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Up Close: Photography Ebook Explaining Macro

June 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Up Close - Macro Photography EbookIn Up Close, the latest Craft & Vision photography ebook, Andrew S. Gibson guides photographers who are new to the macro and close-up photography world through the fundamentals of this area of photo making. As someone who is used to photographing events, portraits, and abstract work, the field of macro is one where I’ve had curiosity, but not much further. When I learned of this book, I was curious if it would provide me with a good primer on macro photography and the answer is yes. Here’s what I thought (along with some discount codes)…

Like the other Craft & Vision ebooks, this is formatted in double-page spreads. There are 90 spreads, offering a lot of great material (and accompanying photos) for the student of macro photography. As one might expect, the book begins with a definition of macro and close up photography, providing some good diagrams to help explain how this type of photography is captured on both full frame and crop-sensor cameras.

Macro Equipment, Technique, and Lighting

The first major section of the book (nearly half of it!) deals with equipment. This was one of my personal areas of confusion… what’s a macro lens vs. a close-up lens vs. an extension tube? Why would I want each? When is one better than the other? What about reversing a standard lens and using it “backwards” for macro? All of these bits of gear are covered, with practical applications for each and advice on which options won’t lead to desired results. While Gibson notes what he considers ideal gear, he also offers up a lot of options for those just beginning the close-up adventure, including options which are going to be easy on the pocketbook.

After talking gear, the second major portion of the book discusses technique including focus, sharpness, and depth of field. Given the tight tolerances when working at extremely close distances, focus and depth of field play an especially important role in this style of photography. Gibson offers tips on how to best stabilize the camera and make fine adjustments in order to achieve various results. The final portion of the book is a look at lighting… while Gibson makes his preference for natural light known, he also explains and discusses a couple options for adding additional light to a close-up photo. One option is a ring or macro flash and the other is the use of a “regular” speedlight along with a small softbox1.

Up Close: Andrew Gibson Photography Ebook

Conclusion

There are a couple case studies of successful macro photographers and they do a good job of reinforcing Gibson’s material. Overall I was impressed; the entire book covered a good range of material for the beginning close-up or macro photographer. For someone in a position like me and curious about this area of photography, I can highly recommend Up Close – Gibson did a great job at continuing the Craft & Vision tradition of excellent material.

Buy Up Close from Craft & Vision.

  1. I have a LumiQuest SoftBox III LQ-119. ↩

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Roundup of Craft & Vision Ebook Reviews

May 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A couple folks have pointed out there wasn’t previously a way to easily see a list of my various photography ebook reviews of the Craft & Vision ebooks.

You can now view my review list on one page.

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Where to Share Photos? SHOOT + SHARE is a New Ebook for That

April 23, 2012 by 2 Comments

SHOOT + SHARE photography ebookCraft & Vision just released the latest in its series of photography ebooks. Shoot + Share is an offering by Stuart Sipahigil that explores the world of sharing photography. What does he mean by sharing? It can mean social networking and websites, but it can also mean prints, galleries, or a photowalk. I’ve read an advance copy of the book; read on for my thoughts.

Why, and for Whom?

Assuming one’s goal with photography isn’t to create a collection of work that’s never seen by anyone else, sharing applies to all photographers. There are various aspects explored in the book, but it opens by asking “Why share?” and then explores the various audiences a photographer might want to entertain, such as:

  • sharing with photography clients
  • sharing with other photographers for review/critique
  • sharing with the world

Based on deciding who is the target audience, the rest of the book looks at various forms of sharing photography. Regardless of the sharing method, a photographer needs to edit his or her collection down to the best images, and several pages discuss the editing process as well as creating a portfolio of one’s best work.

Sharing in the Online World

A substantial portion of the book explores various online sharing methods. Sipahigil uses his own experiences with experimentation and indecision about where to share his work online as representative of the various choices that a photographer must make. Several popular photo sharing platforms are mentioned including Flickr, 500px, Google+, and individual websites. He notes that he settled on a plan where he posts his photos on his own website and then promotes links to his site via social media, but that certainly isn’t the only (or “right”) option for everyone. I will note that the material is very current — there’s a reference to Instagram for Android.

After discussing the various consumer photo sharing sites, there’s a brief overview of the “pro” photo hosting services, including SmugMug, PhotoShelter, and Zenfolio.

