Customer Reviews

Photos with Impact

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

 

 

I've recently gotten the feeling that publishers have decided that photography instruction books sell more than books of photographs. "Photos with Impact" has helped me develop that feeling.

Tom Mackie is one of the world's top landscape photographers and has won many awards for his work. The pictures in this book all have impact.

This is not a book about techniques. The author presumes that you know how to take a competent photograph. What Mackie says he wants the reader to do is to learn how to see. He says that he will try to explain what he saw, and how he formed that vision, when he took a photograph that had impact, with the hope that the reader will be helped to find his own unique compositions. His chapters deal with light, designing the image, color and form, and enhancing the image, with a brief coda on the equipment he uses. He is quite comprehensive in his discussion of each of these topics, and if the reader studies each paragraph closely, he may learn something about composition. For example Mackie almost always uses polarizing filters to intensify colors and urges the reader to do the same. He is also not afraid to use other color filters to achieve his goal, and the reader may become convinced that there is no truth in a photograph, so one should always do what it takes to make an exciting picture.

My problem is that while the pictures have impact, Mackie's writing doesn't. The text just didn't hold my attention, although perhaps as I go back over the pictures, I?ll start to extract some new directions for my own work.

There is no doubt that the most difficult thing to teach any photographer is how to develop vision. Amongst recent books though, I've found Brenda Tharp's "Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography" to embody better instructional material. Tony Sweet's "Fine Art Nature Photography" with Sweet's dramatic pictures and brief comments about what he was trying to achieve and the tools that he used to reach his goal are quite instructive because of their pithiness. Niall Benvie's "Creative Landscape Photography" can force one to examine some of the underlying assumptions about the subject matter itself that effect the ultimate picture, and Freeman Patterson's hoary "Photography & the Art of Seeing" can still provide exercises for the unselfconscious to find their inner vision.

With company like that, Mackie would have to do more than present his own photos with impact to create a first class instructional manual. He would have to spend as much time thinking about teaching as he does about taking pictures.

I found this to be a very insightful and inspirational book!

Filled with stunning example after stunning example that make you pause in awe, this is a straight forward and well written book that belongs in the serious photographer's reference library.

I refer back to this book often to keep focused on effective use of colour and composition, which I try to incorporate into my photographic endeavors.

If you're looking for material that is rewarding and makes you want to run out and shoot - this publication suits the bill!

I only can give this book 3 stars based on the fine pictures. All the pictures were shot with medium format gear. You can't get these images with you're DSLR and certainly not your point and shoot.

If you would like to buy a book to view some great pictures...buy this one.

If you're an amateur and think you can recreate these pictures, think again unless you have $$$$$ lots of money as medium format gear is not cheap.

This book should be titled Photos with IMPACT...that you will probably never recreate in your lifetime.

A good book to keep for reference and comparison. Lovely photos and good explanations. Everything for the learner and the budding photographer.

The book was about "composition" and the author really done a good job. The photographs are excellent. I appreciate the author for the fact that he did not wasted pages into explaining about equipements, other technical things which are not related to the books subject - "composition".

But, the book would have been more worthy had he included the Aperture & shutter speed settings of the printed photos. When I see his stunning photos, it makes me guessing what would be the aperture & shutter speed? If I try to take similar photos of his, I can get the compostion, BUT.. I can't set the aperture & shutter, unless Iam good on that. In that sense, the beginners get bit let down.

I dont expect him to explain or talk about these topics either. But including shutter speed & aperture - if not for all photos - atleast for most would have made a big difference. Otherwise, It was really a great book.