Review of “Exposure for Outdoor Photography”

by Michael Frye

A have been of the case study method of instruction in ebooks, simply because many concepts can be too difficult to conceptualize without examples. The introduction sets the tone of the book by saying that the most essential skill for a photographer to master is exposure. It appears as though this section of the ebook will lean a bit more to “Craft” than to “Vision”.

While not broken into formal sections, or a table of contents, the ebook does establish its own flow. The first grouping of topics address the components of proper exposure, the concept of the Exposure Triangle. This may not be required reading for all, but it is well done and will be of benefit to many readers.

The rest of the first grouping of non-case study teachings focus on the Metering Modes of your camera, understanding the Histogram, and understanding how to handle high contrast scenes. This may not be required reading for all, but sets the required foundation for what lies ahead, the case studies

The Value of Case Studies

The technical and aesthetic real world scenarios that a well described case study can make me appreciate the rest of the ebook that much more; the rest of the ebook is entirely case studies, 10 in total. What I responded to in this ebook is how much detail was put into each case. They were very well thought out, and address many technical and artistic challenges that can be faced in the field. In that sense this application of the Case Study is a great blend of “Craft” and “Vision”. Many of them also include exercises for you to carry out and continue your learning. The topics covered are:

• Using the histogram to determine correct exposure
• Getting Everything in focus
• Depth of field
• Freezing Motion
• Blurring Motion
• Pushing the ISO
• Highlight Recovery and exposing to the right
• Including the sun in the frame
• Spot metering and the zone system
• HDR and exposure blending

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based from actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

I think this ebook is great for anyone wanting to learn more about controlling exposure in general, and especially for outdoor related photography. The writers tone strikes a good blend between the technical aspects of this kind of information, with the real world realities in its implementation.

This ebook is a good match for you if any aspect of the Exposure Triangle or any of the case study topics makes you curious, or if you feel you want to learn more about them.

The only readers where the overall value of the book isn’t as high is for those that have a very firm grasp on exposure control, and have some experience shooting outdoors. The case studies will most likely offer some value, but that will depend on each photographers experience.

Click Here To Visit Craft & Vision for
“Exposure For Outdoor Photography”

Discount Codes

Like any other new release of a Craft & Vision book there are two different discounts that apply for the first 5 days of the eBook’s release (Feb 16 – Feb 20, 2012).

1. Get 20% OFF using the discount code (Get Exposure for $4): Use discount code EXPOSURE4 at checkout. (note: expires midnight Feb 20th)
2. Get 20% OFF when purchasing 5 or more ebooks: Use discount code EXPOSURE20 at checkout. (note: expires midnight Feb 20th)
3. Check out the bundles & deals on the sidebar or in my Discount Codes page.
4. Jump over to the Craft & Vision site: Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

I’m fully aware that printing remains a source of frustration for many, and that’s what we will work on in this eBook. – Martin Bailey

Review of Making The Print, Printing Techniques For The Digital Photographer, A Masterclass

By Martin Bailey

Consider this eBook a two-part course. The first course could be considered anywhere from ground breaking to refresher, depending on the readers personal knowledge and experience. The second course is a detailed breakdown of the colour management process and through paper and medium choice, and ends with the printing of images for gallery or canvas.

Part One: Getting Started

Part 1 walks you through each piece of info that you need to know, and includes a lot of tricks and personal experience from a photographer that has printed digitally for 15 years. The advice is as neutral as is necessary, but the author is not afraid to weigh in with his choice or opinion as well. Personally I love that combination of decent explanation of options and personal opinions, especially in an era where a lot of content is watered-down and too generic.

I particularly appreciate that the steps involving software is explained for all three of the major software products (Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture). This approach is an example of a writing style that communicates that there is more than one way to carry out your task. The result is a solid amount of how-to, and step by step process, with enough artistic freedom mixed in there to satisfy, most of us at least.

Part Two: Step It Up

With the solid foundation of Part One behind us, part two jumps into the oft confusing world of colour management. Having read a fair amount on the subject, I was quite pleased at the approach and depth of content that was written. Honestly you can read about colour management all over the web, but you the reader are often left to navigate that world (one you may not fully understand). I thought that the methodical and no-nonsense approach to colour management that the author uses here is tremendously valuable  to all but the most seasoned digital photographer.

Now it is time to print. I know I have often wondered about the differences with the plethora of paper options that exists, so the overview and personal opinions here were welcomed. By ending the ebook with the printed work, in the grand display of a gallery show, or my favourite, the gallery wrapped canvas, I felt compelled and challenged to print and display more of my work. The answers and suggestions for questions that I didn’t even know to ask would give me the confidence to approach a larger printing project in a way that I would never have attempted before.

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based from actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

I believe this book offers a great value of information, laid out in a very logical and easy to follow way. The content is designed to be consumed in steps, depending on your starting point. I found that it answered most of the questions that I have about printing and really filled the missing pieces. It inspired me to branch out and try something new. I particularly liked the section the covered creating your own gallery wraps; I found that really valuable info for something that I really want to try.

Short story is that if you know how to print and manage colour confidently, you won’t learn too much more. If the thought of printing scares you, or you feel like you just need a little help with the printing process or colour management, then I think this book may be for you.

Click Here To Visit Craft & Vision for
Making The Print | Printing Techniques For the Digital Photographer 

Discount Codes

Like any other new release of a Craft & Vision book there are two different discounts that apply for the first week of the eBook’s release (Jan 17 – Jan 22, 2012).

1. Get 20% OFF using the discount code (Get Vision is Better II for $4): Use discount code PRINT4 at checkout. (note: expires midnight Jan 21st)
2. Get 20% OFF when purchasing 5 or more ebooks: Use discount code PRINT20 at checkout. (note: expires midnight Jan 21st)
3. Check out the bundles & deals on the sidebar or in my Discount Codes page.
4. Jump over to the Craft & Vision site: Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

Here is the framework and background for my review:

• I shoot Nikon (have for the past 15 years)
• I almost exclusively use Aperture for my RAW, Catalog, and normal editing workflow.
• I use imaging plugins (of which I would include the likes of the Nik Software Suite, Photoshop, etc) inside of Aperture for fine detail work
• I have some experience using Capture NX, which for lack of a better way to describe it is the equal to DPP (a broad but not entirely correct statement, I know)

Review of “Understanding DPP”

by Andrew S. Gibson

The first thing I will say about any book I have read so far by Andrew S. Gibson is that he does a great job walking the line between technique and intentionality; his eBook titles at Craft & Vision are a good example. What I mean is that a strictly technical writer can lose sight of the “real world” and put the focus on the details. In essence missing the forest for the trees. The style that Gibson uses always keeps the focus on editing images in real-life, and he uses good examples of his own work to illustrate the point.

The first thing to notice is that unlike many eBooks, which have a more relaxed and flowing style, Understanding DPP is structured more like you would expect from a manual or guide. The (detailed) Table of Contents is structured and broken down in a way that takes you through a normal workflow.

Section 1: Introduction (pages 3 – 13)

The first section “Introduction” starts with the differences between RAW & JPG. This is a must read for anyone new, but if you are experience with the RAW format you might want to skip to the “Why DPP” section, and you definitely want to hit the section on “Workflow”. Establishing a functional Workflow is essential if you want to keep any amount of sanity as a photographer. The biggest lesson here is that there is no “right” workflow. The fact that we have so many software platforms is testament to that. It is essential that we understand our workflow options so we can find the tools that work best for us. As I shared above, I have what one could say is an alternative workflow compared to the typical photographer. But the key is that I understand it and it works for me. I should also say that I am still always challenging myself to learn and understand other software (or camera) platforms as a method for growth.

Section 2: Getting Started (pages 14-21)

Section Two is called “Getting Started”. In this section, Gibson takes us through a detailed overview of the software panels and their functions in a way that makes sense for real-life use. This serves as a good introduction and familiarization with the software panels and their relevance. Sometimes these sections can be correct, but so technical that they are hard to follow or make relevant. I didn’t find that in this case, it made sense. Another bonus is that many of the panels functions are document further on in the book, and those page links are provided here.

