Customer Reviews

Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Masters

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Eliot Porter were amongst the greatest landscape photographers of the twentieth century. Unlike many of today's photographers, they used film. The book "In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters: Digital Landscape Photography" tries to translate their techniques into the language of modern digital photography.

The first part of the book, called "Technical Foundations" deals with the basic techniques of digital photography with emphasis on how those techniques might be applied to landscape photography. Experienced users may find little new here, although the explanation of the zone system may introduce people who have mastered the histogram to another method of calculating exposure. At the same time, the explanations of the fundamentals may prove much too pithy for beginners. Perhaps the section will most help those already familiar with the basics to understand how to apply these techniques like the masters.

The second part of the book, entitled "Light, Composition and the Art of Seeing" evokes the masters, mostly by quoting their words. The images presented are primarily those of Frye, but those familiar with the masters will recognize that much of his work is clearly derived from their style, except for being captured digitally and usually in color. Although this aspect of photography is the most amorphous to describe in writing, Frye does a good job, and his lovely pictures, taken mostly in Yosemite and other favorite locations of Adams, are well worth studying.

The final part deals with "The Digital Darkroom: Editing, Processing and Printing" and it is here that Frye shows how I imagine the masters would use modern image processing software and hardware rather than the chemical darkroom. Although quite extensive, it is certainly not a Photoshop primer. Instead those who already know how to use such software will see examples of how Frye uses it to emulate the style of the masters. Since most Photoshop manuals do not show many examples of actual applications, this can be quite useful.

My only complaint with the book is that I would have liked a few more photographs by the masters included, with some deeper analysis of the images to reveal the techniques they used to fulfill their vision. There is still plenty of room for the photographer to view and analyze their works in other books.

No photographers should expect (or fear) that after reading this book they will take pictures like the masters. Instead, they should expect that some of the techniques, if adopted, will be incorporated into their own style and add to the quality of their images.

From the on line book description, I was expecting something a bit different. Yet I am not at all disappointed. The description states that the book "[c]ontains a number of breathtaking works by Ansel Adams and other landscape masters such as Edward Weston and Elliot Porter." In 160 pages, there are only three images from Adams, and one each from Weston and Porter. With my own personal feelings about Ansel Adams' work, I looked forward to seeing more. But as I went through the book further and further, I realized that the real value of the book was not merely appreciating Adams' finished works, but rather Frye's own work and how he uses it to show HOW Adams did what he did in a systematic manner. Adams' manual filtering, dodging, burning, etc., are all brought forward into the age of digital photography and digital manipulation of those photographs. For anyone at least somewhat familiar with Adams' ability to "see" a photo before he even took it, as well as his darkroom magic to leave details in both deep shadows and bright highlights, Frye's step-by-step instruction actually helped me appreciate Adams' work even more.

Someone just beginning in photography who does not know what Ansel Adams did beyond taking nice looking pictures in black and white, would likely get lost very quickly in this book. Someone who has never gone beyond automatic settings with a camera will have a very difficult time following the book. It simply isn't for beginners. But an amateur photographer with at least reasonable experience using manual settings to get desired effects with either light or depth of field, will be able to appreciate this book and learn from it. Experienced amateurs, and I would suspect many professionals, will find this book very helpful with both improvement in technique as well as greater appreciation for the work of the past film-era masters such as Adams, particularly.

While the author assumes at least some familiarity with software such as Photoshop, even a limited degree of experience with it will enable the reader to improve his or her results. This is not a tutorial on the zone system, nor use of software, but rather a good overall demonstration of how each is applied to create a finished product in the digital age. Along the way there is sufficient detailed instruction, however, to make it very practical and useful.

Probably the only reason I did not give it a 5-star rating is because I would like to have seen a bit more on the steps, rather than brief overviews of various photographs and their changes with two or three versions of a photo before the finished product. This isn't to say there isn't considerable written instruction to go along with the images, but there is only so much one can put into a 160 page book covering topics for which whole instructional courses could be designed. Twice the size with correspondingly more detail in the instruction would have been wonderful. And perhaps that's a very positive endorsement of what IS in the book - enough to be appreciated as well as quite useful, with the quality that prompts a desire for even more.

Again, though I didn't get exactly what I expected, and I would like to have had more of what I did get, I'll restate what I said in the beginning: I am not at all disappointed with my selection. If I had first encountered it in a book store and spent some time looking through it, I am quite confident I would have purchased it. In reality, I'd put it at 4½ stars (I reserve 5 stars for only the absolute best products - and this certainly came close). I give it a strong recommendation for anyone who wants to go beyond "good" photography and is willing to put in the effort. This is not a "read it once and you understand" book. Very nice job, Mr. Frye.

Digital Landscape Photography
Excellent adaptation of light masters to digital media -minimum self advertising.

Truly an enjoyable and useful book that dissects the Ansel Adams et al style and then explains how to achieve a similar vision in today's digital media. I was immediately taken in by a discussion of one of Adam's classics, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941". Briefly we are exposed to his vision, and learn how to see beyond the obvious. Technique for an enduring masterwork - compose in one's mind then incorporate emotions to be be moved in one's heart. Hard to put into words, but Michael Frye succeeds quite well.

