Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography (Paperback)

by Stephen Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"We are in the Stone Age of digital photography. We've figured out how to make some tools, but it is just now beginning to dawn on us what we might do with them. I've often been frustrated at the concentration on the technical aspect of digital photography with so little discussion of the aesthetics and heart behind the image making. This book is essentially a distillation of what I've been teaching over the last 25 years."

Master photographer Stephen Johnson has been taking beautiful landscape photography for decades, and teaching others the practical art of image making since 1977. While he started out with traditional film camera techniques, Johnson is widely recognized among his peers as a pioneer of digital photography. Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography chronicles his ride on the bleeding edge of this medium's evolution, and provides a practical in-depth introduction to digital photography that offers the latest techniques for beginning and experienced photographers alike.

What sets this guide apart from other books on the topic is its approach and execution: This isn't a Photoshop book, although Photoshop has its place within the book; it's a book that a master teacher and photographer creates after a lifetime of showing others how to understand and make great photography. With 5 color photographs throughout, including black/gray duotones, and 715 illustrations reproduced with a 200 line screen, Johnson's book covers everything from:

The basics of digital photography

Film camera techniques vs. digital

Practical approaches of the filmless photographer

Techniques of the digital darkroom

A photographer ™s digital journey

Photography, art and the future

This is a holistic work (and method for teaching) that embraces the state of photographic tools and techniques, blended with suggestions and experiences on why I make photographs, Johnson says. At its best, photography rides that crest where technology and art intersect. But the deepest engagement that photography can bring remains its ability to capture and hold a moment before the lens. In this age of digital manipulation, that fundamental fact must be remembered.

About the Author
Stephen Johnson is a landscape photographer, designer and teacher. He has been photographing since 1973. His work has been featured in Communication Arts, Life Magazine, American Photo, Outdoor Photographer, the MacNeil-Lerher Newshour and ABC Discovery News, among many others. His books include At Mono Lake, the award winning and critically acclaimed The Great Central Valley: California's Heartland, Making a Digital Book and the new Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography. Internationally recognized as a digital photography pioneer, Johnson's photographs have been exhibited, published and collected in the United States, Europe, Mexico and Japan. In 1994 he embarked on With A New Eye, the ground breaking all digital photographic look at American national parks, to be published in 2007. In 2003 he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. His photography Sudios, Galleries and Education Center are located in Pacifica, California.

At Mono Lake

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059652370X
• ISBN-13: 978-0596523701
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,428 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography, August 18, 2006

By	Anthony Hobbs "Lecturer in Digital Media" (Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have worked alongside Steve in Ireland, California and Antarctica and having this book is like having the Master at your side. Steve is the consumate teacher. He has a unique gift of making the complex simple. As a teacher myself, I understand the challenge. In this book, Stephen Johnson takes the reader along on his own personal journey of discovery, dealing with the birth of Digital imaging and the transition from film to silicon in a way that is both history lesson and photoshop primer. The key feature of this book over most others on similar topics is that it is aimed at photographers who are passionate about making beautiful images and not obsessed with the latest filter or gimick. Steve's approach takes you through the process from visualisation to fine print stopping along the way with tips and advice on how to maximise the quality with the minimum of intervention. The book is beautifully written, designed and produced to a standard we have grown to expect from Stephen Johnson. I am making it a mandatory purchase for my Fine Art Media students. As a photographer and teacher for 30 years and working digitally for the last 12 or so, I still could not put this book down. I learnt something from every page. I cannot reccommend it highly enough.

Anthony Hobbs

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most interesting photo book I've read, August 20, 2006

By	ueberhund "ueberhund" (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This is a truly fascinating book. Rather than just another How-To book on digital photography, the author takes the reader on a journey through a history of "digital imaging", shows how the same principles of "classic" photography apply to digital photography today, and examines what the future may hold. According to the author, we are still in the stone age of digital photography--we are only now becoming aware of some of the tools that are available. He speculates, "just imagine what the future holds".

Digital photography actually has its ancestors in the cathode ray tube, the television, and even radar. Rudimentary sorts of digital cameras were used in the Voyager space programs. In any case, the digital camera you use today owes a great deal to these early ancestors. Understanding this history is important, so that the workings of modern digital cameras is understood.

While digital photography does not use a darkroom per se, as in classic photography, a computer running Photoshop can act as a digital darkroom. In this section, the author discusses some of the common techniques used in a "digital darkroom". Interestingly enough, many of these techniques have a direct counterpart in classic photography. It is fascinating to see so many similarities.

Finally, there is a very interesting discussion on photo doctoring, ethics, and what the future may hold in this regard for digital photography. In this section, the author shows a doctored photo of President Clinton shaking hands with an alien (courtesy of the Weekly World News), and even more insidious, a doctored photo of John Kerry and Jane Fonda together at an anti-war rally (the photo of John Kerry was taken in 1971; the photo of Jane Fonda in 1972). Through these examples, it becomes clear what a huge moral responsibility photographers shoulder.

This was a great book--not only to read about some of the history of photography, but to also see a master at work on his own photographs. This is one of the most insightful, interesting, and educational books I have read on digital photography, or even photography in general.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb on all counts., August 16, 2006

By	Andrew A. Stern (Berkeley, Ca) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book for anyone who is a photographer, either professional or amateur. It is also the photography book for the 21st century. Now that film is pretty much dead, both for the camera and darkroom, this book is essential for understanding the new digital technology. Stephen Johnson was there at the creation, and this book takes you through all of the necessary steps for understanding and working in the digital format.
The book is extremely well written. The language is clear, the illustrations are beautiful. I have taken several workshops with Stephen, and as others have said, he is superb teacher. In fact he is responsible for getting me started on the path of digital photography, and teaching me how to scan and print some my old black and white negatives from Appalachia. This has resulted in several exhibits, including a major one at the University of Kentucky next year. In the last few years, I have bought several books on digital photography, but this is the one I will keep close to my computer. A final note: I used to teach photography at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, if I were still teaching (now emeritus), this would be my textbook of choice. It is simply superb.