Section 3: Processing RAW Files (pages 22-59)

Section Three is called “Processing RAW Files”. The title says it all. Each of the 15 different controls for the RAW conversion process are explained in detail using good images as examples of the process or before & after depictions. Also 3 different type of workflow details are also explained. I found the explanations good enough that I gained some better understanding of the functions in my current image/RAW processing software. While the controls are not the same, the concept is fairly similar between different software solutions.

The most valuable information, in my opinion, is contained in this section and applies to any photographer using any software. The examples and illustrations are for DPP, obviously, but the theory can be applied universally, in most cases. With subjects like The Histogram, White Balance, & Colour Tone to name a few, there is always something new you can learn

Section 4: Black & White in DPP (pages 60-67)

Section Four is called “Black & White in DPP”. Having released four great eBooks on Craft & Vision on the subject of Black & White conversion you are in good hands with his advise on the matter. If you are serious about Black & White, you will still need to finish your edits in Photoshop or Lightroom (or whatever software you would use next), but with that said the controls available inside DPP are surprising effective in approaching B&W conversion in several different ways. Some users will find this approach all they will need. Not unlike the RAW section above, I tend to learn more about B&W conversion each time I read about “how to do it”, even if it is for software I don’t even use. As a side note, if you are interested in Black & White conversion, check out Andrew’s eBooks over at Craft & Vision.

 Section 5: Converting JPEG & TIFF (pages 68-70)

Section Five is called “Converting to JPEG & TIFF”. Like the title suggests it is all about image saving and exporting. Some description of the file types, and for exporting for Web usage. Overall a fairly simple section, but necessary subject-matter.

 Section 6: Additional Features of DPP (pages 71-72)

Section Six is called “Additional Features of DPP”. There is some value packed in here as key tasks like Batch Processing, a Before & After view option, and the Stamp tool are described in detail. The additions of details like this in the software really speak to the potential value to its users.

Appendix (pages 76-79)

The appendix covers a few more subjects. The software update part is necessary, but not ground breaking. The part on monitor calibration is just an overview of the process and its value, but it needs to be said. My guess is that many people reading about this will be hearing for the first time. The last part of the appendix is a list of other software tools that function as a RAW converter that are on the market. Since almost all of these companies will allow you to demo the software, you really get a good chance to find the software that makes the most sense to you and gets the results that you are looking for.

 Conclusion

The last section is the conclusion. I will let the author speak for himself here first.

The idea for Understanding DPP came when I was researching an article about Digital Photo Professional and I realised that a detailed guide to the software didn’t exist. Now that DPP has evolved into a genuinely useful program, I though it was time to create the guide that I needed when I was researching that article.

I set out to show you how to process your Raw files within DPP, and make it clear that DPP is an excellent Raw converter. At the same time I didn’t want to make any false claims about the software, and so along the way I’ve pointed out where you may help from a more advanced Raw converter, such as Adobe Lightroom 3 (the software that I use most often). I hope I’ve achieved that, and helped you get the most out of this excellent piece of free software. – Andrew S. Gibson

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based on actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

My conclusion is that this book is well positioned to be a benefit to those Canon users that are either new to the idea of processing RAW files, or have shot the RAW format, but not yet tapping it for its true potential. The ebook is well structured, its descriptions are clear and enhanced by some great image conversion examples. If all or any of that describes you, then I suggest giving this book a serious look. For those that have some experience with RAW, but may be looking for a little edge here or there, I still think there are some pearls of wisdom in here.

Details

• Check out Andrew S. Gibson’s site for more info on Understanding DPP
• Pricing for Understanding DPP is £7. Use the discount code dpp5 to get the ebook for £5 (valid until December 19th, 11:59 PM GMT)
• Visit Andrew S. Gibson’s site for general information.
• Check out Andrew S. Gibson’s prior ebook, Square, a review and guide to the Square image format
• Check out Andrew S. Gibson’s eBooks at Craft & Vision.

Review of Vision is Better II, Free the Mind, Free the Camera. Again

by David duChemin

It is interesting that after all this time, author David duChemin has come back to add to the ebook (now series) Vision Is Better. This was the first ebook released on Craft & Vision, and arguably contained the vision for the entire Craft & Vision brand. The first book consisted of 50 different articles from his blog, pixelatedimage.com/blog. This second book follows the same kind of format with a mix of 44 published and unpublished blog posts woven together into a compelling and moving human interest piece, that also challenges each of its readers to aspire for more.

To read this book is to be invited into his living room (which currently is his new Jeep “Emily”) as he talks about his life, his trials, his darkest moments. It is captivating and deeply personal, shockingly personal at times. I honestly aspire to write like this one day. Honestly we all go through our own experiences that have profound significance for us, all we need is the courage to share them. While I cannot identify with his life circumstances, I can identify with the emotional impact the have and how it relates to my own.

No one post touched me more than “Life Is Short”. Hopefully I have the courage one day to share why.

As I am sitting here trying figure out how to describe the layout and flow of the book, as I normally try to do, I have literally spent the last 20 minutes staring at the screen and thinking about what I have just read. I decided that this time I am going to deviate from my normal structure, and spend the time that I have
“saved” to read it again. Instead  I will jump straight to the summary:

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based on actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

If you do not want to be challenged, all the way down to your core, don’t buy this book. If you don’t want to be called out on an over-reliance on gear instead of vision, don’t by this book. If you don’t want to be challenged to “Do The Work” or accept that “You’re On Your Own”, don’t buy this book. If you do want any of that then buy the book and strap yourself in, and challenge yourself with the really hard questions. The process will change you, if you let it.

Thank You David for an amazingly moving piece of writing. I for one, and the photography community are better for it.

Discount Codes

Like any other new release of a Craft & Vision book, the standard first week discounts apply, except this year they extend until December 21st (9 days from release):

1. Get 20% OFF using discount code (Get Vision is Better II for $4): Use discount code VIB4 at checkout. (note: expires Dec 21st)
2. Get 20% OFF when purchasing 5 or more ebooks: Use discount code VIB20 at checkout. (note: expires Dec 21st)
3. Get the Vision Is Better Bundle: Vision is Better Volumes I & II for just $7 using the discount code VIB7 at checkout (note: expires Dec 21st)
4. Check out the bundles & deals on the sidebar or in my Discount Codes page.
5. Jump over to the Craft & Vision site: Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

Craft and Vision's 11 ways to improve your photography

This is a first for Craft & Vision, releasing a FREE eBook. The make-up of this book is also unique in that there are 11 different chapters written by 9 different Craft & Vision authors. There are many reasons to release a free eBook, but here are the three reasons that make the most sense to me. 1: Just because they can. These authors share a similar passion to see people become more connected photographers focused on their own process and connection with their subjects. What better way to do that then to release great free content out there. Which leads to point #2: Many people are hesitant to buy the various eBook titles as they are released, even though the total investment is about the same as a Latte. This FREE eBook’s quality of content should give people the confidence in the overall quality of each title in the Craft & Vision Catalog. And for reason #3: By reading a chapter that in some cases could be viewed as a summary version of a previous title by that author on the same subject, or just a subject that the author is passionate about, you get a bit more of an introduction the each author’s writing and teaching style. That could be beneficial when considering purchasing a previous title by that author, or one that is just being released. There is basically no downside for any of readers here.

In this free eBook I’ve asked the authors at Craft & Vision, our weird little publishing house, to contribute an article about something they wish they’d learned sooner, a way in which others could improve their photography. – David duChemin

I have personally read all the books that have been released to date, and have written a review for many of them and I have yet to come across one that I wouldn’t recommend, keeping in mind that each book can be purchased for between $4-$5. With that said I can also be confident in saying that not these books are totally relevant to every photographer. If the world of MicroStock does not interest you, or you don’t like doing Black & White images, then I would not recommend buying the books that deal with that subject. Another way to say it is that if you can’t extract $5 worth of wisdom from one of these books, I would suggest you aren’t taking a hard enough look at yourself, your technique, your vision, or your creative process.