SHOOT + SHARE photography ebook

Sharing in Meatspace

The final section of the book deals with various forms of sharing photography that don’t involve a computer screen. There’s a look at making prints and photo books, and a discussion of places to share work such as art galleries, festivals, and coffee shops. The book wraps up with a look at teaching and participation in photowalks as a method of sharing.

Conclusions

I will admit when I first saw the title and idea for this ebook that I was a bit skeptical. I was curious what would be shared that would be of interest to anyone beyond a beginner photographer. Most of the material about sharing online was about what I expected, offering a very high level look at online sharing services but without going into very much analysis or detail about why one might choose a particular online venue over another. That said, some of the material about editing and portfolio selection was excellent, and given the affordable price of the book I would recommend those sections for anyone who’s being challenged in narrowing down their images to the best of the best.

Overall I feel this would be well-suited for photographers who are trying to make decisions about where to share their work and invest their efforts, but it falls a bit shallow in some areas where I would hope to see more depth in explaining just why to choose one sharing method over another. At the usual Craft & Vision price of $5, there are some good portions that make it an interesting read, but don’t expect detailed strategic analysis.

Buy Shoot + Share now for only $5.

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Learning Camera Exposure: Understanding Exposure Ebook Review

April 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

Understanding Exposure photography ebook by Andrew S. GibsonPhotographer and author Andrew S. Gibson has released a new ebook, Understanding Exposure, that does a good job of breaking down this fundamental photography concept. I’ve previously reviewed Gibson’s Beyond Thirds and Square books, and like his previous offerings this one didn’t disappoint. Unlike many photo ebooks, this isn’t purely for newbies. Even as someone who’s been involved with photography for over ten years (and having done it professionally for four years), I learned some new things that should improve my images.

Subtitled “Perfect exposure on your EOS camera”, there are portions of the ebook which are a bit Canon-specific, but most of the material applies to digital photography in general and will be of value to a Nikon shooter like me (or Sony, Pentax, Olympus, and so on). Understanding Exposure is divided into three general sections.

Exposure Concepts

The first section of the book covers the concepts of exposure. Beginning with the exposure triangle of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, Gibson dives into the building blocks of photographic exposure. After explaining the relationship between these three elements, the remainder of the first section explains some of the common ways by which exposure is referred, adjusted, and measured.

The notion of exposure “stops” is explored in depth, including charts that help a reader understand the mathematics behind stops and exposure values. The final part of section one is a multi-page guide to histograms. I’ve seen many explanations of histograms in the past, but Gibson dives into more detail on both the luminance and color histograms than any other resource I’ve seen (9 pages are devoted to the topic).

Camera Settings

The second portion of the book is devoted to camera settings and controls that affect exposure. This is where things get EOS-specific, but astute readers can find similar controls on cameras from other manufacturers. This section moves in a logical order, starting with the basic metering modes (P, Av, Tv, M) and then moving into exposure compensation. After discussing the camera settings and the “easy” scenarios, there’s a discussion of how manual lenses affect exposure calculations and a quick look at how (and when) one might want to use an external light meter.

Three Exposure Scenarios

Understanding Exposure photography ebook - Andrew S. Gibson

The last part of the book consists of detailed breakdowns of the three exposure scenarios:

  • a scene in which the brightness range matches the dynamic range of the camera
  • a scene in which the brightness range is noticably less than the dynamic range of the camera
  • a scene in which the brightness range is greater than the dynamic range fo the camera

For each of these scenes, an explanation is provided with the photographer’s options for making the exposure. There is a discussion of ramifications of various decisions and a representative histogram is shown.

Summary / Recommendation

Overall this is a great book, I’d recommend it for anyone who creates images although non-Canon users will need to do a bit of translation in the portions which explain camera controls. Whether you’re a photo newbie with your first camera or a veteran shooter, the material in Understanding Exposure contains items of relevance to you. The book is over 75 pages and is provided as a PDF so it can be read on a computer or mobile device. The list price is £7, but if you order by the end of April use the discount code exposure2 to save £2.

