Bryan Peterson

While Bryan Peterson is not a household name, he is something of a legend to many photographers. Peterson got his start as a photographer in 1981, shooting commercial assignments for clients like American Express and Eastman-Kodak. His career has taken him to the ends of the earth and back, and along that journey he’s amassed a wealth of photographic knowledge. Peterson decided to record and publish that knowledge to help aspiring photographers create their own breathtaking images. “Understanding Exposure” gained him fame with a wide audience, and solidified his name as one of the most respectable teachers in the photographic world.

Peterson has been able to parlay that fame into a successful career as a workshop leader, taking photographic students to some of the most beautiful locales around the world for in-depth learning experiences. Venice, Buenos Aires and New York City are just a few of the stops on his 2012 workshop schedule.

While juggling commercial jobs with a busy teaching schedule, Peterson has also released many other books about photography, addressing topics beyond simply getting the exposure right. Continue onto the next page for a listing of his other works.

Books

Understanding Flash Photography: How to Shoot Great Photographs Using Electronic Flash

This is one of Peterson's newest books. Peterson is an admitted “natural light” photographer, one who prefers to capture a scene with only the light that is naturally available. So in Understanding Exposure, he only briefly discussed flash usage, which itself can be an art form. In this book, Peterson devotes 160 pages to understanding how to use an external flash to light a scene that doesn't have ideal natural light.

Learning to See Creatively, Third Edition: Design, Color, and Composition in Photography

While Understanding Exposure broke down the technical barriers to photography, it didn't really touch on the abstracts of it. A properly exposed but boring photo doesn’t offer much as an art form. This book addresses more of the artistic side of photography, helping photographers see creatively, in ways that will add substance to their work.

Understanding Close-Up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with Or Without a Macro Lens

Close-up photography is among the most difficult of all photographic techniques, so Bryan Peterson dedicated this book to demystifying the process. Peterson explains the concept of macro photography and provides a break down of the most commonly-used equipment. From there, he takes readers on a journey of techniques that will improve their close-up abilities in the field or in the studio.