But in this case, the book is free! Sweet. Now here is an abridged review of the book which you can quickly read before downloading the book.

(mini)Review of “11 Ways To Improve Your Photography”

The book is broken up into 11 chapters (that is where the 11 Ways comes from) written by 9 different authors.

Chapter 1: Making Your Images More Dynamic

• Author: Piet Van den Eynde
• Subject: Exploring the intentional use of shutter speed (fast, slow, long, sync’d with flash), and panning/zooming to create images that feel more dynamic and capture the spirit of the moment.

Chapter 2: Tame Your Digital Exposures

• Author: David duChemin
• Subject: An overview of file type (RAW/JPG), and the histogram and what that means during image capture and during the editing process.

Chapter 3: The Power Of The Print

• Author: Martin Bailey
• Subject: An overview of the printing process and how it has actually become complicated in the digital era, and how to start creating prints that match your display (and identifying that your display can be part of the problem). He has an upcoming Craft & Vision eBook on its way on the same subject.

Chapter 4: Learn To Direct The Eye

• Author: Michael Frye
• Subject: A description of how the eye moves through a photo. Many folks can take good (or bad) photos without understanding that there is some logic to how our eyes perceive a scene, which colours or shapes attract our eyes. A better understanding of how we as people view a photo will help us all to create stronger images.

Chapter 5: Understand The Stages

• Author: Alexandre Buisse
• Subject: The six stages that a photographer goes through in his progression. Understanding and appreciating where you are, where you have been, and where you need to go or get to is essential to development. He also discusses the transition period from stage to stage and how it cannot be forced, but needs to be played out for each person. Also his discussion on the cycle of sharing of photos through each stage is interesting and challenging.

Chapter 6: Create Projects And Collaborate

• Author: Andrew S. Gibson
• Subject: A quick chapter on the value of personal projects, not just the personal development that you gain, but also the value of sharing the project.

Chapter 7: Refine Your Composition

• Author: Nicole S. Young
• Subject: A quick overview of the so-called rules of composition. You need to know the rules before you can go break them.

Chapter 8: The Power Of The Moment

• Author: Eli Reinholdtsen
• Subject: A description of how this photographer regularly puts herself, both physically and technically, in place to capture unique moments as they present themselves.

Chapter 9: Forget Lens Stereotypes

• Author: Piet Van den Eynde
• Subject: The sooner we drop the stereotype of a lens purpose or ability as it relates to its focal length, creative opportunities present themselves. Most of the examples show how valuable a wide-angle lens can be for environmental portraiture, but the same can be said about using a longer focal length to compress or remove distractions from more traditional “landscape” themes.

Chapter 10: Slow Down And Learn To See

• Author: Stuart Sipahigil
• Subject: In a fast-moving world sometimes our fast-moving brains can hinder our creative efforts. Stuart offers some examples and exercises to slow us down and look, and see what is around.

Chapter 11: Make Stronger Portraits

• Author: David duChemin
• Subject: David explores his love of portraiture and offers a series of suggestions to use as a mental checklist in creating and assessing a great portrait.

In “Beyond Thirds”, Gibson explored the various composition “rules” and how the eye moves through a well composed image. The section he wrote about and demonstrated how different image formats affected the composition and “feeling” of an image was particularly interesting to me. It had to have been interesting to him as well; this book is proof of that. To be honest I have never shot in a square format before, and I rarely crop images that way, but there is something interesting about it that captures my attention. Apps like Instagram are playful tools that have ignited more interest in the square format. There is something about it that is just, fun.

In broad strokes what Gibson is trying to carry out with this book is a few things. There are two unofficial sections with the first being more about the concept and technique, and the second being more about creative play and ideas. I will call these two informal sections Technique and Creativity.

Technique

1. History. A look at the history of the square format to gain an appreciation for how it has been used in the past.
2. Going Square.To review the various methods you can use to get a square image (there are many). This can be anything from shooting a designated film body, to intentional framing and cropping with a digital camera. For one project that I shot I even used Gaffers tape on my LCD screen to help me better visualize the square format.
3. Design & Balance. To review what he calls Design & Balance, basically how you use the square space compositionally, and how you want to move the viewer’s eye through the image.
4. Shape. To understand the power of shape, not just meaning the square frame, but the elements in the image, and how they interact differently in the square format than they may in the rectangular format.
5. the 4 S’s. The introduction of the “4 S’s” of composition for the square format: Shape, Simplicity, Space & Subtlety.
6. Black & White. The role that colour can play (or not, in the case of Black & White) in the square format. Of particular interest to me, at least, is an image that is processed in both a Colour version and a Black & White version (Seen below in this post). Which do you prefer? I like them both, but for different reasons.

Creativity

1. A Case Study of Photographer Matt Toynbee and his square format work. A great discussion of his mindset and approach, and for his preference to work in Black & White (and split toning). Interesting.
2. Vertoramas. I hadn’t heard (or really thought about) the term before. A similar process to a panorama, just shooting vertical “portrait” images instead of traditional horizontal images, and then stitching them together after the fact. There is also a link to a photoshop tutorial.
3. A Creative Edge. The use of borders to define the image.
4. Framing. Printing, Framing and Matting of the square format, some considerations
5. Creative Layout. An example of a different layout option for a series of images.
6. Diptyches & Triptyches. Basically the joining of two or three images into one file (side by side). Useful for creative display.
7. Instagram. A quick discussion on the platform. I love that this is in here.
8. Holga Lenses. There is a way to adapt a Holga lens to fit on a DSLR. While that is not covered specifically, general use of a Holga lens is discussed.
9. Case Study: Flavia Schaller. Another great Black & White square format photographer and some samples of her work and what she uses.

Square is the natural follow-up to Beyond Thirds. In Square, I delve deep into the mysteries of the square format. Back before digital, the only way you could use the square format (cropping excluded) was to buy a 6×6 medium format camera. Now, digital cameras have opened up the square format to anybody who doesn’t mind taking the trouble to crop their images in Photoshop. But using the square format isn’t simply a matter of cropping – there’s a lot more to it than that. The square format demands a new approach to composition. The rule-of-thirds (which readers of Beyond Thirds will know I’m not too fond of in the first place anyway) no longer applies.

Square explores the square format from the digital photographer’s perspective. It shows you how to use the square format on your camera, and how to make the most out of what I think of as the fine art photographer’s format. It’s illustrated throughout by my photos, and I’ve also interviewed the two film photographers, Matt Toynbee and Flavia Schaller, to explore their perspective on the square format.

Review of “Beyond Thirds” by Andrew S Gibson

An eBook by Craft & Vision

I love reading something that attempts to dispel any kind of rule, myth or stereotype that has been attributed to a subject or process, in this case, photography. So after a nice introduction I was very pleased that the first subject to be discussed was the oft misused Rule of Thirds. In general I don’t like rules. I don’t like any kind of limit placed on my creativity, and generally these rules are enforced by uncreative people (hence the need for a rule). I should note that I am not in favour of anarchy in general, merely in the creative sense.

A great image is comprised of 1/3 vision, 1/3 the shot, and 1/3 processing. – Art Photographer Cole Thompson describing his version of the “Rule of Thirds”.

Understand the concept behind the rules, and then throw the rules out the window. There is more to composition than just placing you subject on one of the third lines and calling it a day. Instead Gibson describes his more holistic approach to composition which sometimes relies just on instinct. That statement could be considered a freeing sense creative license for some, and then completely terrifying for others. To get past terrifying (and just in general development), Gibson suggests to study the images of photographers that you admire looking at how they balance composition in their iconic images. You will most likely note that a close look at any great photographers work is that many images fall in the range of compliance with the rule of thirds or the golden mean, while others seem to break those rules completely.

