Review of Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson

Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson is a nice explanation of shutter speed applications for advanced amateurs. Photographers with less experience will find some basic underlying concepts confusing, a point which the book readily admits. This book will best benefit those advanced amateurs who have a good understanding of what shutter speed is but need assistance in learning to use it effectively. In that respect, Understanding Shutter Speed is an excellent resource for those wishing to understand how to utilize shutter speed for creative control.

Understanding Shutter Speed is a good quality printing book with lots of full color example images to help solidify the instructions. The book is relatively well laid out with sections on:

• Shutter Speed Facts and Myths
• Fast & Moderate Speeds
• Slow Speeds
• Exposure Concerns
• Composition

The Exposure Concerns section is actually the most confusing, with the author jumping from neutral density filters to RAW format. While the information is good, the information is likely to be confusing for anyone without an already strong understanding of many photography concepts. The last section of the book, Composition, does feel like a bit of an afterthought even though it contains good information.

Mr. Peterson also covers some very simple techniques that tend to mystify amateur photographers. Things such as fruit dropping in water and ghost images are likely to be of intense interest to the photographers this book will most help. However, there is a fairly large section devoted to images made with a camera attached to a structure/subject and remote releases used to trigger the camera. Be aware that techniques like this produce excellent results but the equipment can be very pricey.