Our book review of Rick Sammon's Exploring the Light: Making the Very Best In-Camera Exposures in Paperback

Title: Rick Sammon’s Exploring the Light: Making the Very Best In-Camera Exposures

Author: Rick Sammon

ISBN: 0393331237

Publisher: W.W.Norton

Edition: Paperback

RRP: £17.99

Dimensions: 272 pages, 25.1 x 20.1 x 1.8 cm

As Rick Sammon states in the introduction to Exploring the Light, the make-up of a photo is 50% composition, 50% exposure. Despite a brief nod to the basic elements of the former, it’s squarely the latter that Sammon concentrates on in this title. Exploring the Light considers every element of exposure, whether it be shutter speed, aperture control, ISO setting and so on. Sammon’s emphasis in the opening section is about learning the key aspects of exposure, highlighting the importance of getting the basics right.

The overall tone of Exploring the Light is focused more towards the beginner or perhaps someone looking to refresh their knowledge on the fundamentals of photography, rather than experiment in anything too advanced or wholeheartedly new. For example, one chapter is dedicated to explaining what camera settings the different automatic scene modes employ – surely space better dedicated to further exploring the basics?

Overall, this book is a comprehensive title covering the basic elements of in-camera exposure and understanding light – one that would be perfectly suited to a beginner but a more advanced shooter may find simplistic.

 What Digital Camera Rating: 83%