesn’t need to be overly complicated. The fundamental controls—shutter speed, aperture, ISO, light meters—are easy to understand.

Previously on this blog I’ve written about some of these fundamentals, like reading histograms and adjusting exposure. In this ebook I start with a more comprehensive discussion of these essentials, then go deeper by taking you through ten practical, real-life examples where I’ve used these basic principles to control the exposure, the sharpness, and the photograph’s message.

The examples go from easy to complex, and include using a histogram to find the right exposure, controlling depth of field, freezing and blurring motion, when to push the ISO, spot metering and the Zone System, and HDR and exposure blending. I also include several exercises to help improve your technique. It’s a concise, easy to understand, yet comprehensive course in mastering the most important skill in photography.

Like all Craft & Vision ebooks, Exposure for Outdoor Photography is normally only five dollars. But for the next four days you can get it for only four dollars. Just use the code EXPOSURE4 at checkout. Or use the code EXPOSURE20 to get 20 percent off if you buy five or more Craft & Vision ebooks—including my previous volume, Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom.

Exposure for Outdoor Photography is temporarily unavailable. Stay tuned for updates on a revised version.

—Michael Frye

Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. He has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.

31 Comments

tracey wise on February 16, 2012 at 8:27 am

i am so excited to purchase your book sir….your work is amazing .thank you for sharing you beautiful work. I look forward to seeing more .Thanks for the knowledge and inspiration
Reply
- Michael Frye on February 16, 2012 at 9:20 pm
  
  Thanks very much Tracey! Hope you enjoy the book.
  Reply
John F on February 16, 2012 at 9:26 am

Got it. Read it. Enjoyed it. (How’s that for a six word review?)

Seriously though, this was an excellent read and hammered out a couple of things I was trying to wrap my head around.

Thanks!
John
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- Michael Frye on February 16, 2012 at 9:21 pm
  
  Thanks John – glad you liked the book and found it helpful. And I like the concise review!
  Reply
Mike Blanchette on February 16, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Bought this eBook and it’s truly excellent. For those who have struggled to understand exposure, this is the most straightforward coverage of the topic I’ve seen.
Reply
- Michael Frye on February 16, 2012 at 9:21 pm
  
  Thank you very much Mike!
  Reply
John on February 16, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Hi Michael, You have done it again. Creating a masterful, stunning and beautiful ebook with great tips and crystal clear instructions.

Many thanks for this great book.

John
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- Michael Frye on February 16, 2012 at 9:21 pm
  
  Great John – thanks!
  Reply
Richard on February 16, 2012 at 7:27 pm

Hi Michael,

Another great education tool. The case study approach that you have taken is extremely helpful in bringing each noted technique to life and easy to understand, which means more likely for us to be able to actually learn and use in the field.

Thanks,
Richard
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- Michael Frye on February 16, 2012 at 9:24 pm
  
  Thank you Richard! I used a somewhat similar approach the Light & Land eBook, and really liked it, so I tried it again. I think concrete examples work better for most people than abstract concepts.
  Reply
Patricia Davidson on February 16, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Congrats on the new ebook Michael! I’m heading on over to pick one up!
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- Michael Frye on February 17, 2012 at 7:43 pm
  
  Thank you Patricia – hope you enjoy it!
  Reply
Jean-Christophe MORACCHINI on February 17, 2012 at 12:02 am

Hello Michael !
It’s always a pleasure to read your books, your work is fantastic and your photography amazing !
Thank you so much for this new e-book which is excellent like the others (Light & Land and Photography of landscapes) !

Jean-Christophe
Reply
- Michael Frye on February 17, 2012 at 7:43 pm
  
  Thanks very much Jean-Christophe!
  Reply
Dale Grosbach on February 17, 2012 at 1:55 pm

Michael,

I have just finished reading the new ebook. It is such a great collection of the things we talked about together this past October. Again, I appreciate the time we spent then and everything you do to share your passion for photography with others.

Dale
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- Michael Frye on February 17, 2012 at 7:45 pm
  
  Thank you so much Dale – glad that this helped reinforce the lessons from the workshop!
  Reply
Jun on February 17, 2012 at 9:23 pm

Hi Michael,

I purchased your light & land eBook long time ago but didn’t read it until one month ago. What a mistake! It is the best eBook I’ve read . The eBook brought me to this website. Yesterday, I have bought and finished reading your new eBook– Exposure for outdoor photography. What a fantastic work. And it is only $4 !(with coupon). Your latest print book is on the way to my home now.

