Customer Reviews

Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've bought and read dozens of how-to photography books over the years. I enjoyed Peterson, Freeman and many others. In the digital age we have a glut of books on digital photography and post-processing by well-known self-promoters churning out the product. Until now, the only two remaining on my shelf were Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography and Bob Krist's Spirit of Place.
Within the Frame will join them. When millions of photos are snapped by cameras and phones or produced via software, David eloquently reminds us that vision, creativity, sensitivity and thought are (and always have been) at the core of making (not just taking) meaningful images. This book is a must-read, and one which you'll return to again and again for inspiration and insight. Deserves to be in hardcover, and easily earns the right to be called a classic.

Taking a picture is easy. You aim the camera, fiddle a few dials if you have a digital single lens reflex camera, and press a button. Taking an image that speaks to people, perhaps even rises to the level of art, is much harder. You have to add a secret ingredient, vision, to get that kind of image.

There are tons of books that talk about technique, like exposure, composition, post processing and so forth. As far as I know there are only a handful of good books that tell about how to get the secret ingredient. This book is one of them.

A description of the chapter headings doesn't do justice to the book, or even a look at the subheadings. What can one learn about a book from a heading like "Indecisive Moments" in a chapter called "Within the Frame"? It all sounds so vague.

A few years ago in a review I wondered whether you can teach someone to be creative (which I took to be similar to developing vision.) The author took issue with me in a conversation, even though I had praised her book. Now six years later I still wonder if you can teach someone vision.

Vision is not like exposure. It's not a matter of setting menus and dials and getting feedback from a histogram. It's vague and amorphous and not everyone will view a subject and see it with vision. Yet it's critical to photographic success.

DuChemin gives the effort to teach vision a good shot. For example early in the book he urges the reader to "shoot what moves you". Good advice that almost doesn't need any explanation, although the author's discussion certainly reinforces the point.

In the later chapters, the author provides more specific guidance about things to look for in certain subjects. For example he notes that in photographing places we should "slow down" and "try going deeper rather than broader".

The author's images are all striking and support his thesis. Moreover he notes that post-processing is essential to realizing the vision you had when you captured the image. It is a minor quibble but I certainly wished that he could show how this worked with a few more of his images. Almost none of the books on post-processing do this. Perhaps that can be a subject for his next book.

Maybe it's because I've been watching "In Treatment" on television, but it seems to me that the author can't teach you how to get good photographic vision. Rather he can just walk along with you and point to things while you find your vision buried deep within you. Fortunately duChemin is an excellent walker and pointer and most serious photographers will benefit from reading this book.

Given the nature of this book, especially the point regularly made that seeing is more important to a photographer then is equipment, it seems almost sacrilegious to point out that there is an additional chapter on line about gear for the traveling photographer.

After I have read so many positive reviews of this book, I decided to order it. What struck me is the fact that not many photography books have rating that high at Amazon, and most of them have valid criticism. DuChemin's books seemed like an exception to the trend. I cannot tell you how much my expectorations went up but I was very eager to get it.

Let me first say that I'm new to photography and as many others looking for things that are most valuable to get started and continuously improve, that is- train my eye, search for vision, get inspired whenever I grab my camera and go out. Under these circumstances you have to consider things how much you travel and what you like to photograph. David DuChemin is inspired by visiting new places and meeting new people, he is inspired by sacred houses of worship, new cultures etc. The title itself contains the main theme of the book: journey of photographic vision.

However, after one reads the reviews, one gets the feeling that it does not matter if the book talks so much about travelling, it is all about bringing out your vision. The only question I have how? The book does give you some valuable tips like what accessories you should take with you, how to interact with people from different cultures, should you pay people for photographing them etc. Do these things really help you to bring out your vision?

Moreover, I was not impressed with the photos in the book, but I like examples how light influences the portraits. The lighting tips were the most useful even though they are thrown here and there.

Now my advice for potential buyers and beginners in photography would be omitting this book and buying Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson and The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman. The former has very valuable tips that could help to improve your creativity, inspire you and most importantly it's very practical. The latter will show you what to look for in photographs and teach you many valuable things about composition and design.

Yep. I'm ambivalent about this book. No question that David DuChemin is a very gifted photographer, but this isn't a coffee table book. It's about vision, but what the other reviews don't seem to mention is that his vision is not about photography in North America or the west in general, but Kathmandu, Havana, Cairo and the banks of the Ganges. The advice he gives appears very sound, but approaching somebody in Kathmandu and somebody in Des Moines strike me as quite a different tasks. Most of us are far more limited in creating our vision than the author and I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it and gained much more from it if he had shot more in his hometown of Vancouver.

His vision is beautifully executed, but I'd have liked an indication before I bought this book that it was more about travel photography.

As an admirer of David duChemin's photography as well as an habitual reader of his blog, my expectations for his first book were extremely high. Following weeks of impatient anticipation, "Within The Frame" arrived on Monday. Remarkably, he has managed to exceed my expectations. David duChemin is a gifted communicator. He has written a book that is full of information and inspiration. More than reading, it's like sitting in a leather chair around a cozy fire in an Adirondack lodge on an Autumn day, while engaged in captivating conversation about vision and photography with David himself. It's inspiring, rewarding and, yes, comfortable. I'd like more. Much more.

