Customer Reviews

Art and Science of Butterfly Photography

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Art and Science of Butterfly Photography by WilliamFolsom

Disapointed! Disapointing! Disapointment! And just to makemyself clear, a very great letdown. Mr. Folsom takes a lepidopteristapproach to photography rather than a photographers approach to butterfly shooting. And there is absolutly nothing wrong with this, since the result is a book that does not create the technophobia that glazes so many current readers eyes. It is in fact a very good effort by Mr. Folsom, which appears not to have been taken seriously by the publisher (Oh, heresy!). How on earth Amherst Media could have allowed a book on butterfly shooting to be published in BLACK AND WHITE simply baffles me. Naturally cost containment was the Holy Grail of this edition, but full bleed color photographs were certainly warranted. Of the almost 90 butterfly photographs contained in the book, ONLY EIGHT WERE IN COLOR! Adding insult to injury, many of the black and white photos were poorly reproduced, leaving the (false) impression that Mr. Folsom was incapable of taking a decent photograph. Admitedly, butterfly photography is a sometimes art that results in many fuzzy photos and much shaky focusing. Mr. Folsom readily expounds on much of the difficulty in obtaining crisp, clean renderings of these magnificent critters. However, as a naturalist, Mr. Folsom would never submit photograph upon photograph of the mediocre quality as reproduced in this book. And therein lies the sin of the black and white renditions of color photos. They are simply not reproduced at the same quality level at which they were taken. END

I own two copies of this book. I share my extra copy with other photographers who are interested in photographing butterflies. It is an particularly good resource for any serious novice or intermediate photographer. The book reviews and reinforces basic photography concepts with a distinct emphasis on mastering depth of field. The book is well organized, well written and easy to understand. It is full of useful tips and much of the material is transferable to other photographic subjects. The tips on photographing butterflies, i.e., where to find them, insect behavior, equipment and technique is very solid information.

I really enjoyed this book. It was helpful in both the scientific aspects of how to predict butterfly behavior, and the photographic aspects of capturing them on film. I found it an excellent balance between, as the title implies, art and science. The butterfly is one of the most beautiful, but elusive, of nature subjects. I have been photographing nature for years, but the tips I found in the book immediately improved my photos. The photos were helpful, as were the references at the back, to books and online resources. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone even thinking of photographing butterflies. The advice is also widely applicable to capturing other wary nature subjects.

A superbly written and illustrated "how to" manual for aspiring photographers, William Folsom's Art And Science Of Butterfly Photography provides step-by-step techniques covering all aspects of this specialized segment of nature photography. Readers will learn were to find butterflies, butterfly behavior, how to approach butterflies, common species identification, building butterfly habitats, shooting outdoors, at butterfly parks, and in studio, what shots to look for, and tips on photographing the entire butterfly life cycle. Also included is invaluable, practical information on selecting the right photographic equipment, lighting and metering, compositions techniques, as well as controlling foreground and background characteristics. If you intend to photograph butterflies, begin with a careful reading of William Folsom's Art And Science Of Butterfly Photography!

Mr. Folsom has done a splendid job with his beautiful book on butterfly photography. I have begun to experiment with insect photography and found his book chuck full of practical, useful tips and suggestions. So many photographic books have endless pages on technical details or expound upon the obvious. This beautiful book provides a wonderful blend of photographic pointers along with fascinating information on these marvelous little creatures. Mr. Folsom should be comended for producing such a helpful manual on the fine art of butterfly photography.

The Art and Science of Butterfly Photography is a well thought out book which should appeal to anyone interested in butterfly photography. For the amateur Lepidopterist, the book contains a wealth of practical information on photographic techniques. For the amateur photographer, the book contains great information on the specific challenges of butterfly photography, as well as basic butterfly behavior -- where to find them, how to attract them, etc. Even someone new to both butterflies and photography should find all that they need to start taking outstanding pictures almost immediately. I am an amateur Lepidopterist with a basic knowledge of 35mm photography. I have read a number of general nature photography books, but they tend to focus on larger animals and landscapes which present very different challenges than photographing butterflies. This book was just what I have been looking for!

This book proves that you can't judge a book by its cover--open it up and find most photos are in black and white, and unbelievably almost none show enough depth of field to show the whole insect in focus. I was really stunned at the poor quality of photography here. The text does contain helpful information on general rules of photography, how to approach insects, etc. but the information on film and use of very old camera equipment is extremely outdated in this day of digital photogrpahy. I immediately packed this book up and sent it back for a refund.