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Comment on The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters by Randall L. Steffens

Randall L. Steffens — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:30:08 +0000

406 of 474 people found the following review helpful:

Beware - and have realistic goals for buying this book, February 11, 2008

Randall L. Steffens (Carthage, TN USA) -

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This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Paperback)

I am writing this review from the perspective of someone who is known as the "Eternal Optimist". I got the book for the purpose of gaining a serious insight into "how he did it" - kind of like Scott Kelby's How-to books - which by the way, are all very good.

When Joe McNally's photos are seen, one can only wonder, "how did he do that?", so naturally, we are all inclined to want to get our hands on his book, so we can reproduce his shots, and ultimately learn by doing.

Sadly, this book just doesn't come close to providing that end! Half the entire book is simply a full page of his glorious shots. The other half of the book is "supposed to be showing you how he did it".

Each photo is supposed to represent a single element that he wants to stress as the critical component necessary for that particular shot. But seriously, those glorious shots consist of a constellation of critical factors that can NOT be explained on the basis of one "hint" only.

Most of us are buying the book so that we can fully reproduce his shots, but this will never be accomplished by his book alone. Truly, he is providing only a "miniscule hint" as to the thought processes behind each shot. Some of the hints are useful, but the majority of the book simply represents the interesting story behind the shot, without providing much useful information as to how we can accomplish the same scenario.

After reading the book, one has to ask, Does Joe, himself not know how he got the shot? Or is he intentionally just trying to keep us all in the dark, hoping that we'll buy more of his books so that one day we'll come a little closer to a better understanding? Is he afraid that if he tells us too much we may all become his competitors?

If you want a pretty "picture book" then this is it! But if you're desiring a critical guide to reproducing his shots, you'll finish this book very disappointed, wondering what his motive was for writing the book? Was it simply to make a buck? Or did he really think we were going to get much out of it?

While there is something important that can be learned from all photography books, I tend to believe that this book falls into the category of other similar books, which is to say - If you finish most books and come away with 2-3 seriously important points, that change your philosophy and actions, then your money has been well spent.

If your goals and intent for reading this book are appropriate, then you won't be disappointed. However, if you think that you'll be reproducing Joe's shots after reading this book, you'll likely come away angry or even feel betrayed - sad to say.

This book underscores the fact that there is no simple solution to creating great, world-class photographs. The more you read, the more you'll know. This book is simply one small step on the road to a lifetime of perpetual self-education.

Do I recommend this book? I will reservedly say yes, but understand that realistically, you'll come away with more questions than you had before you started, and you'll still be asking yourself the eternal question, "I wish I knew just how did he did it".

Addendum - 3-14-10

I would like to emphasize, that I have no negativity towards Joe or his books / DVDs. There is no question that he is an exceptionally talented photographer, but that in this book, he doesn't do a very good job at explaining his workflow.

For those of you who are interested in other works that Joe has authored, I would strongly recommend you consider his DVD published by Nikon, "Nikon School presents A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting".

The information presented within this DVD, is extraordinary and prodigus! He clearly is able to present all of the techniques and rationale behind the photographs, and does a very good job with explaining his various thought processes.

For all inquiring minds, Joe has done a first rate job with this DVD, and I highly recommend it to all students of photography!

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Comment on The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters by Cruising "Cruising"

Cruising "Cruising" — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:16:26 +0000

102 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

If you love photography, this book is a must have, February 3, 2008

Cruising "Cruising" (Illinois USA) -

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This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Paperback)

This book is written in such a way that photographers of every experience, style and age will gain huge value.
This is now my favorite book to date on photography.

My one line summary:

It will teach you "how to have a single photo tell a real story", with emotion and from different perspectives. In my opinion it is a must for amateurs through pros.

Pros:

The books is written simply with no unexplained jargon. If the author mentions an industry word (e.g. Ripping Film), he goes on to explain what it means. You learn some of the industry street terms and get a feel for the authors experience shooting.

