I purchased this book, along with others, in advance of my brother's and my upcoming trip to Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches National Parks. As we are both avid amateur photographers, our priority for the vacation is to shoot great pictures while in Utah. I purchased several books to learn about the parks, find places to eat and stay, etc.; however, I purchased Photographing the Southwest Vol 1 specifically for guidance on getting the best pictures on our trip.
Photographing the Southwest Vol 1 is ideal for the purpose I purchased it for. The book identifies specific locations at each park that offer the best photographic opportunities. Matres provides remarkable detail in his guidance; for each spot you will learn where the spot is, what time of day is best for the lighting, what direction to face, what you will be shooting, what kind of lens to use, what filters are appropriate - even how much exposure compensation you should use given the high contrast between the shadows in the rocks and the bright sky.
The author recognizes that photographers come in all shapes, sizes and physical abilities, and he provides intelligent guidance on the various trails and how challenging they are. There is a remarkable table in the back of the book that summarizes all the information for each spot, including ratings for scenic value, photographic value AND difficulty for hiking.
What a terrific guide this is for photographers - With instructions like these, it's almost cheating LOL.
A couple suggestions for making it even better . . . at times the instructions to reach a spot are a bit ambiguous. Matres explains why he provides very few GPS coordinates for the locations, but I don't agree with his thinking. Further, at times his references to distances are subjective. For example, he might write, "Take a short hike . . ." how short is short? Short hike by whose standards? In most cases I think the instructions are very workable but I would appreciate a little more specificity. Second, I'd like to see the instructions formatted more consistently. The instructions to reach one spot may appear in the first paragraph but be in the middle or last paragraph for the next spot. A more constructive organization from spot to spot would be helpful. Overall a little more clarity in the instructions would be helpful.
These are really minor observations, that would only make an already terrific book just a little better.
My last thought on the book is to consider who would benefit from it. Obviously, the serious amateur photographer will love this book. If you're shooting with an SLR or DSLR where you control things like aperture, shutter speed, etc. you'll make the most use of this information. The book's value is less clear for the average point and shooter. The average P/S camera has very basic capabilities for controlling aperture, normally no support for filters or exposure compensation, and the focal length on its lens is normally very limited, particularly with wide angles, so much of Matres' guidance won't apply. Still, the information about locations and times of day to visit would probably still make the book worthwhile.
All in all, this is a great book for someone whose priority is photography. I wish I could find a guide like this for every place I visit!
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Top reviews from other countries
gokindlego
Una guida perfetta pensata per i fotografi ma valida per tutti gli amanti di un ineguagliabile spettacolo della natura.
Reviewed in Italy on January 5, 2015
Andrew Johnston
Simply the best photographic guides to this amazing scenery
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2007T. Fritz
Gute Unterstützung für die Reiseplanung
Reviewed in Germany on June 7, 2007