Book review: Photography at Night

Here is one more book that I picked up from the library, and it was something that I didn't expect really, being me who is one in the era of digital SLRs, while this book was mostly discussing on analog SLRs and analog films, or what is also called roll films.

Nonetheless, there is immense information that you can find here. Why is that so? My friend and I would usually go on a discussion, and while there is a ton of preset or auto settings in today's DSLRs, what would set you apart later on is how good you make use of the latest DSLR units set to manual mode, or program mode, at times.

And when we 'look back' and think, how good were these guys who would be able to come up with sophisticated or simply outstanding photographs - which was then using all manual and all analog SLRs - we can only say that they are the best of their times.

As has been said, this book deals mainly on analog SLRs and roll films, and how things are done in the dark room when printing form the negatives, and how certain manipulations are done to alter or enhance prints.

And one topic it has which is quite a challenge in itself, even with digital SLRs of nowadays: Photography at Night.

Again, the full title of the book is Photography at Night, Getting the most from low-light conditions by Richard Newman

I'm copying the back cover text of the book. Here it is:

---

Photographing at night is an exciting challenge. All the normal rules of daylight photography are borkena dn the extreme contrasts in light levels allow you to create dramatic and evocative images. Photography at Night is a comprehensive guide to night photography, covering all the aisthetic and technical aspects of using conventional and digital cameras.

• Includes advice on choosing equipment and finding your own style
• Features inspirational portfolios from professional photographers, illustrating the range of effects that can be achieved
• Specific assignments send the phtographer out into the night to improve his or her skills and technique
• Packed with advice on how to get the best results from each assignment, and how to use the knowledge gained to improve future work
• Covers shootign with conventional black-and-white and color film, as well as digital photographic techniques

In one of the pages, I find it quite useful to know that using ISO 1600 compared to using ISO 400 then pushed to ISO 1600 during print processing yields a completely different (and better) result.

Then, in another part, Newman says this:

Stage

"Photographing artists on stage is an exciting and rewarding field of night and low-light photography -- but be aware that this is the artist's stage, not the photographer's, so the image-maker must remain out of the way and out of sight."

---

What's your say on this book?

Let us know!

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to take better pictures (mattmcguire.com)
• Olympus Stylus Tough 3000 Adds 720p Recording [Cameras] (gizmodo.com)
• Spectacular photos, anyone? GigaPan is here to help (dvice.com)
• The secrets of photographing a party (macworld.com)
• Ten Tips on How to Choose Your First DSLR Camera (teabreak.pk)
• New Alphabet Photography Website, Create A Personal Word Art Picture (prweb.com)
• 133 Photos Taken By a Single Candle [Photography] (gizmodo.com)

Book review: On The Road With Your Digital Camera

If you are looking for a book to tell you on what to bring and what to prepare when going places, so you can do your digital photography - well, this is that book!

On the road with your digital camera by Michael Freeman.

There's a very good info on what weather you are expecting in a country, and what will be your camera settings suited in that place.

There's a map of the world's climate, and what will be your best shot, and what time.

Or, if you are from the northern hemisphere, and you go the opposite side, you may be disoriented... this book tells you that, and what to do to avoid being dazed or fazed.

A lite pack to bring? a medium pack? A heavy pack to bring for your photo-taking? This book also tells you what to put in, to avoid missing some, and avoid overloading.

Much to be told, but better read, check it out:

On the road with your digital camera by Michael Freeman.

Got your say on this book also? Let us know!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Related articles by Zemanta

• Photos That Might Just Make You Dizzy (geardiary.com)
• Canon Powershot G11 - Review & Discount | Best Digital Cameras Review (slideshare.net)
• Up to $80 Off Casio Exilim EX-S12 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD + Free Shipping! (lockergnome.com)
• Panasonic lumix dmc fp8 12.1 mp digital camera review (slideshare.net)
• A Few of His Favorite Things (momblognetwork.com)
• How To Lighten Dark Photos In Photoshop (best-tutorial.net)
• Canon brings Dual Flash Memory recording to SD camcorder range (slideshare.net)
• Digital Cameras and Domestic Photography: Communication, Agency and Structure (tc.eserver.org)
• New Camera! Now I Can Finally Dump Nikon (regex.info)

Book review: The Moment It Clicks

THE MOMENT IT CLICKS
Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters

by Joe McNally


That is the title of the book that I will now give a short (to be honest, also shallow) review. There will come a time in my book reading that I will just simply flip through the pages without really reading the text.

And talk about a book on photography. I really thought that I knew this guy (his picture is in the book), and I've seen him somewhere. Then I flipped some pages, and I said, 'No wonder!' The name came up: Scott Kelby. I've seen them both in the books that I've read that were written by Scott Kelby (The Digital Photography Books 1, 2, & 3). They are 'shooting partners.'

Now, straight to the (supposedly) review that I am making:

Just the book's cover, if you are a person of details, will already catch your attention. I'm imagining how the picture was taken: the model held a piece of broken mirror infront of her, perhaps at arm's length, then the photographer made a very careful angling of the mirror to have a shot like the camera is directly infront of her...

Still leaves me thinking how it was really done.

Anyway, there were a lot of sentences, or rather, quotes, in this book; if not on all pages, it would be about in 95% of the book's pages, and some I will quote here. Somehow I find myself in the same thought or situation, so I think the experience will be the same. (Should I say, the path will also be the same: towards excellence?)