Every turn of the page has a compelling photo which is the subject of the lesson. Some lessons are technical such as how-to on lighting, while others are lessons on approach, demeanor or attitude.

The book is emotionally engaging. You want to put the book down and immediate try some of the approaches.

The author isn't demonstrating ego - this book is NOT about him! It's about the the world around him. You turn each page and learn how he captured an amazing picture of someone like James Brown, or how he found the real story in Augusta.

It will give you ideas on how to have a single photo tell a real story.

Cons:

The only real complaint: This is a soft cover and Amazon shipped it in an envelope instead of a box. The edges of the cover got crimped a bit.

Feedback for the author:
I'd love for more - just simply put - I want the second volume. I'd love to figure out how to get this signed :)

This is a real gem and I would have loved it in perfect condition for my office desktop.

Great job to the author.

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Comment on The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters by Conrad J. Obregon

Conrad J. Obregon — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:27:43 +0000

208 of 224 people found the following review helpful:

It About the Light., February 10, 2008

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) -

This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Paperback)

Picture this. You meet one of the world's great photographers in a bar. He has a stack of pictures with him from his portfolio. As you go through the pictures, he talks about them, about the people in the photographs, and how he made each of them. About a third of the way through you realize that when he talks about the technical details he talks mostly about the lighting, and you are sorry you didn't pick up on that right from the beginning, but now you listen avidly to try to learn his lighting techniques.

Then, about two-thirds of the way through, he stops talking about the lighting, and starts meandering about the photo editors he knew, and how he may have sacrificed some of his family life to be a photographer, and how he came up through the ranks, and that's interesting too.

When Joe McNally talks about lighting a picture of James Brown, or Sophia Loren, or Larry Tisch, the techniques he uses seem to be ones you could use. But when he talks about getting a bunch of masks from the Smithsonian to shoot Michelle Pfeiffer, or five full length mirrors set up on the field for a picture of shortstop Ozzie Smith, or using 10 or 15 2400 watt lights to light fielder Eric Davis, you may hope that you can at least get inspiration because you are never going to have that kind of equipment, or if you are, then to quote McNally, "you don't need my advice". And don't take a peek at McNally's equipment until you come to that page in normal reading or you may decide the book is not for you.

If you are looking for instruction, it's here amongst the stories, even if it's delivered in a non-structured sort of way. I haven't invested in a dozen Speedotrons, but after reading this book, I did decide to upgrade my umbrella to a couple of softboxes. On the other hand if you are interested in looking at a portfolio of great pictures, McNally has them. And if you like to listen to photographers tell stories about photography, often at their own expense, you'll probably love this book.

Other then the lighting there is little of a technical nature here. There's nothing about exposure, or depth of field or Photoshop. I am certain that the people that talked the author into writing this book loved the stories and the way they were told and how they related back occasionally to transforming a vision into an image by using equipment. McNally's personality comes through. Whether this is the way for you to learn some lighting tricks will depend on what you feel about winnowing them out of the stories and pictures. On the other hand, Joe McNally is a great guy to have a drink with.

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:32:39 +0000

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Book required for Photog class, September 12, 2009

KM Whitney "KMW" (San Diego, CA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Digital Photography: Essential Skills, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

The book was required for my college photog class. I find it full of great information and use in class makes a good intro into the digital photography subject. I will keep it in my growing photog library. Amazon is great also, 45% lower than on campus book store for same book. :-)
If you ever get a chance, look up KenRockwell.com, his site is full of great photography information and he is my mentor when it come to photography... He is among the worlds greatest in imaging equipment and Nikon cameras source information!!