Surprisingly the notion of a pure image is also dispelled. In other words what you may be tempted to do in Photoshop, Ansel did as well in the darkroom. Dodging and burning are translated into manipulating the curves, layers, saturation and other parameters available to us now. So rest assured, and feel free to evolve your image, Ansel would have done the same.

Much of the book is spent on discussion of the Zone System. Briefly, diving the light in the scene in up to 10 zones from the lightest to the darkest. This is equated to evaluating a digital images' histograms. Explanations are given regarding when pictures should be high tone (mostly bright) or low tone (mostly dark) and when its just fine to have a gray image. We are also taught about the multiple exposures and HDR images. Combining over and underexposed images in such a way to enhance the image by showing details that otherwise would be hidden in the shadows of erased in blown out highlights.

There are examples of each of these methods sprinkled liberally throughout the book. This is where my comment about self advertising comes in. Many photo self help books are actually a gallery of the authors best works, we are not involved in the process all that much and are simply told to admire.

This is not the case in this book. It succeeds very well in exploring the inner artist in those of us who may not be handy with a paintbrush, but are capable with a camera. The explanation of the thought process behind some of the excellent masters works here (ie Clearing Winter Storm by Adams) combined with the hardware and software techniques makes this an excellent reference source material.

For the beginner it illustrates some of the possibilities, for the advanced amateur it offers the glimpse of becoming a master.

On a technical note, the book is a soft cover one, but the cover and pages are heavy stock that feels plasticized and high quality. Unfortunately the dark pages show fingerprints quite distinctly.

Finally the quality of the images would make this book feel quite at home on a coffee table for the quests to browse through as well.

I've been a fan of Michael Frye's work for some time and was eagerly looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this book. When all was said and done I felt unfulfilled. He lightly touched on the masters and their techniques with only a few examples. I wish there head been more depth to the discussion. Same for the digital darkroom. Very high level suggestions. Finally, the book had a *lot* of typos, some grammatical errors and the zone/histogram diagram on page 43 was obviously wrong (which the author now mentions on his website). In short worth a read, but the book lacks depth and could have used a proof reader.

I spent a lot of my teenage years doing darkroom photography. I still have some of my black and white photos and it's still a passion for me, but there is NO WAY I have time to spend hours on one print in the darkroom. Digital photography is now getting resolutions that rival the best film, and new software like Nik Software Complete Collection - Professional Photographic Tools for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture lets you convert shots to black and white and even choose film grain and a gray scale altered by the Zone System.

Armed with such software and this book, you can adjust your digital photography along with scoping out subjects to attempt the type of work exemplified by Ansel Adams.

The Zone System was a way of exposing, developing then printing film to enhance the range of grays or alter the contrast of a photograph. Since digital photography doesn't involve development but relies on software to "process" your raw image, this book goes into histograms, exposure alterations, bracketing shots, shadows versus highlights, and filters. (Filters were used to change the light hitting film and taking advantage of differential sensitivity to colors of light in black and white film or enhancing the polarization of light. Only a polarizing filter really works on digital cameras. So to use "filters" you have to employ a digital algorithm to replicate the effect, say, of a yellow filter on a blue sky.)

There is also information on choosing subjects, composition and cropping as well as color enhancement. The book is lavishly illustrated with excellent photographs that are printed beautifully so you can appreciate the details.

Probably for me, the three most valuable chapters are processing order (how to use the software to fix the photo), expanding the contrast range (getting that "Zone" effect) and finally, printing, always the most challenging part since what you see on the screen isn't what comes out of the printer.

If you admire classic photography and want to replicate its beauty with digital tools, this book is essential. Big Thumbs Up.

Humbling. Both the book, as well as the reviews posted to date. This book indicates how the master landscape photographers, like Ansel Adams, might have taken their pictures if they had a digital camera. Frye has included everything you would expect from a quality "how-to" book. He has mastered his material, does not talk down to the reader, and makes his points lucidly. He knows a lot more than I do, and that is why you pay the money for his expertise. He has included numerous quality pictures, often taken in similar settings to the "masters." For me the real strength was looking at multiple pictures of the same scene, as taken under different parameters.

And then there are the other reviews. Submitted by those who will probably always understand the zone system, tone, composition, and digital manipulation better than I. Still, there is much to aspire to, and as one reviewer said, "...for the advanced amateur it offers the glimpse of becoming a master."

So, I struggled to find something original to say, in order to "thank" the Vine program for its book. And there is was on page 6: "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," a copy of the photography that Ansel Adams took in 1941. A lot of photographers have been moved by this picture, so, why not try, as a first approximation, to duplicate what Adams admitted was a "lucky shot," in digital? There is a book entitled "New Mexico, then and now," in which the author traveled around the state, taking pictures in the same spot as one was taken 50-100 years ago, in order to illustrate the development and changes. Even he didn't try! The problem is this: Google might easily find Hernandez, but you'll have a much more difficult time sorting out where it is in the doublewides that sprawl along US 84, north of Espanola. I persevered though, and suddenly it dawned on me that I was standing in the exact spot that Adams had. There was the church; there was a sliver of the graveyard. But the austerity was long gone, replaced with congestion, including doublewides and bright red pickup trucks. A picture is obviously possible, if your inclinations run towards Diane Arbus. True landscape photographers should carry crying towel in hand.

