Customer Reviews

Photographing Flowers: Inspiration*Equipment*Technique

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

 

 

Not only is this book beautifully visual to look at, it is full of information and ideas. Though it's not for digital cameras per se but for 35mm instead. Photography is subjective and you can use the information to make you a better photographer. The same information about technique, philosophy, etc. can be used when you shoot with your digital camera. Many digital cameras have similar functions so that the information found can be carried over such as manual vs. auto focus. Lenses and filters can translate to using filters in Photoshop™ or another graphic manipulative software. The author's favorite filters are warm up, polarizer and soft focus which can be replicated in Photoshop™.

She urges you to experiment with aperture priority to control the depth of field. Term "depth of field" refers to the zone in a photograph which appears to be completely sharp. Just using the camera's Auto mode is unlikely to succeed in how she creates her beautiful photos of flowers. She makes them look ethereal or more like art. There are many examples of flower photos at different apertures and shutter speeds which helps you to understand the concept. With digital cameras being so popular today I think many of us never turn the knob to something other than "Auto".

The technical aspects in this book are very important but what affected me the most were viewing the beautiful flower photos. The author prefers impressionist and abstract painters and it shows in her photography. Creating abstract views brings us up close and personal. I have been photographing my garden flowers for years but come next summer I will certainly look at them differently through my lens because of this book. I highly recommend this book if you seriously enjoy photographing flowers or just looking at the beautiful prints. What is a book for but to expand your mind and perhaps to make you look at a subject in a different way. This book certainly does!

I am an amatuer photographer and am beginning to specialize in flower photography. There is no doubt that the photography in Sue Bishop's book are beyond stunning, espcially her macro photos, which often focus on just a small part of a flower, leaving the rest of the frame a wash of color. Her photos are flowers as fine art; the best of Monet-like impressionism.

My problem with the book is that I believe it is lacking in detail, especially the technique(s) she used to obtain a specific shot. Instead of a photo having, shutter speed, depth of field (DOF), and other types of technical detail, she will simply say something like 'here I used my macro lense with an extension tube'.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book, both for the gorgeous photography and for the ideas it will give other photographers in ways of approaching their own flower photography.

One thing I want to mention is an earlier review which talks about the author's use of filters. This review says that a photographer can get the same effects using Photoshop. While this is somewhat true, I have never found the special effects obtainable in CS3 to truly replicate in-camera effects. My goal is always to get the best possible shot in-camera. I would rather spend a few extra minutes setting up a shot, experimenting with filters, etc, than spend hours in CS3 trying to obtain the same effect.

A beautiful book, recommended the stunning pictures, a bit less for the technical aspects.

I am very happy with the book. The wrapping was seamless; the images are beautiful; and the tips are practical and they work.

The book contains (very) good pictures of flowers. The subtitle (Inspiration, Equipment and Technique) is a little misleading since only the basics of Equipment and Technique are covered. These basics are covered in clear text and good pictures. Examples of use of color are good.

The inspiration part of this book is good since the book contains a lot of beautiful pictures which take you off the beaten track.

There are some nice inspirational photographs in the book with some technical info. If you are somewhat familiar with your camera and are technically proficient with your camera, you can use this book to improve your flower photography skills.