V/R

Kent M Whitney

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by KM Whitney "KMW"

KM Whitney "KMW" — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:12:57 +0000

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Digital Photography, April 4, 2011

skeeter -

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This review is from: Digital Photography: Essential Skills, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

I am extremely impressed by the ease and speed of the delivery of the books I ordered through Amazon. The books are ideal for those who want a self guided view to learning for their own self interest. These Photography, Essential skills type books by the authors all follow an easy to follow guides. This is why I choose these series of books. You can always expect value for money.

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by skeeter

skeeter — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:28:48 +0000

Great Book, October 15, 2011

bob -

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This review is from: Digital Photography: Essential Skills, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

Great book using for a class. Well written and covers many points. I would like to tell everyone looking to get the most out of taking pictures and camera use.

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Mary Darling

Mary Darling — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:16:21 +0000

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Creative Landscapes - a must read, May 30, 2011

Mary Darling (Boonville, CA USA) -

This review is from: Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques (Paperback)

I don't know what I can add after reading Marianne Glosenger's review. This is just a stunning book. I lived at the base of Mt. Diablo (page 10-11) for 25 years and never say anything like his image. We are going back to Danville next month and I will spend a lot of time enjoying Mt. Diablo from Harold Davis' viewpoint.

I love the pictures of Yosemite. The picture on page 88-89 of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park looks like a painting. One of the main points in Harold's book is that he gets up early, goes over rugged countryside, and sometimes stays out all night. Wish I was that dedicated.

This is another book that I have many bookmarks to go back and really study how you took such a great shot. Wish I could be a bug on his shoulder to watch him take his outstanding images.

Thanks for another terrific book. Mary

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Travis Forbear

Travis Forbear — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:05:44 +0000

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

A great foundation, June 1, 2011

Travis Forbear (Shelby, Michigan USA) -

This review is from: Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques (Paperback)

Harold Davis is one of those rare photographers that does more than follow in the footsteps of other great photographers. He may walk the same path on occasion, stand in the same location as other greats, but Harold is not content to make the same photographs he admires. What I find most helpful about Harold's techniques, teaching style, and photographs, comes from his years of devotion and love for the craft, written in a manner that is useful not confusing. If you are wondering if this book is right for you, take a moment to check out Harold Davis on flicker or his blog.

About the book

Creative Landscapes encompasses a lifetime of landscape photography and the adventures Harold has encountered in order to find exciting ways to show the world. Blending his wisdom of the craft, his knowledge of master photographers, and his desire to create art instead of snapshots, Harold has put together a book that is meant to teach and inspire photographers of all levels. This is not a text book telling you to stand in a specific location, with a specific lens, at a certain time of day, with shutter speed and aperture set to a recommended setting to make a copy of his photograph. Instead, Harold teaches you to use the tools you have, to recognize the best time of day, the best location according to your view of a scene. If you want to make your work stand out, you have to make it unique.

Creative Landscapes is a great foundation and starting point for amateurs and advanced photographers looking to tackle the world of landscape photography. Professionals may find the many examples of time lapsed photography, hand blended HDR, and workflow tips helpful. This book, like so many of Harold's, is written as a guide. Think of it as a one on one workshop that you can complete at your own pace.

My personal feelings about the book

I can honestly say this is one of Harold's best books. Many of the subjects were review for me, but I never felt bored by the presentation. The material is presented in a way that makes you think you are right there with him. I recommend this book to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of landscape photography. It's easy to look past the information you already know, when you have a great teacher. I know I learned a few new tricks.

I also received an advanced copy for review.

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Comment on Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Marianne Glosenger

Marianne Glosenger — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:03:39 +0000

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

A Stroll Through Some Very Creative Landscapes, May 24, 2011

Marianne Glosenger (Empire, MI United States) -

This review is from: Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques (Paperback)

This is a rare case where you can tell a lot about a book by its cover. The stunning image of a gnarled bristlecone pine backed by storm clouds, tortuously distorted by a fisheye lens, and dramatically framed in black, exemplifies many of the points Harold Davis presents in Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques. In his excellent and accurate description of the book, above, Davis describes it as an "idea book." This is not another technical introduction to digital photography, but rather like taking some enjoyable long walks with a more-experienced photographer friend, one whose original training was in art and whose interests are wide ranging, and who tells you what he has distilled out of years of thoughtful practice and love of photography. The voice in the book is personal as Davis describes his views of landscape photography, discusses how to work in a variety of enviroments, tells the stories behind some of the images, and quotes other photographers whom he admires.

