All-color guide for people who enjoy photography.
PhotoSecrets San Francisco & Northern California
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not a book for pro photographers looking for insight or technical secrets. The pictures in this book have interesting composition, but they are not world-class photos. In fact there are some which are plain poor (... there are several out of focus pictures and some with poor exposure). This book isn't for the pros though, it is for the amateurs. But what the book DOES have are outstanding tips for helping amateur photographers understand why to do certain things in certain locations, such as what lens selection does to the shot composition, and how to pick intersting angles.
Is it a travel book? Not really. It lists locations in a given area but it won't help you plan your day in a city.
Now with that said ... this book is truly a photo location list. Most travelers are not pro photographers, but they love to get a tip or two on how to take good photos. Having this book alongside a travel guide goes a long way to help finding and composing interesting pictures. Travelers want to find places where they can take memorable photographs, but travel books don't help with that much. So this book definitely fills a specifc need.
I find this book enjoyable in this aspect, ... It is extremely well illustrated with pictures, examples, maps and beginner photo tips. Don't buy it for travel tips, don't buy it for photography lessons, but buy it to find out how you can make the most of finding the truly memorable locations, and buy it for seeing a photo composition process by working backwards from the final product.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great book but you must understand that it is neither an instruction manual on photography nor a real tour guidebook for San Francisco. It is written to help give you a chance to get great shots of northern California landmarks. It not only points out the best locations from which to take pictures but also provides other info such as which time of day proviides the best lighting.
On a recent trip to SF I got some amazing shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from places I would never have known even existed without this book. It shows you perspectives from several different locations for each landmark so you can choose your favorite. This allows you to head straight for the spot you've picked out and know what time of day you need to be there to get them. This kind of plan of attack will greatly increase your chances of getting great pictures.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO. And I love photographing San Francisco. It is a beautiful city. However, if you don't actually live there and know the city like the back of your hand, you probably miss out on a lot of popular places where you can get great shots. This book tells you where to go, at what time of the day or night (to get the best shots), whether dawn/morning/noon/late afternoon or sunset time is best from a particular location, where to stand, what kinda lenses/exposures to use, et al.
Great book for budding photographers and tourists. Worth every cent! BTW, the pictures are not all award-winning shots, but something you can go and take with your camera after reading the book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not Good on Kindle ipad
I was very disappointed in the Kindle version of this book on an ipad. The images are low quality and black and white. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mark Merritt
May be everything you're looking for
I'm a pretty serious amateur photographer, 40+ years' experience, friends call many of my images "amazing" even when they're not drinking. Read more
Published 13 months ago by M. Magner
Photo Spots in SF Ca
This book is really ooold! It needs to be updated; is there a newer edition?
Conditions at the places, e.g., entrance fees, hours of operation, etc. Read more
Conditions at the places, e.g., entrance fees, hours of operation, etc. Read more
Published 14 months ago by libroreader
One of my favs
I love love love this book. I was in a couple photography classes and I loved using this book to go out and get great location ideas for some of my work. Read more
Published on December 28, 2009 by therightamt
A tour guide is all this is...
Having ordered this based on the rave reviews, I have to agree with the one star reviewer. This is more of a general "tour guide" book with bits of history and information, than a... Read more
Published on August 6, 2009 by Fishychips
Big help
This book really helped me get to some great locations for photos. The only thing that is missing is a good map inside. The directions however are excellent.
Published on May 4, 2009 by W. Pietrusiewicz
Super work on outdoor photography !
Living in San Francisco and shooting with my new Canon XSi I have found that this book is EXCELLENT in both format and content. Read more
Published on February 17, 2009 by Leonard Eng
A Good Guide and Useful
I took the trip of a lifetime to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park earlier this month, and this was one of two photo guidebooks that I bought to plan the trip and carried... Read more
Published on April 20, 2008 by Abbie Brown
I live in SF and I love this book
What this book does:
Shows you maps of various points of interest in San Francisco and Northern California (even Yosemite is briefly covered! Read more
Shows you maps of various points of interest in San Francisco and Northern California (even Yosemite is briefly covered! Read more
Published on June 28, 2007 by Alberto Vargas
Wonderful For The Aspiring Amateur Photographer
Even flipping through this book is exciting, let alone going out to the sites described in it.
The photos are beautiful. Read more
The photos are beautiful. Read more
Published on May 9, 2007 by Porsche
Inside This Book
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Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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