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Forget Mugshots: 10 Steps to Better Portraits

March 13, 2012 by 5 Comments

Forget Mugshots: Better Portraits ebookCraft & Vision just released their latest photography ebook, titled Forget Mugshots: 10 Steps to Better Portraits. When I heard the topic of this book I was curious what approach would be used by author David duChemin, and I was pleased to see how it turned out. He walks the reader through a series of ten steps for portraiture, although they’re not really steps. I might’ve called them considerations, as they all should be considered when making a portrait. Here’s my review of an advance copy of the ebook; read on for my thoughts (and some discount codes at the end of the review).

Material and Organization

After a brief introduction, duChemin moves into the first of the ten considerations for portraiture. Gearheads will be puzzled while experienced photographers will nod knowingly as the first consideration doesn’t have anything to do with cameras, light, or posing at all. He starts by talking about relationships: how a photographer can best relate to his or her subject. After explaining why that relationship is important, the author explores how to build rapport with a subject in order to make better pictures.

Like most of the Craft & Vision books, the book is presented with each “page” being a double-page spread. Moving onto the other considerations, each one follows a similar structure: there are two or three pages of information, an example of a portrait that relates to the topic of the chapter, and then a creative exercise for the reader. I was impressed by the exercises. Often in photography books we see the same cliché examples that apply primarily to beginners, but duChemin suggests creative exercises which can improve the portrait abilities of both beginners and more experienced shooters alike.

An entire chapter is devoted to the smile – a key element of many portraits but also, as noted by the author, not necessary (and sometimes inappropriate). After looking at the science and physiology of how a smile actually happens, readers are shown how to use that knowledge to create more interesting images. After the smile, the eyes receive a similar analysis in a subsequent chapter.

Thoughts and Recommendation

Forget Mugshots: Craft & Vision ebook about Better Portraits

I’m happy with this book. While beginners likely can learn the most, even intermediate photographers will learn a ton from the various creative excercises that accompany the topics. Like the other Craft & Vision ebooks, the regular price on this book is only $5, which should make it a must-have purchase for anyone that creates people pictures.

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The Passionate Photographer: Steve Simon’s Book Offers Great Learning Opportunities

January 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I recently received Steve Simon’s The Passionate Photographer: Ten Steps Toward Becoming Great as a gift from a family member. After having read through the book, I wanted to share my thoughts since I feel it’s a book that should be on any serious photographer’s must-read list.

Ten Steps

The book is structured in a series of Simon’s ten steps for becoming a passionate photographer. Each of these steps is explored in depth. Most of the steps sound straightforward at first (passion, volume, light, editing, etc) but Simon does a great job of moving beyond a superficial treatment and getting into the meat of each subject.

One step that stood out is step three which involves “working” a subject and not giving up after the first or obvious pictures. After addressing the basic image and identifying “the moment,” options are explored including changing vantage points, zooming, deconstructing the scene, and other elements including patience.

Unlike many photography books which spend hundreds of pages discussing gear or technique, The Passionate Photographer explores things at a higher level including the process and decisions being made about the direction of one’s photography. In the section about portraiture, instead of simply discussing posing and retouching, Simon talks about candids, formality, access, and other issues.

Vision, portraits, comfort zones, light, editing, goals, sharing… these are some of the topics inside The Passionate Photographer.

Is This Book For You?

I suspect if you’re reading this, the answer is yes. I opened this review noting it should be on the must-read list for any serious photographer. I didn’t specify professional photographers, but they would most certainly fall into that category. It’s also very applicable to hobbyist photographers who enjoy creating images and want to improve the quality of their work.

Getting the most out of The Passionate Photographer will require a bit of work. Simon provides great, practical advice for developing projects, exercising technical skills, connecting with subjects, and sharing and marketing one’s work, but to gain the benefit from his suggestions a photographer should be prepared to put in a bit of effort to improve one’s craft. In exchange for that effort, the reader should see noticeable progress in his or her photographic journey.

Buy The Passionate Photographer from Amazon or your favorite bookseller.

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Interesting Links Roundup: January 20th

January 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As I wander the web I find interesting things. I share:

What have you seen lately that’s interesting?

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Interesting Links Roundup: December 29th

December 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As I wander the web I find interesting things. I share:

What have you seen lately that’s interesting?

