Product Details

• Actors: Tony Sweet
• Directors: Gregory McKean
• Format: Anamorphic, NTSC, Widescreen
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 2
• Studio: Master Photo Workshops
• DVD Release Date: May 1, 2008
• Run Time: 270 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001878RY0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,060 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD instruction, October 30, 2008

By 

M. J. Skelton (Troy , NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tony Sweet's Visual Literacy: Photography Workshop (DVD)

I brought this DVD at Tony Sweet's New Hampshire workshop. You will get a lot of help and information watching the lessons, But what I found to be of great benefit is the first section of the second disc. Tony covers many of his own photos and teaches the approach and mindset of each photo as he took them. Then goes on to explain how to capture the effects for everyone to experiment with later in the field. This section is worth the price of the DVD alone.

I have now watched this section 3 times and recorded many of his methods in my notebook that I always carrying around in my car to read and reference when Im out shooting in the field. This DVD is a great tool that will help get you to the next level artistically.

Best of Light .
Michael J. Skelton

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Join a Photo Legend in the field and the studio, May 22, 2009

By 

E. Bowles (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tony Sweet's Visual Literacy: Photography Workshop (DVD)

I've always been a fan of Tony Sweet - he's got a unique eye and creative style that help to improve my creativity.

Tony Sweet's Visual Literacy is an intimate look in the field with Tony to learn how one of Nikon's Legends approaches a variety of opportunities.

This is a two DVD set. The first DVD takes the viewer along with Tony for a multi-day shoot in the Smokies in the Spring of 2008. Tony visits Cades Cove, Roaring Fork, Greenbrier, Tremont, and Clingman's Dome to create images at some of the prime locations in the park. Having been to the Smokies many times, these locations were very familiar. But it was interesting to see how Tony worked the locations and the lighting.

Here's an example of how the DVD flows. At the Ogle cabin in Roaring Fork, Tony goes to a familiar composition and talks you through his thought process for composition. Tony creates multiple compositions to work the site with everything from long lenses to close ups and IR and talks you through everything he is doing and why.

The second DVD takes the viewer into the studio to explore a variety of close up and macro techniques for florals. Then the DVD covers the editing process, the commercial side of professional photography, and the gear Tony uses in the field and the studio for photographs, editing and printing. I found the section about photographing flowers in the studio a little slow, but worth it to pick up important nuggets.

Each DVD has extra features that are worth a look. The Extra feature of the first DVD puts you in the car with Tony while he scouts locations in Cades Cove. Buckle your seat belt!

This is certainly one of the better purchases I've made. I own several of Tony's books, and have spent a great deal of time in the Smokies at these locations. But there is something about seeing these locations and the thought process of a great photographer at work. What's more - Tony is just a nice guy - intense about his craft but genuinely interested in helping those who view this DVD set.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I did learn some tricks, September 19, 2009

By 

D. Chakravarti (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tony Sweet's Visual Literacy: Photography Workshop (DVD)

The first DVD shows Tony trudging around the Smoky mountains and taking pictures. He described the shootings sporadically, as pro photographers would speak to advanced students. Some shootings were described better than others. How he managed lighting to deal with shadows and to enhance textures was instructive. I learned that #10 Magenta filter can be used to give a bit of life to fog, and the variable ND filter made by Singh-Ray can close down the light all the way to 8 stops, and is a great tool for taking blurry flowing water pictures.

I liked the first part of his second DVD much better. In this section, Tony analyzed some of his successful pictures. He made quite useful comments about mistakes in composition, lighting and editing. That is visual literacy proper. It was also interesting to watch him describe his equipment collection.

This DVD set is meant for somewhat advanced students of photography (which I am), but it does not do very well in addressing the usual questions of this group of photographers. So I give three stars.