Customer Reviews

Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have every macro photography book marketed in the last three years, and this is by far the best, in my opinion. Harold Davis has pushed the boundaries of macro photography with new techniques such as HDR, Focus Stacking, photographing transparency, an entire section of photographing water drops, still-life photography, and oh so much more. If you combine this masterful book with more detailed instruction from the companion book, The Photoshop Darkroom, Creative Digital Post Processing, you will learn amazing techniques for using LAB color to create fabulous effects, hand HDR processing techniques, and many more.

As a macro photographer, I could bury myself in the techniques and ideas presented in this book and it's companion, The Photoshop Darkroom, and not run out of new techniques to try for years! This book has stunning photographs and is very well organized. I especially appreciate references to exact page numbers to refresh my memory on techniques used earlier.

When asked if I would like to read and review a copy of Creative Close-Ups I jumped at the chance. A couple of weeks later the book arrived and I dove right in.

Creative Close-Ups is not a highly technical book, it is a well-written and thought provoking exploration of close-up photography. It covers many types of close-up photography including flowers, water drops, still life and glass.

Filled with wonderful photos that highlight the type of photography being discussed along with commentary on the choices made while preparing and taking the photographs. Details on lens choice, f-stop, shutter speeds, and more are given for every photo.

This is the first close-up photography book I have seen that covers High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography for photographs of flowers and other subjects. It also includes information on how to create High Focal Range (HFR) photographs to expand the depth of field in close-up photographs.

I appreciate the descriptions of lighting challenges and solutions offered in the book that do not require a lot of expensive equipment that the enthusiast photography may not own or wish to buy.

If you are a photographer looking to improve your close-up skills I highly recommend Creative Close-Ups, Digital Photography Tips & Techniques

Full Disclosure: I have been a macro (closeup) photographer for several years and I was sure I had read all the important books on the subject.

Full Disclosure #2: I was wrong .... since until this weekend I had not read this book, and thus my macro library was incomplete.

The author, Harold Davis, has put out a veritable instruction manual for the closeup photographer that is as good as anything I've ever read on the subject. His chapters on Focus Stacking and the use of the HDR (high dynamic range) multiple exposure approach are incredibly helpful with step by step guides (and screenshots) that make using these techniques really easy. Although I had read about "focus stacking", I had never felt comfortable at using this approach because I thought it would be laborious and too time consuming. After reading the chapter on how to do it, I was able to go out in my garden and immediately get good results. Heck, that advice alone is worth the cover price.

I also found the chapters on Selective Focus and Reflections and Refractions to be very helpful. I had long wanted to get that classic shot of a reflection inside a dew drop on the surface of a leaf, but I could never pull it off very well. With the text and accompanying photos in this book, I found myself able to correct my previous errors and nail the shot I've always wanted.

Mr. Davis writes in an easy to understand style that is both informative and casual. You don't have to be a pro to understand what he is writing about and his advice resonates like that of a trusted friend who has taken you under his wing to show you all his favorite tips and techniques.

If you're the least bit interested in improving your closeup photo work, or if you'd like to venture out into this fascinating field of the world in miniature as seen through a photo lens then I would HIGHLY recommend this book.

After reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Close-Up Photography I found this book at my local bookstore. Thumbing through it I saw that there were macro techniques explained for Photoshop and quickly decided to purchase the book. Well, there are two techniques that are quite well explained, but other than that I can honestly say that I found nothing else useful through the whole thing. Most of the book seems to be the author telling you what he likes to shoot (flowers on black background, flowers on white background, still life, etc.) in a short paragraph, then a few example shots with a brief synopsis of what you're looking at and what the author "feels" about the shot. He mentions a handful of items that are useful for shooting close-ups or macros, but never goes into any detail about their application. Much more disappointing than that, everything that he describes that would be new and exciting (i.e. digital painting) is left completely unexplained and the reader is given a reference to another book, of course written by this same author. I strongly recommend that you purchase Peterson's book and leave this one on the shelf. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because I did learn a new technique in Photoshop (focus-stacking). Now, I think I'll find someone or somewhere to donate this book.

