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It really shakes your confidence in the correctness of the information in the text when there is so much incorrect or confusing information presented in example pictures and their captions.
I am afraid that beginning photographers, who are surely the intended audience, would come away misinformed, or more likely, just confused. In chapter 2 (It’s All About the Light), figures 2.7 through 2.9 show how the way camera treats the amount of light on a scene affects the exposure (i.e., correct, overexposed, and underexposed). The captions, however, show the same shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for each picture! This is obviously not the intended message. Two pages later, the captions for figures 2.14 and 2.15 are reversed giving the incorrect information that the scene with the greater depth of field was taken with an f/2.8 aperture, while the scene with only the bird in focus was taken with an f/22 aperture. Figures 4.20 and 4.21 appear to be the exact same image, even though they are intended to demonstrate what should be a significant difference in the depths of field of apertures f/1.8 and f/16. Figures 5.11 and 5.12 are difficult to understand. Figure 5.11 is clearly darker than 5.12. The caption for 5.12 reads, “I thought this shot looked a little light, so I took the shot again using an exposure compensation of +.3, which gave me a slower shutter speed and a slightly darker photo.” It seems, however, that the caption should read “I thought the image in 5.11 was a little dark, so I took the shot again using an exposure compensation of +.3, which gave me a slower shutter speed and a slightly lighter photo.” I don’t know what a novice photographer would make of these illustrations, but it certainly must make one question the accuracy of other information. I stopped reading because I lost confidence.
I believe that there a number of fine books for photographers looking to understand and use their camera’s settings to make better photos. I would recommend looking elsewhere.
I was told by the publisher that efforts are being made to correct these mistakes as soon as possible.
I am afraid that beginning photographers, who are surely the intended audience, would come away misinformed, or more likely, just confused. In chapter 2 (It’s All About the Light), figures 2.7 through 2.9 show how the way camera treats the amount of light on a scene affects the exposure (i.e., correct, overexposed, and underexposed). The captions, however, show the same shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for each picture! This is obviously not the intended message. Two pages later, the captions for figures 2.14 and 2.15 are reversed giving the incorrect information that the scene with the greater depth of field was taken with an f/2.8 aperture, while the scene with only the bird in focus was taken with an f/22 aperture. Figures 4.20 and 4.21 appear to be the exact same image, even though they are intended to demonstrate what should be a significant difference in the depths of field of apertures f/1.8 and f/16. Figures 5.11 and 5.12 are difficult to understand. Figure 5.11 is clearly darker than 5.12. The caption for 5.12 reads, “I thought this shot looked a little light, so I took the shot again using an exposure compensation of +.3, which gave me a slower shutter speed and a slightly darker photo.” It seems, however, that the caption should read “I thought the image in 5.11 was a little dark, so I took the shot again using an exposure compensation of +.3, which gave me a slower shutter speed and a slightly lighter photo.” I don’t know what a novice photographer would make of these illustrations, but it certainly must make one question the accuracy of other information. I stopped reading because I lost confidence.
I believe that there a number of fine books for photographers looking to understand and use their camera’s settings to make better photos. I would recommend looking elsewhere.
I was told by the publisher that efforts are being made to correct these mistakes as soon as possible.
