Tag: book

Review: The Art of Black and White Photography

By John Watson
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First of all, let me get something off my chest. I’m not picking on this book in particular, but generally, when will photography book authors quit talking about digital photography like it’s some crazy new thing that people need to be gently introduced to? Why does every photo book have an “introduction to digital” section that is all but useless filler? It’s 2008 people! If I wanted an introduction to digital photograhy, I’d have bought an introduction to digital photography book. Ok, rant over.

Read on to learn more about the book and find out how you can get a free copy.

Mercifully, The Art of Black and White Photography by Torsten Andreas Hoffmann keeps the intro to digital section to a mere 9 pages.

The meat of this book starts in section two. Section two devotes a full chapter to each of many different genres and concepts and attempts to show by example how to make black and white photographs.

Topics include overcoming clichés, architecture, portraits, street photography, and moods. Arguably, these are all topics that apply equally well to color photography.

… Continue reading Review: The Art of Black and White Photography

Review: Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd edition)

By John Watson
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Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd Edition)Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd edition, rocknook publishers) by Uwe Steinmueller and Juergen Gulbins, is an incredibly thorough, well-written, and interesting book about fine-art printing of digital photographs using ink jet printers. It covers all aspects of the craft and is written explicitly for the “ambitious amateur” and professional photographer.

Read on to learn more about the book and find out how you can get a free copy.

I must admit I didn’t know exactly what to expect when rockynook announced the second addition of this book. Before I received it, I’d completely missed the subtitle (Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers). So my initial reaction was surprise followed by excitement as I scanned the table of contents.

Steinmuller and Gulbins make the case that today’s inkjet printers can deliver exhibition quality fine art prints and explain all of the details necessary to achieve that goal.

The authors devote entire chapters to the topics of printing techniques, paper and ink, color management, workflow, practical tips,

… Continue reading Review: Fine Art Printing for Photographers (2nd edition)

Review: Images: Jack Dykinga’s Grand Canyon

By John Watson
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Images: Jack Dykinga’s Grand Canyon is another photography book in a series from Arizona Highways. Unlike the Arizona Highways Photography Guide (reviewed here) which is instructional, this book is a work of art.

This 11-inch square book begins and ends with essays by non-fiction writer Charles Bowden and geologist and author Wayne Ranney, respectively.

Bowden’s opening essay describes the canyon with an almost holy reverence. It’s a beautiful tribute to a place the author describes as timeless. A place not for worship but for exploration and meditation that nourish the soul.

The closing essay by Ranney gives us a geologist’s view of the Canyon. It’s less poetic than Bowden’s but no less interesting (at least to me) as he shares insights into the formation of the canyon that made me marvel at the time and energy, virtually beyond human comprehension, required to form it.

And in between these short essays the book is filled with beautiful color photographs of the canyon by Jack Dykinga. From snow-covered plateaus, storms,

… Continue reading Review: Images: Jack Dykinga’s Grand Canyon

Review: Light and Exposure for Digital Photographers

By John Watson
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Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers by Harold Davis (published by O’Reilly) is a new book that teaches basic but important lessons: understanding light and how to capture it creatively with a digital camera. The author sums up the philosophy of the book in the introduction: “Today’s photographer is one part digital artist and one part photographer.” But he also warns that “it is fundamentally flawed to assume that incorrect exposures can be corrected in Photoshop.”

Read on to learn more about the book and find out how you can get a free copy.

Light and Exposure then proceeds to reintroduce the basics of exposure, the exposure “equation,” and how exposure can be used creatively. From there he devotes an entire chapter each to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and noise. For $20, it’s the cheapest Digital Photography 101 course you’ll find. The topics are covered in depth and the author uses an approach grounded in understanding concepts rather than telling you exactly which buttons to push (which would be practically impossible since everyone’s camera is different).

I agree with the approach.

… Continue reading Review: Light and Exposure for Digital Photographers

Review: Arizona Highways Photography Guide

By John Watson
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Arizona Highways Photography Guide

The Arizona Highways Photography Guide was written by the editors and contributors to Arizona Highways magazine. It’s broken down into three parts of about 100 pages each: The Basics, Types of Photography, and Places for Photography. Read on for a short review and how you can get a free copy.

This book covers a broad range of photography topics and, while it doesn’t go very deeply into any of them, it does provide a lot of very practical information. Every single page is filled with beautiful color photos that are used to illustrate a point and are each accompanied by a useful tip.

For example, page 40 includes this tip under a photo of a fast-moving motorcyle rider: “By using a slow enough shutter speed and panning with the motocross rider’s movement, the photographer was able to blur the background to heighten the sense of speed,” and it includes the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture settings.

Page 78 discusses depth of field and hyperfocal distances with helpful and clear diagrams. The tip on page 138 explains how color plays an important role in the composition of a photo of a bobcat at the top of the page.

… Continue reading Review: Arizona Highways Photography Guide

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