Digital Night and Low-Light Photography [Paperback]

Tim Gartside (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1592006493 | ISBN-13: 978-1592006496 | Publication Date: November 28, 2005 | Edition: 1

"Digital Night and Low-Light Photography" is an in-depth guide to the many methods and techniques a photographer needs to know to guarantee great pictures in challenging lighting situations. In addition, it explores the differences in the way film and digital cameras perform in low light, and reveals how the new features built in to many digital cameras can make a difference--from in-camera image previewing, white balance correction for light sources of different color temperatures, and ISO adjustments that can be applied to individual pictures. It also shows how digital imaging techniques can be used to rescue a disaster or perhaps create a masterpiece.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (November 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592006493
• ISBN-13: 978-1592006496
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Turning Down the Lights, January 29, 2006

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Night and Low-Light Photography (Paperback)

I blame myself. It's probably because I learned photography in the film era that I assume that any photography instruction book whose title begins with the word "Digital" will tell how to squeeze out the additional benefits that digital photography offers, or at least how to overcome problems created by the nature of digital photography.

At first glance, this book seemed just right for photographers who want to extend the opportunities to take photographs beyond sunny, fair weather. Chapters include equipment, technique, outdoor and indoor low-light photography, night photography and post-production. The chapter on outdoor photography was light-oriented, with sections devoted to dawn, sunrise, sunset, dusk, storms and bad weather, fog and mist, snow and frost, using flash and painting with light. Other chapters were more subject-oriented, such as the chapter on night photography that dealt with the moon, buildings and neon lights, among other things.

Photographers have a wide variety of skill levels and no book can be expected to appeal to both the novice and the expert photographer. This book is aimed at the novice digital photographer, who, the author believes, should, like all serious photographers, use digital single lens reflex cameras. The chapter on equipment is quite basic. The technique chapter is slightly more advanced and does cover the use of histograms, white balance and noise reduction, the latter a feature that is particularly important to the adjustment of the long time exposures low-light photography often requires. Throughout the book suggestions are given on white balance settings. I wish there had been the same attention to the use of histograms and noise reduction.

The chapters on the different photography conditions were sufficient for the new shooter. For example, Gartside explains how to set exposure and white balance for sunrise. On the other hand, I felt the sections on flash needed more information on the techniques for integrating ambient light sources with flash, other than suggesting bracketing one's shots.

It seems pretty clear that serious digital photographers are going to use some sort of image processing software to get the most from their pictures. Yet I found the chapter on post-processing the weakest because it covered Photoshop (the de facto leader in post-processing) features in a way that would be beyond those who were not experienced with Photoshop and yet not enough detail for experienced users. For example, no beginner could ever understand the use of levels from the brief description provided, while more experienced photographers would probably like to know how to extend the contrast frequently required for pictures taken on overcast days. Moreover there was no discussion of the use of Adobe Camera Raw, one of the most useful tools in Photoshop. I would suggest that any serious beginner, low-light or otherwise, explore the use of Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements, the slimmed-down, less expensive version of the software) by reading books like Tim Grey's "Photoshop CS2 Workflow" and Rob Sheppard's "Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only".

The beginner who wants an introduction to taking pictures when the light is low and some inspiration from Gartside's photographs will probably find this book useful. More experienced photographers are less likely to learn anything new.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but not instructional, February 5, 2006

By 

S. Corn "Semi-Pro Photographer" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Night and Low-Light Photography (Paperback)

I purchased this book, after reviewing the few selections available on the topic, because it incorporates the use of Digital Photography. I got excited after reading the description, thinking that this would be a very instructional book that would help me in learning to shoot better at night, as an "in-depth guide to the techniques a photographer needs". Well that wasn't the case. Instead the book highlights various situations, allotting just two pages for each technique giving a quick overview of how the author created various images. Most of the information is common sense...use a tripod, use a cable release and different lenses will give different results.

There is no doubt that Tim Gartside is a very good photographer, many of the images in the book are quite stunning. But I bought this book in the hopes of learning about night photography, not be treated to a virtual slideshow of his work.

Also, one of the major points that he seemed to emphasis is the use of Photoshop. That if you don't get the best shot, you can always "fix it" later by tweaking this or that in Photoshop. Or that if you don't get the exact shot you want, take several and then montage them later in Photoshop. I don't want to have to do that. I want to know what I'm doing so that I can get the best possible shot in camera, not in Photoshop.

This book is good for the beginner, for a very basic overview of night and low-light photography. But if you have any photo experience, I would suggest passing on this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rehash of film photography, November 26, 2007

By 

C. McCloskey "Auntie C" (Bawlmer, Merlin, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Night and Low Light Photography (Paperback)

This book purported to be about digital photography yet it read like a film photography book with the occasional reference to Photoshop to make it 'digital'.
I was particularly disappointed in the star photography section. He implies that you can leave the shutter open for hours, like in the film days. Anyone who has tried long-exposure photography knows that the sensor heats up after thirty minutes, leaving red edges in the shot. (For great star trails information, google Moose Petersen and 'star trails'. Now HE knows!). So, as far as I'm concerned, he never even tried that chapter with a digital camera. I wonder where else he skimped?

Pretty pictures, but I'm disappointed overall.