Wide-Angle Lens Photography: A Complete, Fully Illustrated Guide (Amherst Media's Photo-Imaging Series) [Paperback]

Joseph Paduano (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Each of these books, geared to serious amateurs and professionals, deals with a specialized area of photography for which there are few other books. Paduano's will be of greatest appeal to amateur photographers who wish to expand their abilities with a camera. White's will appeal more to those photographers who wish to explore a unique way of seeing. Well organized and clearly written, the books are also nicely designed and contain excellent illustrations. White's, in particular, features several crisp line drawings and a number of exceptional photographs. A good value for any library wishing to strengthen its collection of popular technical manuals on photography; highly recommended for all public libraries that support photography courses.?Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, Ill.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Create powerful photos using wide-angle lenses and a book which covers the specifics. There are plenty of general photography how-to titles on the market, so it's refreshing to see a book devoted entirely to the successful use of a lens which can produce so much, yet which can prove challenging and difficult. From travel photos to special effects, this reveals all. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936262435
• ISBN-13: 978-0936262437
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #704,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish but enthusiastic, October 19, 2001

By 

Chris Quartetti (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wide-Angle Lens Photography: A Complete, Fully Illustrated Guide (Amherst Media's Photo-Imaging Series) (Paperback)

Mostly mediocre photos and some marginal advice. Spend two minutes looking at the pictures then move on. An example of some circular logic from chapter 3 you can do without:

"Because wide-angle lenses record more of an area when shooting large groups of people, they allow you to move in close and still get everyone in the shot, ensuring that people in the shot will not diminish in size. If you used a lens with a longer focal length, you would have to move back to get everyone in the shot and they would appear smaller in size."

If you're after solid advice on technique you would be better served by a book such as The Ansel Adams Guide : Book 1 : Basic Techniques of Photography.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely bad, January 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Wide-Angle Lens Photography: A Complete, Fully Illustrated Guide (Amherst Media's Photo-Imaging Series) (Paperback)

There is some good advice in this book... which can also be found in any general photography text. Unfortunately there is also advice that is plain wrong. The pictures are unimaginative. A large proportion are fisheye pictures of the worst kind... "look, the building is curved!". The really bizarre part is Appendix B: "Nikon Wide angle lenses", which is a list of... Nikon wide angle lenses. What anyone is supposed to do with this, I don't know. Don't buy this book. Any good general photography book will teach you more about the use of wide angle lenses.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent introduction to wide-angle photography, June 29, 2001

By 

David P. Ellis (Takoma Park, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wide-Angle Lens Photography: A Complete, Fully Illustrated Guide (Amherst Media's Photo-Imaging Series) (Paperback)

Like many people ..., I had to purchase this book sight unseen. I don't necessarily regret doing so, but if I had the option to peruse a bookstore first, I probably would have leafed through it, read it a bit and then returned it to the shelf. As a novice photographer, I am in no position to critique photographs. However, fairly or unfairly, I am influenced by the impression the accompanying example photos make on me. A photography book that contains jaw-dropping photos influences me more and lends credibility (IMHO) to what the author is touting. In this book, most of the photos are difficult to appreciate because they are b&w reprints on standard paper. This really hurts the image quality of the photos. Even still, I was not that impressed by the color photos included either. Perhaps a wide-angle camera has less ability/versatility than I first imagined it would, or perhaps the shortcoming is in the particular photographer's ability to utilize a wide-angle lens most effectively. Quite frankly, the photos I found in the book didn't looking any more impressive than photos I've shot with my simple point and shoot. This bothered me.

I hate to sound so critical because it is a decent introduction to wide-angle photography. I think the greatest attribute the book offers is its extensive glossary of basic photography terms (e.g. flare, macro, f/stop, depth of field, focal length, rectilinear lens, etc.). If you do not have a firm grasp on all these terms, you might find this book useful for this reason if no other. If you are already familiar with these terms, however, I doubt you'll find much usefulness from this book. ...