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Techniques of Natural Light Photography

Techniques of Natural Light Photography

List Price: $27.99
Your Price: $27.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Look elsewhere
Review: The book is divided into 'Sunrise', 'Early Morning/Late Afternoon', 'Midday', 'Sunset', 'Twilight', 'Overcast Conditions', 'Interios' and 'Special Conditions'. Each chapter has a series of photographs with describing text and technical details for each shot. Zuckerman is using medium format (and almost exclusively Velvia), although the book is by no means restricted to any particular format. If you have some other book describing exposure, there's not much new in here. The text feels very repetetive, saying the same over and over again only with different words.

This is the first book I've bought by Zuckerman and it will most likely be the last. I didn't even feel like finishing this one. I find his photographs mostly boring, soulless, stereotypical and unimaginative. Some are so clichés it's almost funny, yet also demotivating. But what can you expect from a photographer that studies "postcards in book stores or gift shops" as the "first things I [Zuckerman] do when I'm shooting the scenic highlights of any city, whether foreign or domestic" (p. 82).

I also have John Shaw's "Nature Photography Field Guide" and it's definitely better on the text side. Zuckerman's book adds little to what you can get from Shaw's book, and the latter is far more comprehensive. Shaw's photography is better than Zuckerman's too.

I give this book one star as it gives so little, both in terms of text (there are far better and more comprehensive books) and pictures (postcards).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Look elsewhere
Review: The book is divided into 'Sunrise', 'Early Morning/Late Afternoon', 'Midday', 'Sunset', 'Twilight', 'Overcast Conditions', 'Interios' and 'Special Conditions'. Each chapter has a series of photographs with describing text and technical details for each shot. Zuckerman is using medium format (and almost exclusively Velvia), although the book is by no means restricted to any particular format. If you have some other book describing exposure, there's not much new in here. The text feels very repetetive, saying the same over and over again only with different words.

This is the first book I've bought by Zuckerman and it will most likely be the last. I didn't even feel like finishing this one. I find his photographs mostly boring, soulless, stereotypical and unimaginative. Some are so clichés it's almost funny, yet also demotivating. But what can you expect from a photographer that studies "postcards in book stores or gift shops" as the "first things I [Zuckerman] do when I'm shooting the scenic highlights of any city, whether foreign or domestic" (p. 82).

I also have John Shaw's "Nature Photography Field Guide" and it's definitely better on the text side. Zuckerman's book adds little to what you can get from Shaw's book, and the latter is far more comprehensive. Shaw's photography is better than Zuckerman's too.

I give this book one star as it gives so little, both in terms of text (there are far better and more comprehensive books) and pictures (postcards).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great reading or for just plain inspiration
Review: The photos in this book is worth the price alone. The cover is probably one of the best safari photos I've seen to date and just makes me want to make a trip out to Africa! The great part is the techniques and technical data is shared so you can know exactly what was done. In any case the other great thing about this book is many of the photos are shown in different light. Similar books only show you the subject in the light the photographer thought was best. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great book, worth the money....
Review: This book was written in my favorite format: A great picture followed by a text describing the technique used. You are expected to know your way around the camera as well as different lens characteristics so there's not a lot of repetitive text found in other books. I would have preferred that more technical data and technique descriptions were included but what's there is quite enough. The pictures are quiet inspiring. And the techniques explained helped me a lot to produce better pictures. I highly recommend this book. Worth the money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply outstanding!
Review: This book would be worthwhile simply for the images themselves, which are breathtaking.

The fact that the author also shares his composition techniques and technical settings makes it a true gem for any serious photographer, pro or amateur.

The reviewer who said the pictures are "soulless" must have a strange, strange definition of "soul". The images capture incredible beauty in the world all around us. No quasi-artistic forced poses or special effects here - just wondrous images that the author has recognized, captured, and presented to us, without pretense.

Another reviewer said that he could not take the same photos because he does not have the same equipment, but I think this comment is misguided. Any 35-mm or digital camera of even moderate sophistication would capture at least 80% of the beauty of most of the images. A medium-format camera is necessary only if you want prints that are good enough for a coffee table book or fine art museum, which most of us don't need!

If you learn how to control your camera and how to compose shots the way the author does, you, too, will take wonderful shots!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a fantastic book!
Review: This is a fantastic book! In my opinion, anybody who's interested in existing light/outdoor/nature photography should read this book. In each chapter, Zuckerman uses a few photographs to analyze each lighting conditions of the day (sunrise, early morning, midday ...), he also tells the reader where he took the picture, how he took it and on occasions what he thinks that would make it a better picture. He also provides technical data for each picture. I like this book a lot because I can learn from each and every picture and most importantly, learn to *think* like a photographer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent source for how to shoot outdoors
Review: This was a very very helpful book in explaining how to shoot with exsisting lights. He explained how to calculate exposure using things out there in the outdoors under all lighting. He is helpful and easy to read with lots of helpful hints.I

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good for coffee table
Review: Though the book claims to teach you how to make use of the natural light, in reality you can hardly duplicate the efforts Jim had made, they were simply composed perfectly, flawlessly. And the equipment too...I will not buy the equipment he used and will not have the time to wait for the perfect shot like him.

As for the cover shot, he claimed that it was a snapshot. And this is simply the best safari photo I had ever seen! Period.

I gave 5 stars not for the techniques you can learn to use but for the flawless and simply stunning shots. However you can appreciate how the same scene will look like under different lighting conditions. And the book is organised into shots taken during different times of the day.

Rating: 0 stars
Summary: How to read the light and capture magnificant images.
Review: Zuckerman has seen it all and turned challenge into enchantment. Those who learn and use his techniques can do the same. Photographers will find: 134 stunning and ispiring color pictures; informative captions explaining conditions, camera settings and film specifications; examples showing the photographic possibilities in all kinds of natural lighting situations


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