----------
"I can't tell you how many pictures I've missed, ignored, trampled, or otherwise lost just 'cause I've been so hell bent on getting the shot I THINK I want."

"I had no contacts, no permission, no one to ask permission from... things get real simple when you have no time."

"Tom Kennedy, the former DOP at National Geographic, always used to tell me to pay attention to the small details." (DOP means Director of Photography)

'It doesn't matter if it's only fine minutes, as long as it's the RIGHT five minutes."

"Light falls.Just make sure it falls in your favor."

"Don't pack up your camera until you've left the location."

"Shoot it now. Don't ever assume you can do a picture 'Later.'"

"Ya gotta keep your head on straight and remain confident behind the lens in a deal like this when everybody thinks you should soot it their way."

"Keep pushinig. 'No,' is always the easiest answer."

"Sometimes it's all working for you and you still miss. Other times it all sucks and you get a terrific frame. You just never know. The one surefire way to get nothing is to not bother looking."

"Some rules are good ones, like the rule of thirds. It works. but, like all rules, ya gotta break it every once in a while."

"You gotta be loose, like a boxer -- you have to bob and weave and slip and slide. The world doesn't stay still. We can't either."

"I gave flashes to these body builders and told them to go light temselves. Trust me, they were into it."

"The only way to keep your heart beating as a photographer is to shoot what you love."
----------

I like that last quote a lot. And that is just at the first few pages of the book! And while the book has ample text for reading, what is most important, especially when you have no time to go through everything, the "How to Get This Type of Shot" section is there. Isn't that wonderful?

Joe has a blog which you can visit to stay up to date: joemcnally.com/blog.
This book has a Flickr group: flickr.com/groups/themomentitclicks.


Would you tell us your review of the same book, too?

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Kelby Training Tackles the Adobe CS5 Learning Curve With a Multitude of New Online Training Classes (eon.businesswire.com)
• Amazon's Free Kindle Apps (trueslant.com)
• Amazon's Free Kindle Apps (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Hughes talks JDI today at 1:30PM Eastern (blogs.adobe.com)
• 6 Digital Photography Websites With Free Tutorials (makeuseof.com)
• Nik Software Announces the 2010 'Nik Summit,' an Educational Event for Photographers (prweb.com)
• National Association of Photoshop Professionals Launches Most Comprehensive Adobe CS5 Learning Center to Date With a Week of Live Webinars and CS5 Upgrade Giveaways (eon.businesswire.com)
• 10 non-PowerPoint books that can help you create better presentations (presentationzen.com)
• Learn a New Photography Trick or Two; Entire BBC Photo Masterclasses Now Available Online [Photography Tip] (lifehacker.com)
• 10 Free copies of Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual [MakeUseOf Giveaway] (makeuseof.com)

35mm Photography

Image via Wikipedia

This is one more book that I borrowed from the library, and it is dealing more with Analog SLR units. it do touch on DSLR cameras and technology, but the discussion, tips and techniques are more on Analog SLR cameras and photography.


Case in point, this book neatly discusses the history of SLR photography, the beginning and the developments throughout the years, and shows some pictures of the antique camera units that started it all, like the Leica I, Nikon F, etc., etc.


The book explains how the 35 mm came to be, and again, for roll films, how to be able to 'save' on the rolls, by cutting up the roll into smaller quantity and putting in empty cassettes, to be able to come up with 5 to 10 or so shots for a given ISO rating, which was then having the term "DX-nnn" convention. So a DX-400 means my ISO is 400; This has now changed in the DSLR, where each shot can be assigned its ISO value, but in those days (I remember this), rolls usually come in 36 shots. If you want to change the ISO value, take out the current roll, and of course, waste the unused shots, and put in the new roll. You can avoid this altogether, as this book suggests.


And quite frankly, there is nothing further from the truth: be it an Analog or a Digital SLR, the camera is simply but a tool, and how it works the wonders is largely the photographer's expression and discretion.


Here is the book's selling point, from the back cover: 35mm Photography, by Steve Bavister

----------
A complete guide to the most universal  and popular camera format, from choosing the right equipment through to developing, printing, string and even selling your photographs, by well-known photographer and author, Steve Bavister.

• comprehensive guide to camera equipment and accessories
• expert advice on subject matter and techniques
• digital photography, manipulation and printing
• invaluable fault-finding section

Steve Bavister has written more than ten books on photography. He is a former editor of Photo Answers and publisher of Practical Photography, and is currently the editor of The Photographer, a leading publication for professional photographers.
----------

Read that book. I'm sure it is not 'just another book' on photography. Though photography is a thing of the past, there is always something that comes up now and then. And each photographer, like you, will eventually make a mark - distinctly.


What's your say?

Related articles by Zemanta

• New Camera! Now I Can Finally Dump Nikon (regex.info)
• DIY: Nikon IR remote in a Lego (crunchgear.com)
• Rumor: new Nikon DSLRs incoming? (crunchgear.com)
• Camera Settings For Photographing Wildlife (martinwilmott.blogspot.com)
• Photography (slideshare.net)
• Mastering the Nikon D5000 (oreilly.com)
• Use Photography Cheat Sheets to Hone Your Photo-fu [Cheat Sheets] (lifehacker.com)
• Zen and the Magic of Photography (oreilly.com)
• Lego Nikon IR Remote (ubergizmo.com)
• A Camera for New Enthusiasts (online.wsj.com)