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Camera Accessories for the New Camera Owner

December 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Did you receive a new camera for Christmas? Millions of folks did… and regardless of whether it’s a DSLR or a point-and-shoot style device, one should consider what accessories are going to help create the best images, keep the camera in the best condition, and help make the most of the photography experience. Here’s a list of some accessories you should consider for your new camera:

Photo Storage & Backup

  • Spare Memory Cards – one can never have too many memory cards, and if you run out while shooting you’ll be faced with the unfortunate task of having to delete images in the field. If your camera uses SD cards, I like the SanDisk Extreme 30MB/s SDHC cards. If your camera uses Compact Flash (CF), get the SanDisk 16GB 60MB/s Extreme Compact Flash Card.
  • Backup Hard Drive – Don’t risk losing your images if your computer’s hard drive crashes. Get the habit of routinely copying photos to a backup drive (and ideally storing that backup drive at an offsite location such as your office, a family member’s house, or even a safe deposit box). The Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB Portable External Hard Drive works great – I’ve used this exact model for several months.

Camera Cleaning

Software

Digital cameras often come with “starter” software, but if you really want to enjoy your images, I recommend the following software, purchased in this order:

  1. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 – Lightroom works on either Mac or PC systems and allows for easy import, cataloging, and editing of RAW and JPG photos from a digital camera. You’ll be able to easily browse your collection of images, add captions and keywords so that you can find things later, and perform a ton of editing adjustments including cropping, color adjustments, exposure adjustments, black/white conversion, and more.
  2. Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 – Lightroom handles 95% (or more) of all of my photo editing. Occasionally I want to do some skin retouching or perhaps remove a distracting object from a scene. That requires a tool with a bit more fine editing power, and I recommend Photoshop Elements. Unlike it’s $700 big brother, Photoshop Elements is focused on tools just for photographers. Like Lightroom, this will run on either a Mac or Windows system and works great.

Learning

Want to learn more about photography? Here are some recommendations for ways to increase your knowledge.

Gear

  • A good camera strap – the straps that come with cameras are okay at best and painful at worst. A small investment in a good padded camera strap will result in your neck thanking you for years to come. I like the Op/Tech Pro Loop Strap.
  • Spare battery – most cameras use a lithium-ion battery that can be recharged from a wall outlet. Look into a spare battery to keep with you so that you won’t miss a shot due to a lack of power.
  • A good camera bag. I like the Lowepro Classified 160AW for a shoulder bag and the Kata DR-467i is a great backpack for carrying a camera, a lens or two, and a laptop. I have both of these items and love them.

What other accessories or add-ons would you recommend for a new camera owner?

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Vision is Better II: New Photography Book by David duChemin Tackles Vision, Creativity, and Originality

December 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I’m pleased to share a bit with you about Vision is Better II, a new photography book by David duChemin. The latest release in the Craft & Vision series, this new ebook is a collection of writing by duChemin, the lead force behind Craft & Vision.

Vision is Better II: Photography eBook by David duCheminIf you’ve been reading duChemin’s blog over the past few years, you’ve likely read a fair amount of the material in this collection. A majority of the work has been previously published and is aggregated together into a flow that makes for a good read. Although it’s obvious that each of the articles was originally written to stand alone, many of duChemin’s pieces are multipart treatments of the same subject and work well in this compilation format. The book begins with a (freshly written) introduction to the author’s position within his life and the industry. duChemin writes of his current position in which he no longer takes on new client work (excluding when he views himself as the client). He provides context for his lifestyle of the past couple of years which includes his (lack of) traditional clients, extensive travel, a life-altering fall and rehabilitation, and going minimalist not only with camera gear but with life.

As I read through the extensive collection of writing (the book is 96 pages), some recurring themes emerged. duChemin struck me as one who probably embraces the spirit of Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan and would argue that ideas aren’t of much value unless one goes out and gets shit done. I appreciate the fact that some of the articles touched on what to do when things weren’t all rosy and rainbows; he offers suggestions for when one hits a stumbling point and the vision becomes blurred.

The book walks along the line between personal stories of the author’s life and discussion of creativity, originality, inspiration, and vision and photographic topics. Due to the “soft” nature of these subjects, the personal details provided (including the story of duChemin’s fall and recovery) fit well into the writing. In sharing his view on these topics, the author naturally shares a piece of himself.

I can recommend this book for anyone interested in discussion around the softer side of photography and how to find a place that allows one to grow as a photographer. Like all of the Craft & Vision ebooks, you can buy Vision is Better II for just $5.00.

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