Rick Sammon's Travel and Nature Photography (Paperback)

by Rick Sammon (Author)
Key Phrases: digital photography, focus lock, rapid frame advance, New York, Angkor Wat, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Highly recommended." Better Digital Photography "...a comprehensive opener to digital photography..." Digital Photography Made Easy "...an excellent guide for all digital photographers." Editor's Choice, PC Utilities"

Product Description

Go on location around the globe to learn the techniques that professional photographers use to make great photographs. Whether traveling with family or friends, for pleasure or for business, more of us tote cameras along than ever before. Rick Sammon guides us through dozens of different shooting situations from action shots to portraits, from aerials to zoos, from low light to bright light, from landscape to cityscape, from close-up to panorama, from silhouettes to sense of depth.

The book features how-to tips from a photographer who has traveled to over fifty countries, from photographing seals under the ice in Siberia's Lake Baikal to monarch butterflies on Mexican mountaintops. Sammon's thematically organized excursions take the reader to Vietnam, Kampuchea, Guatemala, India, Alaska, Singapore, Maine, Texas, New York City, Las Vegas, Botswana, the Caribbean, and the American Southwest, among many other locations.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1 edition (May 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393326691
• ISBN-13: 978-0393326697
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #421,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I don't know what to make out of this book, January 4, 2007

By	Programmer "There is so Much Learning Outside... (USA, CT) - See all my reviews

I really don't know what to make out of this book?

This book is shallow, boring and repetitive. Yes the pictures are good, very good, but that's about it.

Let me address the shallowness of this book first,
Page 142:
"When bright snow and ice are in a scene, compensate by setting the +/- Exposure Compensation control at +1. I know this sounds backward, but it's actually the correct exposure compensation technique."
Why? No replay, Rick is too busy to answer because: "...Okay, let's move on to some creative photo tips". Great.
And this pattern takes place all over the book. Author starts something, then jumps to another topic without finishing the first. No details, no explanation.

All of the "lessons" in the book cover the same topics:
Set ISO to lowest possible
Set the proper white balance
Take a story telling photos
Watch the background
Practise before trip
It would be fine if this would be mention once in the book, but every lessons is THE SAME, just different pictures. At first it gets boring, then annoying.


There are some digital editing examples, but majority of them accomplished with "fancy" Photoshop plugins. I find it useless, since I'm not a pro and have no budget to spend on all those fancy plugins, so how about sticking to photoshop?

There is no aperture, speed, ISO or focal length listed for the pictures in the book. Wonderful. And this is called a lessons in photography?

Yes the pictures are beautiful, but I checked the other Rick's books and author reuses 95% of those pictures in at least two more books. So what is the point of this book?

I would recommend to stay away from this book. It's useless.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Money very poorly spent, May 27, 2007

By	Gareth Burrows (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Personally I love photography, I consider myself a reasonably competent amateur/family/Travel photographer and I understand my digital SLR's settings quite well.
However, I'm always learning and it's fantastic to understand the thought process that leads professional photographers to obtain striking images. As a regular global traveller with both my work and as a tourist, I was under the impression that Rick would provide me with a fresh and magic insight into travel photography that has been eluding me.

Unfortunately, instead of photographers key tips for travel photography, I received a dull, egotistical and very thinly spread pre-agreed-book-size-filing drivel, consisting of mostly useless travel tips along the lines of: "when travelling never drink the tap water"... what never Rick? Never ever? So Canada, USA, Europe, Australia, etc poor water? only in Ricks town is the water suitable it seems.
"Wear a hat" wow thanks Rick, my photo's are better now.
"Don't wear bright colours on safari", and on and on.

There are some average and above average photo's in here (none with any real useful descriptions), but then again you have probably taken some pretty good photos yourself in the past, and if you did it for a living you would have time to take a lot more.

There are so many good entry and mid level photography tip books on the market by authors/photographers who really know their stuff and can move your photography forward, this really isn't one of them.

Rick, people want a travel/nature photography book because they also travel or photograph nature and want photo tips, not because they are in awe of you as a "photographer" and want to hear your dull camp fire travel tales.

Rick Sammon, you might be the nicest guy on the planet for all I know, but I feel totally cheated, I have never read such a poor photo tip book and I want my money back, unfortunately I have the aching suspicion you have spent it already whilst collating information for another book of drivel.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You will learn a lot about the author.., June 5, 2007

By	Burtm05 (USA) - See all my reviews

I just recently read "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby and picked up this book by Sammon based on the recommendation from Kelby. However, I would not recommend this book even to the most basic beginner. Although the book does contain a few helpful hints you will have to sort through the authors stories all the locations he has been, where he is currently in the world while writing a particular segment, etc. If you are looking for a book with basic information and lots of pictures with captions of where it was taken and what equipment (not basic by any means) he used to compose the shot this book is for you.