Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Waste of Money!, November 4, 2001
This review is from: John Hedgecoe's New Introductory Photography Course (Paperback)
More a portfolio of self-aggrandizement than a "introductory course" on photography, this book is a waste of money and time. Unless you are a fan of Hedgecoe's photography and simply want a portfolio masking as a guide to photography, there are other books that are much more useful for the beginning photographer. The instructional section of the book is limited to a few sparsely and vaguely written paragraphs in the first section. This is followed by the "projects" which would imply some sort of instruction on taking photographs in a step-wise fashion that increases the readers skill. Instead, each project is nothing more than a series of photographs aimed at demonstrating Hedgecoe's skill along with a brief and vague paragraph on the topic at hand. Hedgecoe does not even make the effort of explaining how he arrived at the photographs or the techniques used. Hedgecoe has numerous other books on the market. Apparently, the reader is supposed to purchase all the books to get a grasp of photography from Hedgecoe's perspective. I would recommend avoiding any book from this author. Those interested in increasing their photographic skills, are better served by two books I purchased after picking up Hedgecoe's book. I found them much more useful and wish I had not wasted my money on Hedgecoe's book. The New 35mm Photographer's Handbook by Julian Calder and John Garrett (ISBN 0609804227) The Basic Book of Photography by Tom and Michele Grimm (ISBN 0452278252)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not that informative, June 24, 2002
This review is from: John Hedgecoe's New Introductory Photography Course (Paperback)
I recently got into 35 MM SLR photography as a hobby and was looking for a good book to start with. I was looking for a book that would take me through the basics like, exposure, aperture and shutter speed etc., and then on to the advanced topics. I bought this book going by the reputation of the author, but I was honestly, disappointed. The first few chapters in the book does a good job of explaining the basics in aperture setting, shutter speed etc. But from then on, its merely a collection of good photographs with some accompanying text, which do not delve much into the details. While I should accept that this is the first ever photography book I purchased and read, I did manage to glance through a few more and found out that this book is severely lacking in content and details. If you are looking for a good introductory book to photography which could also be used as a worthy reference, go for Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", definitely not this one!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's a nice book, but..., February 27, 2006
I bought this book because it is used in a photography class I'm going to take. First the good things: a hard cover book, full color print, nice thick paper, a pleasing format and good pictures. What else to expect from a book about photography?
First of all, most of the pictures are good, but not /excellent/, and quite frankly, that's what I would expect.
Second of all, it contains a lot of pictures, neatly organized by theme or concept. But it doesn't judge any of the pictures. Granted, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it would be nice if the author said "the reason picture x isn't working as well as picture y is abc". Now, the style is more like "different angles will give different result for pictures. This picture was taken from the front. This picture was taken from the side".
It's not a bad book, and you can learn a lot from studying the pictures and discussing them (I guess that's why the photography class uses it), but it doesn't give 'recipes' on how to be a better photographer, and why to take pictures 'x' and not 'y'. The book is marvelous if you're not looking for those recipes.
But with a title 'introductionary course' is do expect them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
