Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Kindle Edition
Read the Kindle edition on Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, PC and Mac.
 
   
Sell Back Your Copy
For a $3.00 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition [Paperback]

Brenda Tharp (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews) |
List Price: $25.99
Price: $17.15 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $8.84 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Monday, May 21? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --   $19.99 --
Paperback $17.15   -- --

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010
A classic guide to creative nature photography, now updated for the digital world.

Amateur and experienced photographers interested in taking more compelling, personal images will love this new edition of Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, now updated to address the exciting possibilities (and challenges) of digital image-making. Author Brenda Tharp’s inspiring approach has garnered fans all over the world, as she teaches that magical skill no camera can do for you: learn how to “see.” Readers expand their photographic vision and discover deep wellsprings of creativity as they learn to use light, balance, color, design, pattern, texture, composition, and many simple techniques to take a photo from ordinary to high-impact.

Featuring more than 150 stunning, all-new images, Creative Nature & Outdoor  Photography, Revised Edition is for anyone who understands the basic technical side to photography but wants to wake up their creative vision.

Frequently Bought Together

Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition + The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression + Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera
Price For All Three: $57.34

Show availability and shipping details

Buy the selected items together

  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression by Bruce Barnbaum Paperback $24.85

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera by Bryan Peterson Paperback $15.34

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BRENDA THARP is an award-winning photographer, writer, and teacher specializing in travel, nature, and outdoor photography. Her images have been featured in numerous magazines and books, and she teaches throughout the United States, including Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Point Reyes Field Seminars, and BetterPhoto.com. She can be found at www.brendatharp.com.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Amphoto Books; Revised edition (February 23, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0817439617
  • ISBN-13: 978-0817439613
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.4 x 11 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Brenda Tharp Page
Brenda Tharp
A professional photographer for over 30 years, Brenda is also an inspirational speaker. She writes books, teaches workshops, and leads photography tours. Her award-winning images have appeared in national magazines and books, calendars, greeting cards, and posters. Brenda co-starred in episodes of CANON's Photo Safari television program, and has appeared on regional TV and national podcasts on the topic of photography. Her fine art images are in private collections across the United States, and her commercial images are represented by Aurora Photos, Danita Delimont Stock, and Getty Images.

Brenda teach workshops internationally and regionally, and lead photography tours to many places, including Italy, Morocco, and Bhutan. Brenda is currently working on two e-books to be released in 2012.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
195 of 203 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Somewhere along the line between beginner and expert most photographers decide that they want to be more creative. It is to this audience that Brenda Tharp had addressed her work. But one question this book raises is whether you can teach someone to be creative. The author believes the answer is yes, although she acknowledges that it takes a lot of work on the part of the photographer.

Tharp begins and ends the book by telling you that the secret to creativity is learning to see. But as you go through the book some of the chapters on subjects like light and composition and perspective sound remarkably similar to a lot of other photography books that are concerned with technique rather than creativity. Tharp's method is to give you a rule like "simplify" and then to tell you how to simplify. She does this well and the pictures that she uses certainly show her creativity, but it's hard to make the connection between these rules and developing our creativity.

I wish she had spent more time on telling us how to see because I think she is on the right trail here. But if you speed down the highway too quickly you might miss it, which would be a shame. Assuming you can teach creativity, Tharp makes a decent try of it, providing the reader is willing to work at making the connections to seeing.

There are many approaches to teaching how to be photographically creative. In "Fine Art Nature Photography: Advanced Techniques and the Creative Process" Tony Sweet presents us with a series of pictures and a narrative for each that explains what he was trying to achieve with the photograph and what techniques he used to achieve it. In "Creative Landscape Photography", Niall Benvie talks about the different subject matter one may encounter, like wilderness, and then talks about what that subject means to him and what techniques he uses to translate what he sees and feels into a photograph. And my favorite photography book, "Photography and the Art of Seeing" by Freeman Paterson, in a very touchy-feely work, provides a number of unusual exercises that are designed to teach a photographer how to see.

None of these books actually teaches creativity (although for me, Paterson comes closest.) Instead they show creative work and the considerations that the authors had in creating that work. Whether any method works in developing creativity is an open question. If it can be developed, which authors' approach will work best will depend on the individual reader. A serious photographer will want to try them all until he or she finds one that works for him or her. Tharp's book is certainly one that ought to be examined in this difficult search.