David duChemin has clearly not only thought about what he wished to say but also how the reader would digest the information. For example, he mentions panning, and, is if he can see the reader's curiosity peak, he adds a bit of how-to into his vision manifesto.

This is definitely not a how-to photography book that will collect dust on your shelf. This is all about personal vision and the whys of photography without being nerdy or scientific. There is indeed how-to information that sneaks into the book, but it's just enough to help less-experienced photographers without boring more-seasoned photographers. And the book is overflowing with inspirational images.

This book is a no brainer. It's a must for anybody interested in photography. After having read this book, you will never look through your viewfinder in the same way again, and your photographs will almost certainly be better as a result.

In my den I have a table sitting next to my chair. On the bottom shelf are the books I call 'the inspiration books.' The books of photography, not so much the books about photography. I've read the books about photography. Many of them over the years. To learn. To get ideas about how to perform a specific task or set of tasks to create an image. But it is 'the inspiration books' that I turn to when I'm looking for more than the technical. Looking for my vision.

Withing the frame will not join that shelf of inspiration books. It will go on my desk and I suspect that within a year or so I will be looking to buy another copy. I plan to have this one worn out by then. Falling apart from overuse.

This is one of the best books about the art of photography that I've read in recent history, perhaps ever. Its style is straightforward, written simply, but with great insight and inspiration. It is a cohesive statement of the power of vision in telling a story with a photograph, of sharing a statement of how I view the subject and expressing my experience with the subject. It encourages connection to the subject, of slowing down to experience what is around you and then sharing visually the experience.

This book will serve as inspiration for me for a long time to come. I believe it will influence how I experience the 'inspiration books' and will serve as a guide for reminding me that the photographic journey is as important as the photograph itself.

Perhaps it's me, but I purchased this book with the idea that it would reveal the artist's thoughts on composition and technique, and in this regard, I found it disappointing. Although it includes plenty of wonderful and well composed photographs, there's very little accompanying dialog explaining the thought process behind the technique. Nothing really wrong with that, but I suppose if I wanted a coffee table book of photographs, this wouldn't have been my first choice.

I love this book. It works on so many levels. Appeals to both the geek and the artist in me. And manages to put every other aspect of photography into perspective. With a firm grasp on vision (the 'why')... everything else becomes clearer.

The book itself is gorgeous. Filled with some of my favourite photographs. Kudos to Peachpit Press for making such a beautiful book. I have two of David's prints hanging on my walls, so I was curious to see the print quality. It's really very good. Also loving the square format!

Teaching "geek" photographers how to see creatively is big challenge. There is a book by Bryan Peterson, Learning to see creatively. Bryan's book is doing a good job in showing how to use compositions and perspective to create a stronger photos, but fail to teach reader how to acquire a creative eye.

David's book, is another book that addresses this problem. David stresses heavily on the importance of having a good vision, but like Bryan, he fails to teach readers how to acquire a good eye. Instead of teaching, David is trying to inspire readers to be self aware, and aware on anything around us that might be a good photo opportunity.

The other theme that is emphasized in the book is about story telling. Individual photos might be compelling, but a series of photos are able to tell story better and more complete. It can potentially change the world.

For David, post processing is also an important factor in photography. He argues that post processing is essential to enhance some elements to convey certain moods or exclude elements that might be distracting such as color.

The rest of the book is assorted tips on David's experience photographing around the world. Many are helpful and practical. Unfortunately, in many chapters, I feel the discussion is not in-depth. Advanced photographers will likely to be bored on many repetitive topic such as basic composition, telephoto vs wide angle lens and so on.

This book is definitely not a how-to or technical books. David assumes that you did your homework, understanding basic photography such as exposure, and learn how your gears work. But don't worry, David also gives you some small practical tips in almost every chapter on how to make your photo better. The book has no less than 150 great photos in 255 pages. Check out my blog radiantlite.com for other books and gears reviews.

I recommend this book for beginners and the geeks.

This is a book about how to communicate your heart's passion photographically. It gets you thinking about what you want to share graphically, with whom you want to share it and why. Next it introduces you to the visual language that will best help you communicate this message to the prospective viewers of your images. Only then does it discuss the techniques in areas such as lighting, exposure and composition that will refine your visual grammar and vocabulary. Though equipment is not a major focus of the book as such, there are helpful suggestions as to which features of certain lenses and cameras will help you achieve your aim. The attractive, and often times powerful, photographs that accompany the text are annotated with camera model and basic settings that serve to illustrate this (a kind of `visual spelling bee'). There is also a downloadable bonus chapter (pdf format) where the author briefly introduces the equipment he was using and explains the rationale behind choosing it in the light of his own photographic vision. But, as I mentioned, that really isn't the heart of the author's message.

Many photography books spend a lot of time focusing on equipment and technique, some of them do so very well. Only a handful successfully link these to the photographer's vision and purpose. David duChemin's first book is one of these and as such I wholeheartedly recommend it.