Customer Reviews

HT Photograph Landscapes (How To Photograph Series)

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

 

 

The author covers the necessary subjects of composition, lighting, exposure, equipment, and other items specific to landscape photography. My complaint with the book is with the photos. Mr. Lange makes extensive use of an enhancing filter, and I quickly became tired of looking at the world through rose colored glasses. The objective though, is to be able to make the photographs come out the way YOU want them to look, and this book can help you learn that. The book is definitely a good purchase, if only for the expertise that the author shares with the reader. For me the book paid for itself within the first few pages though, as I learned to save the cost of purchasing an enhancing filter.

Joseph Lange did a wonderful job with this book. He explained the techniques as well as the equipment used to make the pictures that illustrate this book. Knowing what filters were used to get the picture is helpful if you want to do some experimenting of your own. The only thing I sort of disagreed with was the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" that the author used. For example, the author mentions that arches should ALWAYS have some sky appear below them so that they look more impressive. I believe that the picture should be an expression of how the photographer wants the image to appear and if that means photographing a subject differently, then so be it.

Other than that, it's a very good book to read in order to find some good techniques.

I purchased this book while in Wyoming when I first started taking Landscape Photos, and this book gives you more information then most College level books, I have taken some great photos using Mr Lange Book and if you want to take some great shots I would suggest purchasing it for your libary.

Sure, go ahead, stack a polarizer and enhancer on. Why not an 81B and a UV/haze as well? Maybe Mars looks like this but not Earth! There are situations in which A single filter is appropriate, but rarely together, and CERTAINLY not on every single shot.
An annoying experience.
Check out any book by the late Galen Rowell or by any member of the Muench family or John Fielder. They can teach you how to capture the light without having to "enhance" it!

The author shares his knowhow in this book. I have dozens of books on nature photography, and this ranks in the top two or three. Buy it, read it,you won't regret it.

I read this first as a library book and knew that I wanted it for my own library. The author uses film only, but the concepts on composition - the major parts of the book - are applicable to either film or digital. I especially appreciated his 25 page section on "Specific Techniques for Different Landscapes" which included mountains, waterfalls, streams, oceanscapes, thermal areas, celestial patterns, etc. The author lives in CO and shoots on the CO Plateau. He shares his tips of where to go and when; so, for residents of the area, as I am, or those planning a vacation there, the book is a useful resource.

I first saw this book in the Visitor Center of White Sands National Monument, NM. After some quick pages, I determine to buy it since most scenes are national-park-related. I've been there and would like to see how author photography, or feel about these places. Fortunately, I can use $1.99 to buy a used one in Amazon after that trip and this is one of mt best decisions.

I agree with some of the reviewers that I am kind of tired of so many red-planet like photos in this book after I've finished a certain amount of pages. But then I realize I don't need to copy his enhancing/polarizing style. He also provides very helpful guidelines and non-camera information and knowledge. with these, you can get good photos with your own style. In addition, not using digital SLR may be another reason. Some of the technical parts in this book becomes more flexible by the digital darkroom. So I regard those red-planet like photos as his love in Colorado Plateau rather than show-off ones. And I find it more helpful to see these photos using artist's view, not scientist's view.

In addition to learning practical and useful stuff from this book, I also confirm something I regard important but not so addressed in other landscape photography books. Perhaps I've been most of the scenes illustrated in this book. I get better and deeper comprehension about the common knowledge such as composition, lighting and exposure. They are just vivid to me.

I can feel the author is a photographer with strong personal style. I can also feel he writes this book with passion (or maybe complaints since he was in freezing cold weather thousand times waiting for the correct condition to get a shot). For example, he said it clearly that he shoots for beauty, not reality. I guess in the photography society, people either love him or hate him, like New York Yankees.

This book is to inspire every one to develop his own personal style. So don't be bothered by those red-planet like photos or enhancing/polarizing filters. I won't shoot those scenes in his way. But I know I have some habits to shoot certain scenes in a certain not-so-realistic way. I don't know if this is the artist's way but I have more confidence to do it this way after reading this book.

It's so sad that previous review on this book is almost 4 years before. I really think this is a good book regardless of my $1.99 bargain.

One thing I don't like about this book is lack of the index. So I can't find the exact words he used in this book as the ending of this review. The meaning is:

Althought certain scenes do require specific techniques to get the shot, usually, the most difficult is to find the scene.

This is a great book to teach basic and intermediate tips for landscape photography. I am new to photography (less than 1 year) and found this to be a very useful resource.

The book also has a lot of beautiful photos illustrating the tips and techniques discussed.

I highly recommend this book.

As a collector of photography books, I rate this as one of the best. It is full of beautiful photographs with captions explaining exactly how each one was taken plus it is full of wonderful information on every aspect of photography from filters to exposure.

Joseph K. Lange's extensive use of polarizing and "enhancing filters" on his landscapes made this book very difficult for me to look at. Some otherwise wonderful landscapes were turned into pictures I found hard to look at.

I can not recommend this book.