Moving past a simple “rule”, Gibson goes on to discuss visual balance,  focal points, and the movement of your eye as you look at a photograph. And he does it, image after image, in the best way possible for us visual people, with images and lots of arrows and descriptors. I had the feeling of a sitting in a workshop while each image was marked up on a big whiteboard. I have found the best learning method, for myself at least, is a combination of theory combined with visual examples, then followed up with practice and repetition of the entire cycle. In this case the first two steps are laid out, all that is left for you, the reader, is to go practice and repeat.

Of further interest to me was the concept of a “dynamic” composition by intentional use of lines, colours and shapes. It seems like a simple concept to carry out, and often it is. With only small changes to a composition the sense of excitement or drama can be replaced with peace and tranquility. Ultimately that choice is up to us and there is no right or wrong composition, only ones that are more inspired than others But for the rest of the times where it is a challenge to find the right angles to balance and image or make sense of its elements, I found myself wanting to read a little more than was written and see more examples than were provided.

There is no such thing as “correct” composition, just bad composition, good composition, and inspired composition. – Andrew S Gibson

The last section of the book focuses on the use of colour, both in the original composition of the image and in post-processing to add balance with the other elements to the scene, or to make the image dramatically off-balance. Either way you will need to understand how colour works within a composition to draw the eye. I find it fascinating that some images make an equally strong colour image as they do a Black & White, but for different reasons. Rather than trying to “rescue” a broken image with post-processing trickery, Gibson makes a great case for the deliberate use of element control (via composition or cropping) and their relationship with colour. And going back to the Cole Thompson quote, the idea that image processing is 1/3 of the weight of a finished image, and should be part of the creation of the image, not simply something tacked on at the end.

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based on actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

I’ll let Mr. Gibson speak for himself on this one.

The aim of this eBook is to deepen your understanding of some of the principles of photographic composition, and to inspire you to go out and create some amazing images. I hope that it’s achieved that.

Click on the link for a direct link to purchase Beyond Thirds, or click on the link to view other titles on Craft & Vision.

If the Square format has captured your attention at all, you may be interested to know that Andrew S. Gibson has published his own eBook, aptly titled “Square”. Click on the link to view my review of that book, which can be purchased through his site.

Happy Reading…

Discount Codes

1. To receive 20% off Beyond Thirds (for the first five days of release, until November 19th, 2011) enter the promotional code BT4 at checkout.
2. To receive 20% off 5 or more titles of the Craft & Vision collection (for the first five days of release, until November 19th, 2011) enter the promotional code BT20 at checkout.
3. Check out my Discount Codes Post for a complete list of available discounts. Beyond Thirds is included in an Author Bundle of books by Andrew S Gibson.

eBook Review of Making Light II by Piet Van den Eynde

Equipment is one of the hardest things for photographer to write about, well. It’s not that we don’t like to talk about it, well most of us anyways. The issue is that it is hard to speak of equipment definitively since each photographer has a different vision and expectation for their equipment. It is almost worse if you are just starting out because there are so many voices each with their own recommendations. The problem with a recommendation is that is a dangerous piece of information unless it is matched with an explanation of how they use it and why they like the way it works/looks/functions, etc. To that end, I think that Piet Van den Eynde does a great job of explaining the key concepts with the equipment he is describing, and when it comes down to what he uses, there is always a description of how and why he uses it.

This isn’t a complete catalog of every possible light modifier and off camera flash and trigger system, in fact many other deserving options are not discussed. However the way the concepts are explained, one can easily apply those lessons to another brand of equipment, type of flash trigger, or umbrella/softbox, etc. The bigger challenge we all face is understanding the capabilities of our own equipment well enough to truly take advantage of the creative potential that it offers. You can’t do that if you keep buying the latest gadget and end up with more equipment than you can realistically use. I know for myself that as I work to refine and understand my vision, it has led me to very specific equipment. I will actually sell off modifiers that I rarely use to eliminate that distraction.

Off Camera Lighting Equipment

The first third of the book is dedicated to equipment, and in some cases the theory behind it. First up is a great discourse on the available methods to increase your flash sync speed, a virtual necessity at times when shooting with hotshoe flashes in bright sunlight. Next up is a good explanation of some of the remote triggering options and how that relates to controlling multiple flashes in the tradition sense of a multiple light portrait setup, or also using multiple flashes together as one light source. While there is some good advice dispensed here, keep in mind that there are many other methods out there for triggering and controlling multiple flashes that are not discussed. { This may prompt me to write about the solutions I have discovered for mounting and controlling multiple light setups}

The next bit of coverage goes to light modifiers. He rightly points out that it would be difficult to near impossible to cover them all because of the sheer number of options that exist and that created. Instead he focusses largely on what he has experience with himself, but in a way that should allow you to navigate the modifier landscape with more anticipation of how something new will work. It is easy to chase a piece of equipment for the “look” instead of understanding and choosing equipment to fit your vision; I like many others have learned that one the hard way.

The next topic that I was glad to see covered was titled “Outgrowing your small flashes”. As a multiple small-flash shooter, I am aware of both the advantages and drawbacks that my setup brings. I think that knowing the strengths and weakness’ of your equipment is essential. It forces you to always consider your vision for that image and ask yourself if your equipment is capable enough. The result may be a refining of the vision to stay within the limits of your equipment, or it may cause you to make a change (wholesale, or maybe just some renting some equipment). Keeping your vision front and centre will help you make your initial equipment choices as well as guide your upgrade path.

Case Studies and Interviews

Ten case studies are promised and eleven are delivered. Covering a broad range of indoor and outdoor portraiture, sports/action, high speed sync, and shooting against full sun, these case studies do a great job explaining the author’s methodology. This is helpful in understanding even his equipment choices. These kind of case studies are some of the best ways to learn new techniques, or find inspiration. They can also provide the motivation to stretch a little out of your comfort zone to try something new, or to demand more from yourself in an “average” or mundane situation.

If the case studies weren’t enough, they are followed by interviews with four other photographers discussing their use of off camera flash in creating images that speak to their vision. Like I said above, these kinds of things are great for learning from and deriving inspiration and motivation.

My Recommendations:

Prior to giving my buying recommendation, consider the following:

• My recommendation is based on actually reading the ebook.
• My recommendation is rooted in how the ebook struck or related to me and my experience. I do my best to explain my thought process.
• My recommendation assumes that if you have read this far, the content matter in the ebook is of interest to you.

On its own, Making Light 2 is a great resource for expanding your knowledge and understanding of off camera flash equipment and technique. When combined with the first volume, these two books offer a great resource for anyone wanting to learn. These two books will be required reading for any of my friends or acquaintances that are looking to learn off camera lighting. They are not a definitive guide to the subject, but are a great resource for laying a strong foundation for future learning. I see this book combo working in conjunction with the more famous lighting blogs out there. You get a good set of fundamentals from these ebooks since the layout allows for that kind of flow. From there you can begin to learn and challenge yourself with other teachings.

Happy Reading. Check out Making Light 2 by Piet Van den Eynde at Craft and Vision {Click here for direct purchase/download of Making Light 2}.

Discount Codes:

1. Get the Making Light Bundle: Making Light and Making Light 2 for just $8
2. Get Making Light 2 for just $4 using coupon code MAKINGLIGHT4 (Valid until October 24, 2011)
3. Get 20% off 5 or more books using coupon code MAKINGLIGHT20 (Valid until October 24, 2011)
4. Check out my Discount Codes Post for a complete list of available discounts. Making Light is included in an Author Bundle of books by Piet Van den Eynde.

1. Bundle Deals, shown below and in the sidebar. Each eBook that has multiple volumes have been bundled together at a lower price.
2. For each book launch there is typically a 20% off discount for the new ebook that is valid for the first week of its introduction. The details of that coupon code will be included in each of my eBook reviews.
3. For each book launch there is also a 20% off discount when purchasing 5 or more eBooks. This discount code will also be included in my eBook reviews.