Well, when your own resources are limited, and inadequate for any further effort, as the former Vermont Senator, George Aiken once said about Vietnam: "It is time to declare victory, and get out." And so I will, but not before thanking Michael Frye for an excellent book that will be a standard reference for many years to come. Highly recommended.

I have been a customer of Amazon since 1997. This book inspired me to write my first review. I took up photography, February, 2010. I wanted to learn how to take better landscape photos, to create the eyecatching photos that Ansel Adams and the other greats are known for. I have read a very complicated book about the Zone System and, although I understood the concept, putting it into practice was another matter. This book, however, made it so simple and easy to understand, from a digital standpoint, that I now use it quite often.

Before this book, I see something I like, I shoot it. Now, I stop and analyze the light. Why? Because the writer spoke of the fact that we are really photographing light and the way it is being reflected. So, now, even though a scene is pretty, if there is nothing special about the light, I don't bother shooting it. I am aware of the meaning of the word "photograph." This book has really help me to "see" differently.

Last, but not least, I like the organization of the book. It follows the natural workflow from picture-taking to processing and printing.

"Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Masters" is the book to read if you are interested in landscape photography. It doens't matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or expert photographer, this book will have useful information for everyone (of course, more useful/new information for the beginners).

What I really like about this book is that this book covers the zone system and the importance of histogram in detail (and how to read the histogram), and this book also cover digital image editing to enhance your landscape image (post-processing). I also enjoy the sample photos that were included. They are beautiful, inspiring, and elaborate the point/explanation they are making.

Pros:
1. Cover all the beginner topics (shutter speed, aperture, exposure, sharpness, IQ, etc)
2. Cover zone system
3. Cover histogram
4. Cover light, composition, and art of seeing
5. Cover more intermediate topics (white balance, color, RAW, bracketing, etc)
6. Cover image editing and printing
7. Includes so many beautiful (and relevant) landscape photos (with a few Ansel Adam's sample work)

Cons: I can't think any really.

Happy Landscape Photographing!

Sidarta Tanu

If I had to describe what kind of photographer I am, I would say a beginner, a novice, or an amateur. Well maybe not a beginner, beginner, but Ansel Adams I am not. However, I am married to someone who I would consider a serious photographer, who has both the talent and some pretty expensive camera equipment (both film format..Nikon F100, and digital...Nikon D80) to take some magnificent pictures. While I don't think that I have reached semi-professional status YET, I do think that I have an eye for what will make a beautiful picture, and consider myself to be quite the assistant. So when I saw this book offered thru Vine, I thought it would be helpful to learn how to use some of the same techniques utilized by Ansel Adams and several other renown photographers to create some of the most beautiful photographs ever taken.

What did I think of this book? While it wasn't what I thought it would be, but it wasn't a disappointment. First, I was expecting something a lot bigger, although when I really think about it, it makes sense that it isn't. It isn't a coffee table book, but a short manual on photography techniques. Therefore, it makes sense that it is small, thin, and has a bendable cover that allows you to slip it into a camera bag (especially the back pack type that I use). So when you see those potential shots, you can easily pull it out and refer to some of the techniques outlined. Secondly, Frye takes painstaking steps to explain why you should use various techniques, how to do them, and what you should expect in the final product. And while now digital photography is the craze, you can use the same techniques (what to look for and how to manipulate light etc) for film format. Thirdly, I like the way there are directions for everything from techniques used, to processing and printing the photos. Thus making this a complete manual for a photographer. The only thing that I am not sure of is if this is a "true" beginners book? It is my opinion that you have to have some knowledge of photography, or have at least taken a beginning photography class, and have a decent mid-range digital to utilize these techniques. Otherwise, you may be a little overwhelmed and find some of the techniques difficult. With that being said, I think with some time and practice, as well as some pointers from this book, I will capture some breathtaking photos soon.

Well worth the purchase for the chapter on editing, processing and printing alone!

This is a relatively slim volume - 160 pages - given the breadth of the subject matter covered. If each of the chapters were given a full treatment this book would easily be 3 or 4 times the size. That's not the point though. What the author appears to be attempting, and achieves in my opinion, is to enhance the readers visual literacy and show how you can use the tools of the digital darkroom to mimic the approach the masters used in the traditional darkroom. How did the masters approach subjects and develop emotion in their photographs? This is illustrated through a combination of photographs from the masters and also from the authors own work - much better this way than pages and pages of text. The section on editing, processing and printing I thought was particularly good - I liked the dodging and burning examples and would happily have seen this section doubled. I'm sure that this book will be well thumbed in the weeks to come.