50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It'll change the way you take pictures forever, July 5, 2007
This review is from: Composition Photo Workshop (Paperback)
The author uses clear language and excellent photographic examples to open your eyes to what makes a good composition. For years, I kept buying more and more expensive cameras hoping they help me take better pictures. What I really needed was to understand what makes good composition. This book reads easily and the pictures make it a pleasant learning experience. But the most striking result of reading this book is amazement at how much there was right in front of your eyes and you did not know or paid attention to that can make difference between a snapshot and a great picture.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Develop Your Talent, September 6, 2007
This review is from: Composition Photo Workshop (Paperback)
As a photography educator for over 20 years, I have been looking for a book on composition that is not a technical monologue, but a guide that will lead the emerging photographer toward better image making. Too many books speak in overly analytical terms when trying to describe good composition. It is extremely difficult to apply overly strict theories in the field while shooting.
This book feels like you are out on a day trip shooting with the author/photographer. It is filled with great ideas, but also when and where to use them. The reader is given practical information to answer the real life questions of photography.
The `workshop' aspect of the book provides the reader with assignments designed to test and expand upon the techniques they read in the book. These assignments answer the age-old photography question...what should I shoot next? It encourages the reader to get out and shoot.
In addition, the ability to use the publisher's website to upload images created from the assignments and then receive feedback, is invaluable. This book really fits the subheading of `Develop your Talent'. I am currently recommending this book to all my students, whether beginning or advanced.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It takes more than just a camera, October 1, 2007
This review is from: Composition Photo Workshop (Paperback)
Since moving to Alaska two years ago, I've taken up photography. The abundant wildlife and breathtaking natural scenery moved me to purchase a digital camera and start shooting. I had no formal training, but figured, much as with automobile repair, if I could read about it, I could figure it out. I read a variety of websites, participated in discussion forums, took many photographs, and generally have been trying to figure things out myself. With this background, picked up this book with interest and curiosity.
Composition is divided into eleven chapters, breaking things down into background, compositional elements, photographic styles and tips for improvment. The first chapter goes over a variety of background bits, talking about the the history of photography, sight and optics, eastern & western approaches to design and layout, and the interrelation between these items which is what makes up composition. The book clearly states that it comes to the discussion from a 'western' point of view. With the foundations properly set, the book delves into meat of the topic. Framing is tackled first, with discussion of shapes and thematic elements, shapes, the rule of thirds, symmetry and other topics explored. Next, focal depth and shutter speed, how lens selection determines output characteristics and photographic capabilities, ISO speed selection, and on. The quality and types of light are examined, and how to best make use of what is available at any given time. Two chapters are spent on color and black & white photography. Filters are examined for the positive effects they can have in bright and contrasty situation, and when they can be beneficial to filter out or highlight a particular portion of the spectrum. While some will argue that postprocessing and editing on the computer afterward render all filters other than ND and polarizing ones useless, I appreciate that the information hasn't been discarded onto the scrapheap of history. The final three chapters of the book deal with portraiture, landscape/scenic photography and tips on improving your photos further through post-processing.
I found Composition to have a nice layout (which it should, considering the subject matter); it is full of useful information and generally an enjoyable read. I had no problem picking it up and reading through a chapter here and there, then getting back into it later. At the end of each chapter, there is an assignment which directs you to apply the topic covered in the chapter in a variety of ways and try to get a better feel for what they are discussing. In addition, there is an accompanying online forum where you can upload the photos you take for the assignments, discuss them with others, and see how other readers approached the topics. A brief exploration of the website took a while to find the proper place to go to upload and see the images others have captured. As of this writing (10/1/2007), the forums there do not appear to be terribly active, with perhaps 11 photos uploaded to the busiest assignment; as the book was released recently, I'm sure the activity will pick up.
Composition is written for someone with an SLR camera - people with simple point and shoot cameras will gain some knowledge from the book. To be able to take full advantage of the book should have an advanced P&S camera - one that falls into the super-zoom or bridge-camera categories - if not a full dSLR setup. (This isn't necessarily a complaint about the book, per-se, but hey, we non-dSLR owners are photographers too!) With the stiff competition, many new models and rapidly falling prices in recent years for dSLR cameras, this book could act as the missing manual. While it won't tell you what all the switches do on your new Nikon D80 or which lens is best for your Canon 400d, it goes a long ways toward giving you a better understanding of how to make use of the capabilities of your camera, and will help train your eye to find those details, the shapes, colors and lighting which will produce outstanding images.
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