Was this review helpful to you?
84 of 93 people found the following review helpful
By KenPic
Format:Paperback
If you are looking for a book to improve composition and develop you own style, this is a very good book with great example pictures. It talks a lot about methods you need to consider in making taking interesting picture that will give the "wow" effect. It includes discussion on techniques such as the rule of thirds (contrary to what another reviewer says), balance, and framing your pictures. The focus of the author is to get you to look for ways to create a mood, design a theme or tell a story with your pictures.

The book falls short with techniques. The books primary purpose in discribing technical aspects is to define what the equipment and settings will have on the picture results. It describes techniques such as the use of a wide angle or telephoto lense and the effects of the equipment on the picture, how to use light for more dramatic effects, shutter speed impacts, panning and focusing to emphasize a subject with the background out of focus to eliminate the clutter(this is called bokeh although not mentioned in the book). The book falls short in the technical area because it talks only about film, use of filters and developing film techniques. There are many techniques available for the digital photography that that can do a lot with the picture once loaded into the computer and use of filters for digial photography (some references say) can be reduced to a poloarized and UV filters. Changing ISO settings, adjusting white balance, and correcting light problems with software (versus using a neutral desity filter)are not discussed.

If you are looking to improve your picture composition and ideas to be more creative with your pictures, I recommend this book. If you are looking to understand technical terms, digital camera equipment, and software techniques to make adjustments to your pictures, this IS NOT the book for you.
Was this review helpful to you?
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Good, brief, not unique August 23, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is worth buying for the inspiring photographs, although the text is a bit uneven, explanations are occasionally vague, and the content is rather similar to other books on creative photography.

I prefer John Shaw's Focus on Nature: The Creative Process Behind Making Great Photographs in the Field which is longer, more detailed and seems more articulate. However I own both books.

To take one example: Brenda Tharp recommends that plants be photographed from ground level, so that we are looking horizontally or slightly upward at the subject, which is separated from the background. John Shaw gives the same advice, but only as an option. He also demonstrates the possibilities for an image looking directly downward: a stunning masterful image of a green expanse of leaves contrasted with rich red flowers, seen from directly above like a carpet.

Brenda Tharp's book is more instructional, shorter, and perhaps a bit more dogmatic than John Shaw's. Which is best for you will depend on your own level of skill and awareness in photography. I suspect Brenda Tharp's book is based on a photography class/workshop - it has explicit lists of photographic exercises. It does help you focus on your photographic goals. The main message of the book is a good one ("What are you trying to say in this photograph?"). It's on my shelf and I refer to it occasionally.

It almost feels as if some of the detailed information has been held back from the book, so as not to devalue the content of classes/workshops. for example the author mentions that she has a checklist that she runs through when photographing a landscape, but she doesn't share the list with us.

I quibbled with some of the technical statements in this book, and some of the assertions about composition seem too fluffy (borrowed from art theory?). But it is quite stimulating all the same.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great photography book with very helpful information
I like the book. It has lot of good information. If you are a newcomer and learning tricks of photography, this book will be very helpful to you.
Published 21 days ago by Cintired
A valuable book
I am new to photography. But I have read so many books on landscape photography that after a while I don't really learn much from a new book. But this book seemed very useful. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sharada Prasad CS
Another Great Book For Learning
I've really enjoyed this book. There is some very good advice and examples to help you bring your skills up a notch. Read more
Published 2 months ago by W. Hutchison
Excellent photography book
I just finished reading this book by Brenda Tharp, and I'm hoping she writes another one soon. This book was so inspiring to me!
Ms. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Northeast Gardener
Solid introductory book on composition
The original edition of "Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography" is a great guide for beginners to learn to take better photographs. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Alan Shi
Not essentail, or particularly useful.
A pretty picture book, with little to offer by way of insight or instruction. Received as a gift based on a kenrockwell.com recommendation, a rec I cannot pass on to you. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Justin Ratcliff
Makes me want to get out and take pictures
I've always struggled with the creative side of photography, the composition. I've read a few other books ("Mountain Light" by Galen Rowell and "Photography and the Art of Seeing"... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Wendell
Holiday photographer
One of the first photography books I read, with good information regarding what to look for a great nature / landscape photo opportunity. Read more
Published 7 months ago by holiday photographer
somewhat interesting
An average book, text wasnt all that descriptive of the pictures which were just average.
Some pics didnt state how they were made, I think many had filters used or post... Read more
Published 8 months ago by ColBuckshot
a lot of "what" but little "how"
I read this book following Ken Rockwell's recommendation on his website. He writes that Brenda Tharpe's book "cover[s] everything you need to know, like seeing light, shadow,... Read more
Published 9 months ago by OregonCoast
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(8)
(6)
(5)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(1)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:











i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...