Nature Photography Photo Workshop

First, let me begin by stating that I have found the Wiley Photo Workshop series to be among the best resources for learning and re-learning about the art of photography. As a high school photography teacher, I used Composition Photo Workshop as a basic text for my students. With each subsequent release, the publishers have maintained the same structural format and have adhered to a higher level of standard then you find in most photography "How-to" books.This newest addition is no exception. The first thing that got my attention was the amazing images found throughout the book. I often find myself disappointed by those who write books on photography who seem to illustrate a specific point with a terrible image. That is not the case with this book. Each image is well selected and many added to demonstrate the simplest point leave you with that "I wish I had taken that picture" feeling.If you've been doing this for a while don't be put put off by the "basic" nature of some of the chapter headings. As stated by the author, "Photography is a never ending process and a personal journey with no destination." If you believe this statement, as I do, then this book will offer new insights no matter what your level of experience.If it is your desire to move beyond taking snapshots of nature and create a sense of awe in the natural images you create, than this book is a wonderful foundation. If, on the other hand, you are a seasoned veteran whose works have inspired others than I guarantee you will take away many insights. Some may be new and others just simply forgotten. In any case, this book is that rare edition to the literature which bridges the gap between amateur and professional-leaving you with the knowledge you have truly learned something that has enhanced your personal journey.kerryhays.com

First of all, I want to say that I benefited from reading this book. It has great tips for improving your outdoor photography that you can apply immediately. Coming from portrait photography, I didn't know that a lens had a "sweet spot" regarding optimum aperture. This book really shines in landscape photography. It has a great section on photographing flowing water and achieving the desire effect, especially as it relates to exposure. It also did well on nature "still life," such as textures of barks and stone. I would buy this book again in a minute.The things I didn't like: The book tried to cover everything. Some things, it covered extremely well, as described above. The section on wildlife photography was short and barely touched on the subject, but of course there are countless books devoted to this subject.There were a few times the book was too dumbed down, but this was few and far between. Interestingly, many books have this in the first couple of chapters, but this is spread through the book. Some of the topics covered were more for a person seeking a general introduction to photography, no someone who would be reading a book about a photographic specialty. Then, at times, the book would throw something incredibly advanced out. For example, one of the sections on how to handle a specific situation said to use "Hyperfocal" methods. This was great, but I had never heard of hyperfocal. It wasn't in the index and I finally found two sentences in the text that mentioned it in passing.At the end of the book, he included some "throw in" chapters. For example, the chapter on digital developing was not nearly detailed enough to be helpful. I would have thought much more about the chapter if it had referred the novice reader to a book just on digital developing and then had contained landscape-specific tips on color balance and exposure.You can learn a lot from this book, and I highly recommend it. It does have it's limitations, however.In all fairness, I'm in the middle of a hobby project of photographing Tennessee tobacco barns, and using his tips produced noticeably better results. So he does know what he's talking about.

While there is a great deal of useful information in this book that will benefit both beginning and more experienced photographers, in my opinion the book is missing a detailed discussion of three essential techniques that are indispensable for successful landscape photography. The first is the three color channel histogram (RGB histogram) and the proper way to use it for obtaining correctly exposed images. The book does contain a discussion of "camera histograms", but I found this presentation to be cursory at best and not useful to anyone undertaking nature photography.The second technique, manual exposure mode, is mentioned in several places of the book, but it is never made clear if one should favor this over aperture priority and why. The author simply says that manual exposure "provides complete control over the camera". In reality, the advantages of manual exposure mode are (1) it provides a rapid and efficient method for adjusting the exposure as opposed to using the exposure compensation dial and (2) it avoids the problem of light coming through the viewfinder and affecting the meter and in turn the exposure. Beginning landscape photographers would do themselves an enormous favor by learning manual exposure early in their training.Finally the technique of using the AF-ON button on the back of the camera to provide exclusive focus rather than using the shutter button is not mentioned anywhere in the book. This technique, which has come to be known as back button focusing, provides a simple and efficient method for focusing on a tripod, and it avoids serious problems in using the shutter button. A complete discussion of back button focusing may be found in John and Barbara Gerlachs' outstanding book, "Digital Landscape Photography".

Weel thought out book that is very informative for the novice and pro.

Chiarissimo e dettagliato sia nel descrivere le caratterisctiche dei possibili scenari fotografici che le tecniche per cogliere i dettagli necessari a comporre una fotografia che attrae e guida l'occhio.

very ggod book with lots of tips for those who want to take even better pictures that they believed they could.

One of the very few books that I think could be extremely useful to any lanscape photographer, also skipping the very basic technical aspects of photography. Very recommended!

great book