As Davis describes his connection to landscapes in terms of the Tao, readers may find themselves - as I did - searching inside for what landscapes mean to them and the importance of connecting deeply with land, sea, and sky, as opposed to just taking shots of pretty scenes. As he talks about definitions of "landscape," the reader may consider how he or she defines landscapes and what else that definition might include. I found this thought process enriching and tranformative.

The images in Creative Landscapes are amazingly varied as are the techniques and approaches in making them - from night-long star trail images to wind-blown spindrift on crashing waves, from single captures to stacked images, 75 deep, processed in Photoshop. The inclusion of exposure and filter information for each image is extremely useful. I have found myself frustrated by otherwise fine instructional photo books that give no hint of how the photos in them were taken, so I found this most welcome. (And while I'm on the subject of pet peeves, I would like to note that this book has obviously been carefully edited and proofed, and is mercifully free from the distracting typos that mar too many books on photography.)

One of Davis' most interesting observation is that viewers of landscape photographs want those images be very specific and, at the same time, want them to reveal a place more perfect than any they have experienced - Plato's Ideal. I found this to be a resonant observation and one to keep in mind when taking landscape photographs with an audience in mind. I immediately thought of the "Breathing Spaces" two-page spreads in O, The Oprah Magazine. The photographer who can combine this perfection with the Wabi-Sabi that Davis discusses, the treasuring of imperfection and transience, is truly an artist!

I have only one quibble with the book, and that is with the short discussion of histograms. Davis recommends underexposing images slightly to arrive at more saturated colors and avoid the risk of blown highlights. He is not alone in this view. My view is that "exposing to the right" - that is, exposing so that the histogram almost touches the right edge but does not begin to climb that edge - captures maximum information due to the way the image data is digitally recorded by the sensor. This produces the maximum amount of raw material for post-processing without blowing out the highlights, even though the image may look overexposed on the camera's LCD or on the computer monitor before processing. The books by John and Barbara Gerlach are very useful on this point and I heartily recommend them. Since the real value of Creative Landscapes is on a very different plane from technical details, this is a very minor quibble indeed.

Creative Landscapes is a book this is rich with ideas, practical experience, and stimulating examples that anyone who has struggled to capture the evanescent beauty of a landscape will find inspiring and encouraging. I highly recommend it.

Digital Landscape Photography Digital Nature Photography: The Art and the Science

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Comment on David Pogue’s Digital Photography: The Missing Manual Reviews by Joe H

Joe H — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:09:31 +0000

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

Well writtent, but FULL OF ERRORS, January 26, 2010

Joe H (Lexington, MA) -

This review is from: David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

I bought this book based on the many positive reviews on Amazon, and I found it useful with a readable, engaging style.

But it is FULL OF MISTAKES that should have been caught before it went into print, and will confuse many readers, especially beginners. This book is way below the standard of excellence set by other books in the Missing Manual series.

Here are some examples:

Writing about Landscape Mode, the author writes that it sets "Large Aperture, creating a large depth of field ...". The fact is that Landscape Mode sets Small aperture, which is what creates a large depth of field. (A Large Aperture actually creates a shallow depth of field.)

In discussing Manual Mode, the author wrote "That's full automatic", which is just the opposite of the truth.

In discussing lenses, he writes "Telephoto means 'zoom.' " This is incorrect; not all telephoto lenses are zoom lenses, nor are all zoom lenses telephotos.

And the list goes on! For a complete list of errata submitted (so far) by readers, go to:[...]

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