Customer Reviews

John Hedgecoe's New Book of Photography

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book takes you from basic photography all the way to advanced studio work. Beautiful color photographs with descriptive text gives you information on why the photo looks the way it does

This book takes you through lighting, film speed, cameras, and even setting up a darkroom. I occasionally teach a photography class and use this as our manual. I love it. After reading it, I had 4 pictures published in a golf magazine using techniques I learned in the book.

As a beginner, I had just finished reading the excellent Understanding Exposure by Peterson and was looking for a book that explained more about composure and lighting. Although those topics are covered in this book, it is severely lacking in detail and practical information. It is filled with wonderful pictures but I think the author spent minimal time on the actual text. Perhaps that is not the emphasis of this book but it would have been nice to include more than two relatively small paragraphs (larger font size, too!) on a topic such as Balance and Proportion (pg 62). Unfortunately, this is typical of the topics in the book. On the plus side, it does cover a broad range of topics from portraits, to architecture, to nature. I also like how the author shows you the final picture and a picture or diagram of how the lighting and camera were set up. However, although the table of contents is impressive, the actual written information is lacking detail. If you are in search of a book that has to do more with how and WHY to compose or light a subject a certain way, then I suggest looking elsewhere. My own search continues.

I'm afraid I found this book uninspiring and confusing when I was given it as a beginner. Some time after I bought John Shaw's series of books which really put me on the right track. John Hedgecoe fails to explain the principles clearly. Each page is full of unimportant detail, for instance, as a beginner one is left wondering why he used a 6x6 camera in one set up and a 35mm in another. Although, studio set-ups are illustrated, nowhere in the book is there a proper dicussion of contrast and exposure latitudes of films. My advice is look elsewhere.

The author did a good job in meeting the purpose of the book.
This book is for those who are looking for good photography
techniques and several other aspects which usually get ignored.
Covers several aspects of photography. This is not for beginners. At the same time this is not for professionals too. This is for those who have been photographing and want to add a professional touch to it.

It is a wonderful tool for beginners who would like to understand the basic concepts of photography as well as some advanced techniques..:o) There are a lot of pictures and graphics showing the differences of the right and wrong in each situation the book describes.

Is a valuable resource book when learning the art of photography. You can learn a great deal about technique. Is a good How to book. However, is a basic guide to photography, and if you have moved past the basics, would be useless to you.

I'm fairly new to photography and found this book an excellent learning tool. It covers the technical aspects of how a camera works and the basic concepts of taking good pictures (i.e. lighting, texture, color, etc.). It also discusses how to photograph many, many different scenarios (e.g. landscape, sunsets, etc.). Definitely one of the better photography books that I've read.

Must have for beginning photographers. I borrowed it from the library and found that I must own a copy for myself.

This is an all-encompassing book for photography. It is very professionally done, making a very pleasant read. Even though it doesn't focus on digital, it doesn't have to. It is a guide on how to see and take better photographs, not a guide to digital cameras. It is almost a must for beginners, but everyone can learn something from it!