The emphasis in Harold Davis's book is definitely on "creative". If you suffer from a dearth of ideas of macro subjects, this book will start your juices going. Your pots and pans and glassware will all become possible subjects of inspiration. The sections on HDR and HFR are well illustrated with step-by-step instructions. I have two minor caveats about the book. I would have preferred that less space be given to reflections and droplets and it would be difficult not to immediately buy "The Photoshop Darkroom" after seeing the kind of results Harold Davis achieves in Photoshop. I just ordered mine. A highly recommended book.

I have several books in my library on composition, landscape, wildlife, and general photography. This is the first one I've gotten that really deals with close-up or macro photography and is a good addition to my collection.

The author briefly covers equipment and settings for good close-up photos. Almost half the book covers close-ups of flowers and water drops. The remainder is dedicated to macro photography in the studio using everyday objects. Other topics, such as HDR and focus stacking, are interspersed in the chapters on flowers and water drops. This makes the book seem a little disorganized, but not too much so.

The author illustrates his points using beautiful examples of his own photography. The photos are an inspiration and made me start looking at everyday items as possible macro subjects. They are good examples of what he describes in the book. I would have liked to see examples of the same photo taken at different settings so see how it changes the photo. My guess is 2/3 of the total page area in the book is photographs with the remaining 1/3 used for text. This means the 239 pages do not contain as much instructional information as you might expect.

The book will be good for beginner to intermediate level photographers who are already familiar with their camera.

Harold Davis has taken close-up photography to a new level. The uniqueness of his images cannot help but arouse curiosity. It also rasises the question: "How did he possibly do this?" Not only can Mr. Davis do this, but he spells out in page after page how you can do this also.

The book is logically laid out with some equipment choices and subjects from artifacts to flowers and water drops. Flowers are a common favorite in macro photography. However, in this work flowers are viewed and photographed in creative ways that are not likely to have been seen before. His work on shooting transparencies--indoor and out--is supreme. Capturing the profound beauty of a single flower is truly a creative act.

The author has left nothing out as he explores the possibility for creative work through: HDR, focus stacking, selective focus, abstraction, and digital painting. Each method is explained clearly and concisely. Anyone could find a favorite technique here to play with.

Water drops comprise a large section of the book. The incredible resourcefulness of shooting a single water drop places the results of these photographs in the realm of the magical.

As a seasoned photographer, I continued to find new ideas throughout the book. On the other hand enough information is given on f/,stops lighting, depth of field, etc. that someone new to photography would also benefit from his methods.

Harold Davis reminds us that we do not have to travel or search to find new close-up subjects. Everything is right in front or beside us. Make sure a copy of this book is also there to guide you.

I own several of Harold Davis' books and love all of them. What I especially liked in this book were his instructions on Transparency in the Garden and Focus Stacking. I enjoyed reading on how to make a good photo, so much better. His instructions are clear and the photos are breathtaking. I will soon be buying Creative Composition.

This book is great in explaining how to take good macros, using different lens, photoshop and different hints. It will show you how the author began and then how he tweaked it or how, if he moved to another location, he could get a better shot at what he was aiming for. I haven't had the opportunity to put these tips into practice because of the bad winter weather we're having right now but come Spring, I'll be taking pictures of all the tiny, delicate flowers in the garden!

I found Creative Close-Ups to be an excellent introduction into the wonderful world of macro photography in a concise and straight forward way. Harold Davis provides a good description of the pros and cons of various types of equipment for creating close-ups, and then thoroughly describes how to photograph different types of macro subjects.

All of the photos in the book provide beautiful illustrations of the concepts, along with all the technical details. I loved the section on how to photograph water droplets and look forward to experimenting with that next spring!

All in all, an informative and inspiring book for someone that is new to macro photography.