BooK Review: The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering by Bahman Farzad

I recently bought this book from amazon.com. I am involved in photography since 2001,and was confused about the correct exposure.I already read many books about correct exposure,but none of these book were able to give me much help. One of my friends told me about obtaining the correct exposure by using spotmetering .I was very much interested about spotmetering.I began to search books about spotmetering in the bet. When searching the net with Google , I found a site named www.spotmetering.com. Here I came know about spotmetering and Bahman Farzad (The writer).

In this site Bahman Farzad is describing his book 'The Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering' with photographs and other illustrations. I was very much interested and ordered the book from amazon.

After receiving the book, I jumped into my bed and began to read.After 30 min , I found that I know something very much valuable and this is what I am looking for. Next day,I went out with my film camera Nikon F-80 . I turned my camera in manual mode and followed the rules ,that I found in the book.When I printed my film,I was surprised very much to see the result. The light ,which I was trying to capture for a long time, at last I achieved it.

The book describes the techniques of measuring the correct exposure using spotmetering and partial metering with lot of diagrams and illustrations.The book also focused on the zone systems with lot of examples and diagrams.zone system is basically difficult to understand for new photographers. But Bahman Farzad made this topic very much interesting and easy to understand. 5 zone system scale is basic for understanding the correct exposure.The refernce tone selection and correcting the exposure over normal exposure is described in this book so easily that a novish photographer will master the technique of applying the zone scale with spotmetering.

The book also contains cheat sheets for various camera models including lates Nikon D-200.Besides,It has a printed gray card ( 18% gray),which will be helpful for determining the correct exposure using gray card.

For a professional or ameture photographer it is a must have book and I usually strongly recommend this book to my students and friends. Following are the review by famous photography magazine::

Outdoor Photographer Magazine Book Review:
"Farzad offers simple solutions to the sometimes complicated light metering issues of the modern equipment."

Dick Watkins: Nature Photographer Magazine:
"Using simplified text, drawings, and examples, Farzad makes this difficult subject (exposure) comprehensible. His charts of lens apertures, shutter speeds and film speeds are some of the best that have been published. If you have any problems getting the correct exposure or understanding how to determine exposure, then you need to invest in this book."

Elinor Stecker-Orel: Popular Photography Book Review:
"Farzad's wealth of creative analogies should certainly alleviate the confusion all beginning photographers have in understanding (and remembering) how to expose their subjects correctly"

Book Review, Nature Photographer Magazine, May/June 2000 issue: By Dick Watkins


One of the hardest concepts for photographers to grasp is determining correct exposure. I have worked with several students explaining shutter speed, lens aperture opening, and film speed only to have them return a month later still confounded and bewildered. add to this the different methods of obtaining a light meter reading and many of these people are ready to revert to the simple, easy, always ready point and shoot camera.
Bahman Farzad's Confused Photographer's Guide to On-Camera Spotmetering simplifies the teaching and learning process to help you understand exposure and how to achieve your desired results.
The book targets the outdoor photographer using a modern 35mm camera with a variable aperture lens and color slide or negative film. Outdoor photographers are faced with many color tones and varying degrees of light creating a perplexing exposure dilemma. Farzad identifies this situation as a complex subject and recommend a simple technique called single tone metering. Farzad explains, "once one tone of a complex subject is correctly exposed, the rest of the tones follow and are correctly exposed."
Using several popular cameras, Farzad includes a guide to their operation as it relates to exposure. An exposure cheat sheet for each camera is in the book and could be valuable information to the user on understanding that particular exposure system.
Farzad, a professional freelance photographer, is an instructor in photography at the University of Alabama. He holds master degrees in engineering and computer science. I have reviewed a previous book by Farzad, Teach yourself the Simplified Zone System. This along with this current publication is leading the way for all users of cameras to actually comprehend proper exposure. Using simplified text, drawings, and examples, Farzad makes this difficult subject comprehensible. His charts of lens aperture, shutter speeds and film speeds are some of the best that have been published. With few words these charts explain themselves. If you have any problems getting the correct exposure or understanding how to determine exposure, then you need to invest in this book. I can assure you once you have arrived at the last page, you will have a better understanding of spot-metering and exposure.

Using simplified text, drawings, and examples, Farzad makes this difficult subject comprehensible. His charts of lens aperture, shutter speeds and film speeds are some of the best that have been published. With few words these charts explain themselves. If you have any problems getting the correct exposure or understanding how to determine exposure, then you need to invest in this book. I can assure you once you have arrived at the last page, you will have a better understanding of spot-metering and exposure.