4: The Most Creative Exposure

The next principle in Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" talks about finding the most creative exposure. Previously he taught how to obtain a correct exposure, which I went over in lesson 2. There are many combinations of aperture and shutter speeds that give a correct exposure but as a photographer you are after the most creative combination.

As an example I took a vase with red roses and placed them on a bed sheet that sat on our living room sofa. I used the natural light coming through the window and reflected light on the shadowed side of the flowers with cardboard covered in foil. I went through six or seven shutter speed/aperture combinations. The two photographs below are the first and the last picture I took.

Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec

Aperture: 2.5

Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec

Aperture:14

I know the differences are subtle but if you look closely the first photo's background is a bit more blurry along with the roses that are in the back. Your attention is drawn to the rose in the front because it is the only flower in complete focus. Both photos are correctly exposed but one is more creatively exposed. I think that some might say that they like the bottom one better which is fine. Creativity is often relative and depends on the photographers intent.