$40 Gift Coupon. Get $40 gift card of Craft & Vision eBooks!! Makes a great gift for the photographers in your life, or for yourself!

Get 20% off the Entire Collection of eBooks at Craft & Vision, a growing catalog currently sitting at 33 Titles!
20% Off Entire Craft & Vision Collection

The Vision Is Better Bundle (Get Vision Is Better and Vision Is Better 2 for just $7):
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Black & White Bundle. Get 20% OffThe Magic of Black & White (Volumes I, II, III) by Andrew S. Gibson and The Power of Black & White by Piet Van den Eynde.

Chasing & Drawing Bundle. Get 30% OffChasing The Look and Drawing The Eye, by David duChemin.Print & Process Bundle. Get 20% off all the title in the Print & Process Series, 7 in total.

Author Bundle: Andrew S Gibson. Get 20% OFF all the titles written by Andrew S Gibson, 6 in total.

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Author Bundle: Piet Van den Eynde. Get 20% Off All titles by Piet Van den Eynde, 3 in total.

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Author Bundle: All Craft & Vision Authors. Get 20% Off The entire catalog of eBooks from all Craft & Vision Authors.

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Review of David duChemin’s “The Inspired Eye 3″

My first “read” through this book was actually a quick skim. You know, look at the photos, read some quotes, get a feeling for the book before settling in. These quotes alone have given me a lot to think about, before I even had a chance to dig into the context in which they were written. The big picture that I instantly took away was the sense that this was a kind of self-help book for photographers, but one that didn’t dance around the obvious or pander to the behaviour enabling crowd. No, I feel like this book called me out, called us all out. It seemed to say to me “Yes, photographers are insecure and often self-deprecating to the point where it limits creativity; get over it, here is how”, or “Stop complaining about not being ‘talented’ enough. Instead focus all that energy into hard work and see how far that takes you”.

I think we all need to be called out at times. If you have read duChemin or Craft & Vision before then you should see the value of a book like this. If you are new, then ask yourself if you could be called out on any topic. If you are bold or honest you will say ‘yes’, you may be unsure, or you may say no (which probably means you are delusional or in denial). Whoever you are, chances are pretty good that your inner critic and creative can learn something here.

Memorable Quotes

On Imagination:

No one sees the path you took to get to your art, they see only the art. Best, then, that it’s honest and true to you.

On Risk:

Lack of risk accounts for more homogeny and mediocrity than any lack of so-called genius.

On Beginning:

In my experience it is the very idea you most dread doing that is the one you should immediately get to work on.

On Solitude:

The goal of solitude is no simply to be alone, but to be present and receptive.

On Creating:

Our measure of talent, or our feelings about the lack of it, are far less influential in our own creative process than how hard we work.

On The Process:

Not only do we all have different processes, our process is a unique result of who we are and at a certain point we need to learn to trust it.

On Talent:

If you are truly talented, whatever that means, and in whatever measure, it means only one thing: you’ve got harder to work to live up to the potential of your work.

Discount Codes And Links

Of all the ebook titles released by Craft and Vision, this is the first to tackle a subject like off-camera flash. Well, really this is the first book to really tackle any kind of shooting technique directly. Piet Van den Eynde’s first release, The Power of Black & White, was an amazingly detailed master class into processing Black & White images in Adobe Lightroom. He brings the same level of thoroughness to the topic this time as well.

When I started reading the introduction of this ebook, it felt like I was reading my own words right there on the page in front of me. Flash in general used to scare me (although I never admitted that out loud), and was difficult to pre-visualize, especially in the pre-digital era. There has never been a better time to try to experiment with technique than now. If this sounds interesting to your, even if it a bit scary, then this book may be a great starting point for you.

I don’t know about you, but flash used to scare me. I found it to be complicated, difficult to pre-visualize (I’m talking about the pre-digital era here), and lacking quality results. Of course, I only put my flash on my camera and the furthest I got to softening the light was to bounce my flash behind me. I worked on full auto because I found all the rest way too complicated.

Review of Making Light, An Introduction to Off-Camera Flash

by Piet Van den Eynde

I don’t feel like I can spoil the ending to this book, because there really is no end to learning about off-camera flash and light control. This is not the first book written on the subject, nor will it be the last. If you are still reading then something about Off-Camera Flash is appealing to you and you are curious. Curiosity is a good thing, it will serve you well.

“Available light is any light that is available,” (i.e., including a flash, if you have one)

This ebook serves as an excellent introduction to all things flash. From the basic theory, to practical examples the purpose is to give the reader a solid grasp of the fundamentals. Even more rare for a Craft & Vision book is coverage of all the equipment related to flash photography. This includes discussion on manual and TTL flash modes, light modifiers, cords and trigger systems. More true to form for a Craft & Vision book is a good amount of discussion on how and more importantly when and why to use flash. But there is no escaping it. There will be theory, formulas, rules to learn. All of that makes for the necessary foundation of knowledge, so you can then go out and bend or break those rules as the creative in you takes control of a new skill.

In terms of value for money, flexibility, and instant “wow” effect, a $25 collapsible reversible umbrella is one hard-to-beat light modifier.

The first half of the book is devoted to the theory, and equipment. The second half is a series of case studies that show the final shot and the setup shots that go with them. I found that this kind of approach to teaching is especially effective and makes the solution seem more “real world” and attainable. Each case presents a different set of challenges and the authors narrative about how he solved it. You will know you are starting to “get it” when you can look at the situation and come up with a different (or many potential) solutions. There is no formula here. This is where you can really be challenged as both a creative and a technician; when you stop to be a passive recorder of a scene (and the light falling on it) and instead take control of it and modify it to your needs, your vision.

For the money, this book is worth every penny for someone who is introducing themselves to off-camera flash. Thanks to sites like Strobist, this kind of information is out there, and by all means I would go after it too. I have found that having multiple voices on the same subject to be tremendously valuable. It helps to balance out all the small personal biases we all tend to accumulate. I have yet to find a site that will lay out all the information that you need to know in such a focused package. This will be required reading for anyone in my circle that is looking for an introduction.

Happy Reading, check out Making Light, An Introduction to Off-Camera Flash by Piet Van den Eynde at Craft and Vision.

**One small Addendum** RadioPopper mini-review

The author did not comment on the trigger brand RadioPoppers due to lack of experience with the product. I appreciate his honesty, it adds to his credibility. Having used both versions of the RadioPoppers triggers, I wanted to add my opinion on them. Their namesake system (RadioPoper PX) works with the iTTL.eTTL signal and sends it by radio to each remote flash. It eliminates all of the constraints of line of sight or other optical interference. And it WORKS! The only downside is the expense. For fast paced shooting (events, etc) it is an amazing tool.

Their second system (RadioPopper JrX) is a simple radio trigger, with a trick up its sleeve. I have never had a misfire of any kind as a fault of the trigger, any of those can be attributed to me directly, somehow (usually forgetting to turn off the standby mode in the flash). With it you can trigger any kind of flash. What is the trick up its sleeve you ask? With the right little accessory, you can control the output power of your flashes at the transceiver using regular TTL. For me this is a WIN. No more walking to all your flashes to change the power up or down. While not as fast as the iTTL system, it is a whole lot faster than the fully manual system, a nice compromise. Best of all these triggers sell at a compromised price point as well.

by Andrew S Gibson

This book grabbed my attention from the start. Unlike any Craft & Vision ebook before it, nearly the first fifty pages are solely devoted to images. No text, no subtitles or metadata. Instead you are fed image after image, taken by the author, Andrew S Gibson, over the course of several trips to the Andes, which obviously became a major source of passion for him. In the initial Premise, he discloses just enough of his attachment to Machu Pichu to give you a glimpse of his own drive to travel to that location.

Travel for many people is an unrealised dream. Things like the business of making a living, relationships and other constraints on finances and time can prevent people from turning dreams into reality.

