Customer Reviews

Capturing the Night with Your Camera: How to Take Great Photographs after Dark

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would recommend this work to beginners and photographers who are intermediate but have little or no experience with low light or night photography. There are better works out there on this subject that will serve the more advanced and serious amateur better than this volume might. I bought this book because it gave a good general overview of just about all the various aspects to an often overlooked area of photography. I nearly didn't buy it because I picked up Andrew Sandersons book at the same time. I had been vowing to buy Sandersons work for over a year and finally the time came. The only thing that made me buy this work was the excellent sections on Painting with light and Star Trails at the end of the book, rarely seen or discussed in any other photographic literature I have ever seen. I give this book a four star rating for tackling these last two sections but would otherwise have rated this book in parallel with Meehans 'Guide to Filters' for the exact same reasons.

Having said all of the above it's a great general guide and if thats what you need then get this book. If you are an intermediate or professional needing something more dense to bite down on you can't go past Sandersons work which I have reviewed elsewhere.

I made the mistake of ording this book and Lee Frost's Complete Guide to Night and Low Light Photography at the same time. They are very similar books, but Frost's is better. (I gave it a 3.)

Whereas Frost's book is fairly balanced between landscape (sun afterglow, moon light) and city/building shots, this one is heavily weighted toward the city. (From the photos, I can't confirm that Carucci has ever stepped off pavement.) I guess if your specific interest is low light city work, you might prefer this one. Same thing if you're very interested in slow-sync flash and other flash techniques. Otherwise, both books remain a bit weak on technical substance. (The brief twilight section in Zucherman's Natural Light Photography gives you about 30% of what you get here.)

Apologies first, the cover was not that inspiring compared to many other photography books, and so had yet to buy it. I picked it up at a local library and went through it, basically it focus on cityscapes shooting, a very interesting area to learn due to the difficulty in getting the desired exposure and lighting.

I realize that there are many repeating information on bulbs/lights temperature and type, sure they are the main essence to coloring the shots but having such information all over the place makes the book seems so messy. The best thing about this book is the illustration of shots taken on diferent lighting and film. It really does help you to see more creatively if you are new to this.

Interestingly it does shed some light on light painting, seldom found in writing, actually I had no real idea on how it really works till I read this book. I had done some light painting prior to this, but only for fun, this book tells you how to expose it.

Whether it appeals to you, you just have to see it for yourself. This is not a wholly technical book, more inclined towards beginner on night shooting. Newbies may like the presentation of the book, very journal-like (and hence seems disorganized), like writing a trip on night photography, but there's no section on fundamental photography (and I dont suggest one to start learning photography through this area...might just put one off with the difficult shooting situations). Newbies to night shooting may like the information on color temp and the type of lights associated, and how they actually look like. Advanced people may find the book too shallow, and fundamental.

The book approaches the topic unlike any other in the existing light photogrphay genre. Where some other books fluff it up with technical talk, Carucci explains it all in plain english.

Night photography is such a mystery, and the author explains all the elements that affect the picture in the first chapter. After that, each topic is covered in depth.

Having a understanding in fundemental photography, I found this book informative though I'm not sure if a beginner would get as much out of it since Carucci seems to speak to readers that grasp the basics rather than those new to photography.

Even if you're not into the text, the pictures themselves stand on their own.

I had been taking pictures for years before I read this book. I have read it multiple times since and learn something new each time. John Carucci takes you on a step by step process through not only night photography but photography itself. His photographs are incredible and best of all he gives detailed information on each shot. I am convinced that nighttime photography is the most interesting pursuit there is. I can honestly say that I have learned more about photography from this book than anything else that I have ever found.