Customer Reviews

Photography and the Performing Arts

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

 

 

Interesting to me that this book, on photography and the performing arts, has about 70 ish images but I feel could do with more. I think the information covered is great and there is a lot of advice yet it could be greatly enhanced with images for setting up, lighting tips, and more examples from a wider range of the arts - and more color images would be nice.

The version I have is from 1994, so could do with an updated digital section as the world has gone this way, but again how could a book written in the past be blamed for the present. That would not be fair at all, so in 1994 this book would have scored a 4.5 or 5 from me.

As a reviewer in 2010 we must consider the date and current scenarios photographer are working under.

If you are interested in reading about a hard area of photography, the arts, this is a great book. I also consider the arts difficult to shoot as events like dance/ballet require mastery of f-stops and shutter speeds as the motion is fast and lighting dim. In dance you should have sat the rehearsals to know what will happen when - as this dictates where a professional will decide to sit for the event, and at what stages they will move.

If you want a lot of great example shots, perhaps this is not the book for you - it is more text heavy. For ballet - look in ballet magazines, for concerts look in Rock Mags (or whichever genre).

Now if you are seriously becoming an "arts" photographer - this book is absolutely a must for your collection. This is a different game and being aware of all you can is critical.

This book is long enough to be complete, 189 pages, and does not get boring. The author covers more angles on the subject than one might imagine. The typical camera and lens information of photo books is covered plus many other fascinating aspects of Theater photography such as "Photographic Needs of Individuals" such as actors, musicians, singers, dancers, etc.. He also covers picture quality factors and marketing of services and does so while remaining insightful. This is better than the average overview books of its type available by other authors and working photographers. I must say that Kopelow has done a fine job. The price of this book is brutally high, likely since it has little or no competition for the particular type of photography that it considers, but I don't feel cheated as I have when buying other high priced books.