The mark of a great photographer or author (or both) is the ability to drawn your reader into the  world that has captured your imagination, and begin to share that world with them. Sitting in the comfort of my home I am transported to the dusty villages of Peru, Argentina and Bolivia, seeing this part of the world through someone else’s eyes. It probably takes the first twenty images for me to settle in and really look at what is scrolling in front of me; we are so conditioned to sound bites and summarized information that it is a shock at first to really have to look at an image. It caught me off guard, that’s for sure. I must have scrolled back and forth two or three times before moving on to the second part of the book.

This eBook is for the dreamers, and I hope it inspires you to pick up your camera and go live out a dream or two.

In between some great story telling behind some of the more memorable images and events from his travels and some discussion about how to pack and travel safely is the interesting undertones of a photographer transitioning from film to digital and really coming to grips with his own process for creating images. It almost like watching someone grow or evolve right in front of you. Having the personal experience of learning to find your way from one medium (film) to another (digital) and learn all the subtle nuances along the way I appreciate the spirit of honesty and openness that was used to write this. I also enjoy any good travel story, a chance to imagine myself in the same place and time and try to figure out what kind of image I would have taken in his place.

The last section of the ebook fills me with a sense of nostalgia for the likes of books like Mountain Light, or The Art Of Adventure, where  author Galen Rowell would have a small two or three paragraph description of each image along with the technical specs. In this case author Andrew S Gibson uses the same kind of technique to describe the images from the first section of the book. This time there is a narrative behind the images origin and the thought/creative process he used to create the image. To me this kind of description is the best method to use to simultaneously teach WHY and HOW the images were created. It was genius to place this at the end, so the first experience with the images would only be visual and emotional.

If you love travel photography and black and white images then this book will not disappoint. You may also be interested in some of the other Black & White Print and Process series of ebooks that Andrew Gibson has published at Craft and Vision.

By Corwin Hiebert
Corwin Hiebert is a consultant and business manager for creative entrepreneurs, including Craft and Vision’s own David duChemin. Your Creative Mix is his latest eBook which follows his earlier ebook, Growing The VisionMonger, a personal favourite of mine. Needless to say I had high expectations of this latest ebook, and It didn’t let me down.

What I appreciate most about how Corwin Hiebert goes about making his case for approaching the act of growing your business with the same passion and creative curiosity that we as photographers put into our images. For that matter this book is equally relevant to any kind of artistic entrepreneurs or freelancers, he uses the term “dual-preneur” to describe the coming together of the business-self and the creative-self. Reading a book about business for photography that is not written by a photographer is also a breath of fresh air. It seems easier to take his prompting for some serious self-reflection and honesty since he has had a unique ring side seat coaching his clients through some difficult choices in their careers.

Like other artists, photographers expose their personal ideas, perspectives, attitudes, and feelings through their work.

This book is split into two parts. In the first section the discussion is dedicated to fostering the elements that make up our creative selves. Having read and re-read this section I am at a loss of how to summarize it in a neat and tidy package. The focus on the creative process and balance between artist, creative and business reminds me a lot of  VisionMongers, by David duChemin. It is concise and to the point, but also commits the better part of 18 pages (with a decent amount of text per page) to the subject, so it is not your typical glaze-over-the-subject type eBook. This one has some meat to it. This is also the part of the book that I connect with the most since it the larger challenge that I wrestle with.

The second part is focussed on the idea of generating, developing and communicating new ideas, and to do it within the greater photography community. The idea of the “lone-ranger” of photography is gone, although that is difficult for most of us shake at times. The idea of constructive collaborating is appealing at times and frightening at others. The second section of this book is probably the most focussed piece of writing I have seen on the subject of creative collaboration for photographers. It is a guide on what to do and what not to do, filled with great information and actual examples and case-studies.

 My belief is that inspired photographers will thrive when they stop attempting clever marketing tactics and instead simply work to attract fans to their creativity.

I haven’t met a Craft and Vision book I haven’t liked. That said some hit closer to home than others and become a resource to hit up again and again for inspiration or instruction. I can see myself going back to this eBook in the future, for sure.

Craft and Vision Discount Codes & Coupons

1. Special Offer on PDFs
For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code MIX4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Your Creative Mix for only $4 OR use the code MIX20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST July 23rd, 2011.

2. Get 20% off the entire catalog by following the link on their homepage.Click here to visit Craft and Vision.

3. Check out my Discount Codes Post for a complete list of available discounts. Beyond Thirds is included in an Author Bundle of books by Corwin Hiebert.

Review of A Deeper Frame, by David duChemin

Depth is one of the most inclusive of the visual tools at our disposal. Depth pulls the reader into the frame.

This book is based on every possible meaning or connotation of the word Depth, and how it applies to a photograph. The genius of this book is that David shows that depth is more than just our basic understanding depth-of-field. Depth can be shown and tell a story through lens selection, with wide angle lenses placing more space (depth) between elements. Depth can be shown through the placement of subjects within the frame. Depth can be communicated through use of focus, our more traditional understand of depth of field. Depth can also be communicated through the use of colour, as our eyes have a tendency to move from warm to cool. Depth can also be conveyed by light, just think of the difference between a subject that is front lit versus one that is side lit. Last but not least, depth can also be conveyed at an emotional level.

Photographs created with greater spatial depth pull others in, invite them to not only look at the photograph but look into it, and to see the thing, and feel the emotion, we are pointing at with our camera

Instead of merely being a philosophical book about Depth, it is also full of deconstructed images as examples used to show each point. This combination of philosophical and practical is exactly why I read an author like David duChemin. Using his extensive experience and creative talent, his words challenge us to look past the surface and into something deeper (depth reference intended), and his images and diagrams help teach that point so we as the reader are inspired to look deeper next time we are out with our camera.

At the normal Craft and Vision price of five-dollars, this book is an absolute must read for any photographer who wants to improve their images. To purchase this book click on the link to Craft and Vision.

Happy Reading,
Darryl

Craft and Vision Discount Codes

“The Usual” Special Offer on PDFs
1. For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code DEEP4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of A Deeper Frame for only $4 OR use the code DEEP20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST July 2nd, 2011.

2. We’re offering our deepest discount ever! 12 eBooks for $40. That’s about 34% off the already ridiculous price. That’s $3.33/book! Fill your shopping cart with 12 ebooks and use discount code DEEPER12 to get $20 off!

3. Check out my Discount Codes Post for a complete list of available discounts. The Inspired Eye 3 is included in an Author Bundle of books by David duChemin.

Click here to go to Craft and Vision

Review of (micro)STOCK: From Passion to Paycheck, by Nicole S. Young

Not unlike any form of photography, Microstock is about shooting images that you have passion for. Anytime your subject is chosen based on what you think can pay the most money you are in trouble. Maybe not in the short-term, but long-term you will burn out, or more likely your images will reflect your lack of passion and you sales will show that. After the obligatory intro and background, Nicole Young jumps straight into a great discussion about finding your niche(s) and shooting with purpose. I love reading this type of information from an established photographer. The kind that has not only found and developed their own vision, but have been successful in the delivery of the images in their business.

Now into the nuts and bolts of it all. Once you are shooting the subject that fits you best, Nicole then takes you through the technical parts of the craft. Most importantly she speaks to the technical aspects that your images must have in order to be considered for Microstock interestingly contained in a chapter called “Dealing with Rejection”. Should you want to brave the waters of microstock, dealing with the technical aspects is one way to mitigate rejection. Rejection will be inevitable, especially as you are finessing your way towards success. Instead of viewing it as a negative to be avoided at all costs, Nicole Young has highlighted the lessons that can be learned so you don’t continue to repeat your mistakes. In fact the best feature of this book is being able to learn from mistakes that others have made before you. Not that you won’t make your own, but it does give you the ability to stand on someone else’s shoulders to start out.

In the heart of the thirty-eight page e-book are some very valuable lessons. These are including, but not limited to, technical discussions on artifacting, over processing, noise, chromatic aberration, tips on keywording. The technical discussion is mixed with case studies of other stock photographers, personal experiences and industry discussion by author Nicole Young creating a short, but factual look into the MicroStock industry. If you are at all interested in the MicroStock industry this may be an interesting read for you. At the standard Craft and Vision price of five dollars, it is hard to not recommend this book.

