Customer Reviews

Digital Macro Photography

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

 

 

I've looked at many of the recent books on digital macro photography, and this is the only one that devotes most of its space to macro. Too many that claim to be about macro or close up photography (e.g. "The Magic of ..." by Meehan) largely rehash guides to digital photography in general. Hoddinott does some of that too. I could have done without the "post processing" chapter at the end. But fortunately Hoddinott keeps the book mostly focussed on the subject promised in its title. He gives sensible advice that ranges from the moderately technical to the openly mundane. The latter includes surprisingly helpful suggestions about what time of day and where to find subjects suitable for macro. This is an introductory book that even pros could learn a few things from. One of the most unusual and admirable features: he shows his own mistakes and how he corrected them (though I suspect the mistakes were deliberate). Finally, his own photos (often of quite ordinary subjects)are imaginative, some even stunning.

I found this book to be a very thorough guide to macro photogrphy.The author covers equipment, accessories, techniques and several different specialties in macro photography such as, still-life, insects, butterflies, dragonflies etc.. He then covers post-camera processing with Photoshop. The author mainly describes macro photography with DSLR cameras and only mentions point and shoot cameras near the front of the book. He specifically uses Nikon cameras when describing techniques throughout the book. These techniques, however, translate easily to other DSLR cameras such as Canon. I found the book helpful in my efforts to get into macro photography.

This is truly an in-depth book on close-up photography. It focuses on techniques for getting great pictures of subjects from very close distances. It's approach is simple enough that a beginner can understand, yet goes into enough depth that anyone could learn from it.

A good companion to this book is Closeup Shooting: A Guide to Closeup, Tabletop and Macro Photography. If you have both, you'll own everything you need to begin taking wonderful macro pictures.

Hands down this is without a doubt the most in-depth book on digital photography that has been written to date. It has improved my skill level by 90% . I was a novice dital photographer before reading this book and today I am able to accomplish the results of the professionals. Buy this Book !!! ... you deserve the best.
Happy shooting !

The cover of this book alone drew me to buying it and I get all happy inside every time I look at it. Macro is a joyful hobby, particularly bugs, and for me, dragonflies are the most exquisite of creatures. I am lucky I live in a state that has a ton of dragonfly varieties... This is a great book, really good info on digital cameras and equipment, techniques, and ideas. If I had to recommend one macro book, this would be it.

I have read a lot of books on photography, but this has definitely been the easiest one that I have read. This is not to say that it is a book about just the basics. Initially I was disappointed that it did seem to be covering photography basics, but often the info contained little nuggets that I was not aware of and which are extremely useful.

His tip on finding the hyperfocal point is invaluable and I had not found it in other books.

I like the fact that most of the photos are taken with a Nikon D70, proving that an top-end camera is not required to produce stunning shots. Ross really knows his macro photography and I would recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. You will learn from it, and if you practise the methods he advocates, you will become a better photographer.

I got this out of the library, but I suspect I will be purchasing it shortly as I will want to return to it again and again.

I have just become interested in macro photography and this was the first book I purchased. I found it to be very interesting, with basic information. I enjoyed reading through it and enjoyed the photo examples. I'm sure for someone more advanced it is too basic, but for someone just starting out, it is a decent read.

I bought this book expecting it to be full of macro techniques, information on lighting beyond a vague description of flashes available, and other specialized techniques of interest to serious macro photographers. It is NOT.
The information on macro photography that's included is really basic, and so brief as to be easily missed. If you have ever taken a closeup or own a macro lens, this book will be of no use to you.

IF this were re-titled as an introduction to digital photography for absolute beginners, I would recommend it. If you are just starting with your first camera, and know little more than pressing the shutter, this is the book for you. Almost half of the book is consumed with basic introductory material exploring such issues as the difference between a point and shoot and a SLR.

This book is really terrible. I was looking for a book that would delve into the challenges of macro photography, technique and implementation of macro lenses and flash combination to produce true macro (life-size) images.

This book does not do any of this. In fact it spends the first 60 pages talking about camera types and gear. Do you really need to know about point and shoot cameras and how a single lens reflex camera works if you are seriously researching macro photography technique? This book should be titled "A broad overview of photography and equipment you might find."

This book does not even cover macro photography very well. There are a few brilliant macro shots but 80% of the photographs are not even true macro. They are between 1/10 life-size and 1x. If anything it is a simple collection of close up shots. Many of the shots are not even that good.

If you are looking for a visually appealing book that you can breeze through in 40 minutes and wonder why you spent $18 on it then this book is for you.

If you are a photographer looking for information on growing your "MACRO" photography technique.... look elsewhere and don't waste your money.

I would not even recommend this book to someone just getting into photography. There are better entry level books out there.

This is a good book on the theory and techniques of macro photography, however I believe that some topics deserve further consideration:
1 - Camera supports and controls - acessories like Manfrotto 454 Micro Positioning Plate and how to use. Remote controls are an important gear on this matter.
2 - Light and colour - focusing and using macro flashes. This is especially complex when using a lens like the Canon MP-E 65mm f: 2.8.
3 - Post-camera processing - This is not Photoshop, only. There are excellent systems for post-processing, such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Phase One Capture One. Other very important techniques for macro must be presented as, for example, the stacking and its specialized software like Zerene and Combine ZM.
Regards.