Nature Photography Close Up: Macro Techniques in the Field [Paperback]

Paul Davies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Nature reveals her unseen beauty in an up-close-and-personal fashion in the photographs of Paul Harcourt Davies and Peter Parks. Zooming in on the "faces" of dragonflies and hornets, unearthing the intricate patterns of fungi and mosses, and even capturing the active beauty of plankton, Nature Photography Close Up presents a "think small" approach to natural subjects. Containing dozens of full-color photographs, each accompanied by a succinct and insightful essay, this gorgeous book doubles as a showcase and an instructional guide. Any photographers with an interest in macro nature photography will enjoy this new way of looking at the unseen wonders around them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A resident of London, Paul Harcourt Davies is an internationally known photographer and naturalist, specializing in nature photography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Amphoto Books (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081745019X
• ISBN-13: 978-0817450199
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,982,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nature Photography Closse Up, August 28, 2007

By 

Kevin "spiralcity" (Chicago, U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nature Photography Close Up: Macro Techniques in the Field (Paperback)

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY CLOSE UP

I seen one review posted about this book and thought it was a bit unfair. Therefore, I decided to write a review of my own and point out some of the good things this books manages to cover.

First, I would like to state that this book is not full of high contrast images. Sure, there are some but this is to be expected in macro work. There are many very good examples of close up photography presented in this book.

The next thing I would like to point out is the lay out of the book. It may come across as a textbook but it is designed so you can open up to any chapter and start from that particular point. In other words, you do not have to start from page one and read straight through. You can skip sections you may feel you already have a handle on.

Now lets talk about the information presented in this book. After all that's the meat and potatoes of any book, right?

This book starts out with a section devoted to camera basics, which covers what else, camera basics. This section is designed for beginners who may not have a grip on macro photography and in my opinion is a very good way to start a book on this subject.

A section on technique, digital photography, fieldwork, designing pictures and adapting imagery soon follow. Each of the sections is broken down into chapters and as stated before you can choose to read just the chapters you need. That is the true beauty of this book layout.

There may be better Macro books on the market but for the beginner this book is absolutely worthwhile. I would like to state one more time that the images in this book are fine. There are some great pictures presented on these pages. I have been shooting for quite some time and I enjoyed many of the photos here.

Maybe past reviewers take themselves a little too seriously. It does not pay to be full of ones self. Beauty is found in the eye of the beholder not in some technical jargon spewed forth by the so-called trained professional.

I rate this book a solid 3 1/2 stars.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Close up guide, May 31, 2007

By 

Paul Schleif "Micro-photographer" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nature Photography Close Up: Macro Techniques in the Field (Paperback)

I was anxious to receive this book because one of my often visited photo sites had recommended it. I found it, however, written and illustrated in a 1970's kind of textbook style with illustrations and information presented in a kind of disjointed way...little boxes of things on each page. The photography was not really up-to-date on a skill level. Much of the photography used was flash-orientated, which made high contrast images, with limited photographic skill...at least by today's standards. I've spent hours with John Shaw's Close up work, and also Robert Thompson's medium format Close-ups. Those works were illustrated with perfectly exposed and framed photographs...high quality work. The text sections do provide some useful information, but books of this sort really need to provide a good bit of inspiration to be useful to the aspiring macro photographer. Equipment recommendations were both interesting and helpful by bringing some 'outside the box' considerations. I would recommmend the book for a growing collection, but not as a single source for macro info...there are may other sources you should also consider.