(micro)STOCK: From Passion To Paycheck, by Nicole S. Young

Happy Reading,
Darryl

This wasn’t going to be a standard photoshoot, however,  our plan for this shoot was two-fold. First she wanted to commission images of her favourite vegetables. Second, and most interestingly, this shoot was also going to be part of an ongoing series of teaching sessions that we have had together. It was like being in a teaching hospital, every moment had a lesson in there…somewhere.

The background was composed of a weathered piece of 2X16″ board. We loved the look that the aged wood took on when underexposed ever so slightly. Next I went through the process of choosing a focal length. I ended up choosing a mid length macro lens (90mm) for a few reasons, but mainly to remove the minimum focus distance variable from the equation. That allowed us to get as close up or far away as we liked, and allowed us good background control. The last variable was exposure. Up to this point in our Foodography sessions we had only been using natural light modified with diffusers, reflectors, etc. It was time to kick it up a notch.

I experimented with a few different setups until we narrowed down and chose a two-light cross lighting setup. The main light was to camera left and from behind the food. The fill light was coming in camera right, almost directly across from the main. For some of the shots there was a third light positioned to camera right coming in from behind and a higher position, although it was only used in a few situations. On the main light I decided on a medium-sized reflective umbrella, because we decided we liked the brightness that it gave the specular highlights. The fill light was dialled down from the main light’s level and shot through a white umbrella. I wanted the dominant back light to have a slightly harder quality to it with a bit more fall-off, while the fill light was a bit softer and more even. The other factor in the decision-making process was Carly herself, since she was both a student and the client, so she had a lot of say in the finished product. She wanted the food to be raw, no frills or gimmicks. We kept massaging until we got all the controllable elements to communicate just that.

The result of this session were a two things: the final images that now adorn her Kitchen, and more teaching/knowledge in the never-ending cycle of photographic self-improvement. You can continue reading more about the whole experience over at her site as well.

[1] : Kitchening With Carly is run by a true culinary magician, Carly Wintschel. Our paths have crossed before. I have shot images of her utterly amazing Macaron’s before, in this post, and have worked through a training session with her that we dubbed Foodography 101. Do yourselves a favour and check out her site, Kitcheningwithcarly.com, and if you are local you simply must try an order of the Macaron’s {You are welcome for when you wanted to thank me later!}.

by Alexandre Buisse

Solo climber on the Col du Midi, Chamonix, France.

For as long as there have been cameras, there have always been adventurers who willing travel into the unknown to capture previously unseen imagery that captivates the imagination. From the early mountaineers returning from the Himalayas to show their splendour to the world, to the pioneering work of Ansel Adams or Galen Rowell, photographers continue to venture out on their own adventures and come back home to share their perspective with us. While most can enjoy these images without venturing out of their living rooms, some feel the call out into the wild to document their own adventure. This book is written in the spirit of the latter to challenge all types of photographers to go beyond being a spectator of an event to documenting as part of the event. Your adventure may not be as ambitious as a mountain summit or a rock face, but the teaching and principles apply nonetheless. This is yet another title in the growing catalog of Vision inspired photographic teaching by the fine photographers and authors at Craft & Vision. Click here to visit Craft And Vision

At 6200 m of altitude on Nevado Chopicalqui, in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru.

I appreciate the admission that this book is not intended to be a technical manual or definitive guide to adventure photography, but rather it is a glimpse into the mindset of this particular adventurer. Too often we look to emulate the wrong aspects of a photographer we admire; namely equipment and technique. Yet we fail to focus on their vision and process they use for creating images. Alexandre Buisse starts of this book by stating just that, the goal of this book is to discuss the key questions that need to be understood to become a successful visual story teller in the field of adventure photography, and how he came to his conclusions. His goal is to have you ask the same question and come up with your own conclusions.

Andy Turner on “Incredible Handcrack” (5.10c) in Indian Creek, Utah

The first few pages of Extreme Perspectives are dedicated to Buisse’s discussion on equipment choices and technique. It is refreshing to read a real opinion about an equipment or technique choice and the rational behind it. You may not agree with his equipment choices, or they may be different from what you need, but he explains himself well. It should be considered a wise move to heed the experience and advice of a seasoned adventure photographer. From equipment he then shifts straight into a discussion about vision and story telling. He may be a bit bold with his statement “…if you have nothing to say with your images, nobody will listen”, but in truth it the main culprit behind mediocre photographs. A short chapter on vision and visual story telling is not a definitive guide on the subject, but by combining his images and his stories and vision the message is communicated more effectively.

Raymond Gaétan on “Les Ailes du Boffi” (7c) in the Gorges du Tarn, France

The book then shifts from the theoretical to the practical as the author takes you through a series of twenty-one stunning images and communicates the methods and thought process behind the images, and the stories the images are trying to convey. These are the best kind of moments and examples to learn from a talented photographer who is willing to share them. This is where the true value of this eBook is found. A small minority of photographers, or people for that matter will ever share the experiences that he describes, so there is a certain thrill in his descriptions which seem to place you in his place with a camera in your hand and leave you asking yourself what kind of shot you would have made if you were there.

Enjoy!

The northwest ridge of Nevado Chopicalqui, 6345m, Cordillera Blanca Peru

Special Offer on PDFs

For the first four days only, if you use the promotional code EXTREME4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Extreme Perspectives for only $4 OR use the code EXTREME20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST May 15, 2011.

In addition, at any time you can receive a 20% discount on the entire catalog of Craft&Vision eBooks (25 books as of this writing) by following the link on their homepage. Click here to visit Craft And Vision

by Piet Van den Eynde

I have been a huge fan of the ebook’s published by Craft & Vision before I even finished reading the first one. I signed up right there to be an affiliate (there is my disclosure statement) because I wanted to review these amazing books and share them with the world. Click here to visit Craft And Vision. Well at least the (small) part of the world that reads my blogs (or ready my Facebook page, Twitter, etc). I have always been amazed at the depth and quality of topics covered in their ebook’s. “The Power of Black & White” is almost an exclamation mark to that point. What also me is the astonishing low price at which they sell these ebooks.

Here is an excerpt of the leading text in the book; I was instantly hooked.
“In a digital world, where colour abounds, black and white almost seems like an anachronism. For a long time, digital monochrome was a no-go zone, only to be entered at your own risk. It was the playground of digital alchemists who mixed channels in Photoshop and printed their work on a colour printer that they had custom-converted into a dedicated black and white machine that ran on specialty quadtone inks. More than knowledge of photography, you needed a degree in math, chemistry, or preferably both to achieve even halfway decent black and white results. That was then, this is now: the last five years have brought tremendous progress, both in hardware and in software, and black and white is back from… well, never having been away in the first place.”

The instruction is focussed on using Adobe Lightroom/Camera Raw, with a few side trips into Photoshop. For more in-depth Photoshop only technique, check out CraftandVision.com and look for the author Andrew S. Gibson. Now being a user of Apple’s Aperture software and not Lightroom I questioned how relevant the book we be to me. And then I started reading. This book is as much answering the question of why to convert to B&W as it is in explaining how to do it. The basic concepts should fit most digital workflow’s; I simple translated the Lightroom specific speak into Aperture as I read. This truly is a Master Class in digital B&W conversion process. With the help of detailed, step by step, case studies, you are walked through the methodology and process of B&W conversion. All of the techniques described are completely relevant to my workflow, despite not being a Lightroom user.

