Creating World-Class Photography: How Any Photographer Can Create Technically Flawless Photographs [Paperback]

Ernst Wildi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

This trouble-shooting guide will steer photographers of all skill levels around the common mistakes and problems that separate amateur photographers from professional ones. Topics include lenses, filters, exposure metering systems, and electronic filters and flashes, as well as perspective, depth of field, focusing, and distortion. Beyond the basic mechanics, this book offers a comprehensive approach to aesthetics, including selecting engaging subjects and creating effective composition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Takes you through easy ways to technically improve your photography."  —

Better Photography

About the Author

Ernst Wildi is the author of Achieving the Ultimate Image and Composition Techniques from a Master Photographer. He lives in Wachtung, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc. (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584280522
• ISBN-13: 978-1584280521
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,291,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wildi provokes inspiration, December 2, 1999

By 

"jeffdrew" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Achieving the Ultimate Image: How Any Photographer Can Take World-Class Photographs (Paperback)

Ernst Wildi is a consummate professional who has a unique ability to teach through his writings and demonstrate fundamental concepts of art and photography. Wildi is admittedly a proponent of Hasselblad camera equipment, yet he goes to great pains to be as generic as possible in presenting his beliefs in techniques, equipment, and that's the point of the book. This book would benefit anyone contemplating serious photography, or those contemplating the plunge into medium format films and equipment. Anyone considering "thinking square" should buy this book. Wildi presents the comparisons of ideas in such a way as to challenge the reader to think and see differently. The reader can only guess what equipment and format was used, and the serious amateur will puzzle over the images and ask "how did he do that in 6x6?" Did he?

The diagrams and technical explanations are presented in a lucid way, and not baffling. The photographs are very well-done, but Wildi never disappoints from my experience! Yes, I'm a Wildi fan because his teaching style always pleases me and in a distant way, he has become a great reference even though I'm not currently a Hasselblad devotee. Wildi uses the camera system as a tool to create beautiful images, and this book reflects his craft and ideas!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A basic photography book, rather poorly executed, November 20, 2005

By 

Rebel POW (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Achieving the Ultimate Image: How Any Photographer Can Take World-Class Photographs (Paperback)

This book's subtitle is: "How any photographer can take world-class photographs". A lofty goal, but unfortunately one that this book fails to deliver.

Amherst Media, the publisher of this book, seems to have a problem with their releases. They all have great titles, the kind to make you want to pick up the book, but they all seem to waffle when it comes to who's their target audience. Is it the housewife who just picked up her first point and shoot? Or the professional looking to improve their craft? In the end, the publisher tries to appeal to every spectrum and fails to satisfy anyone. This book is no exception.

So what's wrong? WAY too much filler, for one. Mediocre photos for another (this IS a book on achieving the ultimate image, after all... I guarantee you right now that your portfolio contains better images than most of the examples in this book).

Consider the chapter headings. Is this what you expect from a book with this title? Or rather one entitled, "So you've bought your first real camera":

Chapter One: Film or No Film?

Chapter Two: Films for the Ultimate Image Quality

Chapter Three: Selecting the Film Format

Chapter Four: Camera Features

Chapter Five: Camera Operation For Image Quality & Effects

Chapter Six: Lenses for Creating the Ultimate Sharpness

Chapter Seven: Effective Use of Lenses & Lens Controls

I could go on, but you get the idea. A basic photography book, rather poorly executed.

Pass on this one.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wildi tries to provoke creativity, December 2, 1999

By 

"jeffdrew" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Achieving the Ultimate Image: How Any Photographer Can Take World-Class Photographs (Paperback)

Ernst Wildi is a consummate photographer, loves Hasselblad and its native format, and any aspiring medium format photographer should read this book with an open mind. Wildi's work is exemplary. Most of his concepts are readily adaptable to any film format, so he focuses on equipment, films, prints and digital issues in a generic way. He is admittedly biased toward Hasselblad, yet the 6x6 format is so flexible, the concepts are presented in a comparative way and the reader has a difficult time determining which format is used. Beautiful! Wildi, therefore, tries to get the reader to open up to concepts and approaches to visual situations and "see" differently. In other words, ponder the possibilities! The author does cover various equipment necessities and many fundamentals of "how-to" deal with certain situations. This book does deal with certain technical issues in an understandable, yet technical way. The book is not thick, and has many, well-done pictures and diagrams. I will confess to being a Wildi fan. His writings and ideas have been an inspiration to me, and anyone contemplating an investment in "thinking square" will find his concepts educational, no matter the equipment used. Buy this book!