Customer Reviews

John Hedgecoe's New Introductory Photography Course

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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)

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!

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.

I have recently picked up photography, and I have bought a few books along the way. One of them is a 35mm photography book by Kodak (the name slips my mind). It's not a bad first book, and should be considered is you are a novice.

Then I bought this book. It was recommended to me by my photography college. While the book has a sprinkling of nice photos, the text that goes along with it has nothing much going for it. For most areas, it tends to glance over the topic without any really useful tips. I suggest that all potential buyers have a flick through it first before purchasing, as it may not be all it's cracked up to be.

The book that all novice/amateur photographers should be reading is "National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures". This book by far is most useful for all photographers. That's definitely a five star book.

This book has been very useful. As the name indicates, it is an introduction to photography. Don't expect it too in depth, as another reviewer has mentioned, it only touched on subjects. Really this was ideal as there are many aspects of a good photograph.

There are two pages for each subject, consisting of a few paragraphs of text and examples. You might fool yourself in thinking that the photos are no use. They are examples of the subject and offer good insight. For example, it lists how using diagonal lines can help suggest movement. He starts by shooting a head on view of a waterfull, producing a "static" shot. Then takes a series of pictures showing how using diagonals can a powerful tool for indicating movement. Another example on the next page offers an introduction to improving composition where he takes a picture at eye level, looking down at some children on bikes, producing a cluttered picture, then shoots a similar picture where he lies down on the ground for a low angle shot, achieving a "cleaner composition".

Overall I'm very happy with the book and feel it is well worth my time and money.

I disagree with the other reviewer. I teach photography and I found the book to be very useful. My students also like the book.

Currently taking a Intro to Photography class and my instructor insisted that we get this book. Though it is a bit old 1998, and does not refer to digital cameras a great read. To make up for no digital reference we are also reading a book by Scott Kelby, the Digital photographer. Buy the book used, I spent $3.10 and it looks as good as new.

Although I've never taken high school or college photography, I've been very interested in the heart. I bought this book to learn the "tricks of the trade" & additional information on lighting, angles, composition, balance, etc. The book stepped up & served me well. I've even managed to win photography awards since purchasing this book!

Well, I've bought the book because of descriptioin that promised to cover almost every field in photography. Actually, each of those 65 "projects" is exactly one page, filled with 4 or 5 author's photographs and 1-2 paragaphs of text.

The author did not actually write a book - he just browsed his heap of older photos, selected some and dropped some words to each page.

Good "chapter" names cover all major topics of interest, but there are no chapters themselves - just some words that tell you nothing but something very generic.

Author's ego is something really tremendous. Each photo commented "why this is good", and there is no single photo of other photographer and no single photo that the author would not treat as good.

John Hedgecoe's books are all very similar but this one is a good start. He has projects outlined that you can follow just like a photography course. He leaves out where to find the nude models though.