Thank your for your wonderful work!

Jun
Reply
- Michael Frye on February 18, 2012 at 6:58 pm
  
  Jun, thanks very much! Glad you liked Light & Land, and the new Exposure book too. Hope you enjoy the Digital Landscape Photography book also.
  Reply
Daniel Hofmann on February 20, 2012 at 6:29 am

I really enjoyed this ebook and — like always — learned something new. Thanks for your great work. I wrote a little review on my blog to spread the word^^
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- Michael Frye on February 20, 2012 at 10:49 pm
  
  Thanks very much Daniel!
  Reply
Albert Wong on February 24, 2012 at 2:33 pm

Got the e-book. Can’t wait to start reading it this weekend!!
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- Michael Frye on February 27, 2012 at 5:38 pm
  
  Great Albert – hope you enjoy it!
  Reply
Simon Morris on February 26, 2012 at 1:05 am

Superb eBook, Michael… HUGE thanks!
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- Michael Frye on February 27, 2012 at 5:40 pm
  
  Thank you Simon!
  Reply
Irmgard Hartmann on February 27, 2012 at 6:26 pm

Thanks, really good … I have seen till now only the a few sites but tomorrow also the others. Great shots are also included, one time I have to go there.
Reply
- Michael Frye on February 27, 2012 at 10:14 pm
  
  Thank you Imrgard.
  Reply
melih cavli on September 24, 2014 at 5:34 am

Hi Michael,
I’ve just finished reading the “exposure for outdoor photography” and I must say this is the best book about exposure Ive read for the last couple of years.
It really is very easy to follow and helped me a lot..

I have 2 questions about case study 9 if you don’t mind:

1) you used the spot-meter metering mode. What would the meter give if you prefered matrix metering since the frame seems to have homogene tonal values (at least to me)
I mean was it obligatory to use spot metering for this particular frame or was it just for the example’s purpose?

2) when we decide to use the zone system, you say spot meter the brightest important highlight in the scene and place it on zone 6 or 7.This will push the brightest pixels in the image near,but not touching,the right edge of the histogram..
instead of using the “spot meter and the zone system” you described, what happens if we do the following:
a) take a matrix reading and shoot the frame
b) examine the histogram and if the brightest pixels is not just touching the right edge of the histogram dial +1 and shoot again (if still not touching, then dial +2 and try again)..
will this method give me the same exposure as the “spot meter and the zone system” method or not?
what I am trying to learn is, this zone system is a new world to me and I am willing to try it asap but what I wonder now is if it gives the same exposure with shooting to the right or sth totally different and more accurate?

thx in advance and thank you for writing such a wonderful book..
Reply
- Michael Frye on September 24, 2014 at 12:17 pm
  
  Thanks Mehih – I’m glad you like the book!
  
  1) This image contains mostly light tones, so it’s likely that just going with matrix metering would give you an underexposed photograph, at least at first. It’s never obligatory to use spot metering for any photograph. The first eight examples in the book show how to get the right exposure without using spot metering. As I say in Example 9, spot metering with the Zone System can help you get to the right exposure more quickly than the trial-and-error methods required with Matrix, Evaluative, or Center-Weighted metering.
  
  2) Yes, the trial-and-error method you describe will give you the same exposure as the Zone System. It’s just slower. There’s an even faster way than either of those methods, which is to use a live-view histogram or “zebras” to dial in the exposure in advance, and ignore the light meter entirely. Not every camera has a live-view histogram, and few, unfortunately, have the zebras (these are like blinkies that you can see before you take the picture). I do mention this technique in the book also.
  Reply
Marcus on November 20, 2019 at 2:40 pm

Hello,

I really want to know, when your Ebook on Exposure will be available again…..

Thank you so much!
Reply
- Michael Frye on November 25, 2019 at 5:07 pm
  
  No ETA at this time, sorry. It needs revamping.
  Reply
- Kathy Eyster on April 3, 2022 at 7:42 am
  
  Hi Michael,
  
  I’ll add my vote to your updating this ebook on Exposure in the field.
  
  I’ve learned a lot from your videos on processing images but that all starts with an appropriate capture in the field.
  
  Thanks,
  Kathy
  Reply