After reading through all 100 pages of this ebook (yes 100!!), I have a few thoughts. First of all the author of this book as struck a good balance between honouring the history of black & white imagery while still exploring the possibilities that are now given to us through amazing pieces of software such as Lightroom, Aperture, and some of the plugin software created for them such as Silver Efex Pro 2 by Nik Software, Photomatix Pro, or Alien Skin Exposure. I definitely learned a few steps and methods I had not even known about, or had the guts to try. Secondly I was struck by the comfortable writing style that brought you into what felt like a one on one tutorial with a trusted mentor. Third, I am just amazed that all of this detailed instruction comes with a price tag of only five dollars. It will take me reading through it several times to let all the nuances to sink in. I’m glad I will have this around to reference the next time I get into some B&W conversion.

Enjoy,

Darryl

Purchase Info:

Craft & Vision was founded by one of my photographic mentors (phantom mentor, since we have never met), David duChemin, with the premise of getting photographers to learn more about the craft and focus less on the equipment. “Gear is good, Vision is better” is their motto. Their goal is to create the best value in photographic education with their low-priced eBooks, with all of their books selling for five dollars (or less). Their eBooks are available as a PDF download, or as an iPad app. Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

Special Offer on PDFs:

1. For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code BWLIGHT4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of The Power of Black & White in Adobe Lightroom & Beyond (A MASTER CLASS) for only $4

2. OR use the code BWLIGHT20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

3.  There’s more! Because Piet spends a little time talking about the power of plug-ins like NiK Software’s Silver Efex pro, NiK has ponied up 3 full versions of Silver Efex Pro, which anyone that buys this masterclass between April 12-16 is eligible to win!

4. Check out my <a title=”Craft and Vision Discount Codes” href=”http://dbueckertphoto.com/craft-and-vision-discount-codes/”>Discount Codes Post</a> for a complete list of available discounts. Making Light is included in an <a title=”Author Bundle: Piet Van den Eynde” href=”https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=1018411&amp;c=ib&amp;aff=150228&amp;cl=88199″ target=”_blank”>Author Bundle</a> of books by Piet Van den Eynde.

By Galen Rowell (C)1993

By the time I really got into photography, this book had already been published for a few years. Being into all things outdoors at the time, it was very easy to get hooked on both Galen Rowell’s adventure lifestyle and his writing style. I have read this book more times than I can count. What got me hooked and keeps me coming back is the writing style of a truly great author who is passionately connected with the subject matter. If you are not familiar with Galen Rowell, do yourself a favour and type his name in your browser’s search engine. You won’t have time to read all 191,000 hits, but the first few pages should show you enough text and images (especially the images!!) to get the picture. You should then be reminded most of those stunning images were shot on slide film years ago. No coloured filters, no photoshop, no HDR. Just pure vision and amazing talent.

Galen Rowell’s Vision is a collection of articles from his popular column in Outdoor Photographer magazine. The book flows so well, it is hard to believe that it is in fact pieced together from years worth of articles and not written intentionally. What is more interesting for today’s age is that the book itself has a very similar feeling to reading a blog. If he were alive today, he died in a tragic plane crash in 2002, I have no doubt that he would love this era of photography. Although he would probably have some sternly worded comments on some of the darker sides (well lazy at least) that digital photography can bring out.
The book is broken into four sections: Goals, Preparations, Journeys, Realizations. All of the “posts” in the first section, Goals, are challenge you as the reader to question your own Vision. It is a multi faceted approach utilizing interesting and challenging scientific, spiritual and philosophical themed articles to ask yourself some tough questions and understand what motivates you to create inspiring images.

In the second section, Preparations, the articles are all dedicated to the notion of pushing the limits of your equipment and technique. At first blush you may think that a section like this, written in the early ’90′s wouldn’t be worth reading today. If you can get past that, past the How of that era, and delve into the WHY, you will find some excellent technical information. True to his style, though, it is laced with great narratives. So even a section on HOW, is still more focus on WHY. That is why I can read these articles today and still get inspired.

The third section, Journey’s, caries the description “Merging visions with realities”. It is the logical progression of the book thus far. First exploring HOW you find and refine your vision. Next, learning HOW to better capture that vision. And now this section speaks about going out and capturing that vision. Galen did a prolific amount of travelling, so some of these stories and locals are just amazing.

The last section, titled Realizations, is described as Communication your Worldview Through Photography. I think that Galen’s strong beliefs and worldview’s are obviously conveyed in his imagery. The article titled “Phantom Mentors” has to be one of my favourites of the whole book. In describing how other people (some he had met, and other he had not, or at least had little interaction with) had shaped his career, he ends up laying the obvious parallels that many of us now feel towards him now.

In summation, if you are an outdoor photographer, or a photographer that is on the search for understanding and refining your personal vision, this book is a must read. It has earned a permanent spot on my roster of read-once-a-year type books.

A small light box and sheets of slides.

One of the initial creative concepts I had when building this blog was to feature an image scanned from my archives of Velvia slides. Years ago I purchased a Nikon 5000 ED slide/film scanner. Since I had shot for years on film, the move to digital processing ushered in a lot of change. I switched to the Mac platform on the computer end, and added the scanner to convert the archives. Turns out a scanner can be like a piece of home gym equipment; a good idea in principle, but ends up collecting dust (or laundry) somewhere.

So now I have the impetus to actually start and keep up an effort of getting my favourite images from the filing cabinet into the computer. Here is where the Rant begins. To my surprise, my Nikon Scanner software does not support OS X Snow Leopard. Officially it doesn’t support Leopard either, although I know I have used it successfully before. Nikon’s official stance is that they don’t support either version of the operating system, and Windows 7 for that matter. I could understand this if there were a NEW version of the scanner or the software out there, but there isn’t. The official support page says to buy VueScan or Silverfast, two independent multi-platform scanning software solutions. What? I need to go buy someone else’s software to run the scanner now??

Don’t get me wrong, I am as close to a Nikon loyalist as you can get, but being loyal to a brand doesn’t mean you surrender your objectivity. It is clear that Nikon just doesn’t get software and software upgrade cycles. Perhaps they made their decisions off the freakishly long life span (if you can call it real life) of Windows XP. In the real world upgrades happen on a regular basis. In the real world photographers and creative type people tend to be on or near the leading edge of software and hardware. Even for software products they continue to “support”, their response time to a new OS upgrade can actually be measured in years, not weeks or months. Booooo!

Undaunted (mostly), I downloaded the demo versions of both “suggested” software alternatives and tried them out a little bit. Neither really inspired that much confidence. Perhaps it was the $100-$400 price tag that went with them that tainted my opinion. I know it had worked when I was running on OS X Leopard (10.5), so I decided to create a partition on the boot drive and install Leopard there, so I will just need to restart the machine and boot from that partition to run the scanner. Annoying? Yes. But not that big of a deal. So after installing a copy of Leopard on an external disk and then cloning it over, I am ready to try this new setup. Then I get an idea to check to make sure the app (old non updated) wasn’t trying to start-up in 64-bit mode. Of course I had uninstalled it again out of frustration, and wouldn’t you know it actually ran properly this time. Yay, I don’t need restart the machine every time I want to scan. Or so I thought. Nikon Scan 4.02 ran perfectly, except when it came time to save the image; a fairly important step in the process one would say. So that is the piece of the software that isn’t compatible, save. So it looks like it is back to booting into Leopard for scanning.

Should I be angry because a piece of software that supposedly isn’t supported on my version of the operating system mostly works? Maybe, maybe not. What I am angry about is that it SHOULD be supported. If everything works, except “save” then how hard would it be to bring it up to spec and support the new OS versions? Should I have to give up the 64-bit awesomeness of Snow Leopard because the software division at Nikon doesn’t want to work on some code? Remember this scanning software is still being sold with BRAND NEW scanners. Is it wrong for a company to continue to sell a product (the scanners themselves are great!) that is woefully outdated? A glimpse at the tech specs shows that is supports Win98/2000/and the “brand new” XP on the windows side, and Mac OS 9/10.1.5. So the scanner is so good that it has a 10-year lifespan (they are down to selling just the Coolscan 9000 now, which does medium format and 35mm), but after a few years they just pack it in and stop updating their software. Not only that they tell you to go buy someone else’s software if you want to support today’s new-fangled technology.

Wow.