Rating: 
Summary: Like being on a workshop
Review: A solid read from one of the premier colour landscape photographers in North America today. The author provides good insight to the techniques used to create each photograph, and contrary to one of the other reviews here I find the detailed information provided on each shot reflects the professional attitude of the photographer. If you know Jack's other printed works, his mission is to help protect the ever diminishing wild spaces on the planet, and he is careful to document exactly what he has photographed, indicating his intense involvement with the subject. His tips on how to prepare your equipment to be ready for the fastest set-up for when the decisive moment of lighting suddenly appears (based I am sure on years of being out in the field and probably missing his fair share of shots in his early days) is worth the price of admission all by itself.
Rating:
Summary: Like being on a workshop
Review: A solid read from one of the premier colour landscape photographers in North America today. The author provides good insight to the techniques used to create each photograph, and contrary to one of the other reviews here I find the detailed information provided on each shot reflects the professional attitude of the photographer. If you know Jack's other printed works, his mission is to help protect the ever diminishing wild spaces on the planet, and he is careful to document exactly what he has photographed, indicating his intense involvement with the subject. His tips on how to prepare your equipment to be ready for the fastest set-up for when the decisive moment of lighting suddenly appears (based I am sure on years of being out in the field and probably missing his fair share of shots in his early days) is worth the price of admission all by itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of fluff, little good stuff.
Review: Having read a few books on LF photog, I was expecting more of the same in quality of instruction and information, and was sorely disappointed. I don't understand why some photographers writing LF books feel they need to discuss very basic photo framing techniques and beginner concepts, other than to fill enough pages to make a book. Way too much unnecessary info (like botanical names of every plant, or the fully qualified name of every lens and every piece of gear for every photo for every demo in the book) made for painful reading. And where more info was needed, none was there. Statements like "I used back tilt", without any indication of which direction, or approximations as to the degree of tilt provides little usable data. If you want to wade through all this useless data, and lots of personal comments on the beauty of his subjects to glean a few morsels of actual operational instruction, then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of fluff, little good stuff.
Review: Having read a few books on LF photog, I was expecting more of the same in quality of instruction and information, and was sorely disappointed. I don't understand why some photographers writing LF books feel they need to discuss very basic photo framing techniques and beginner concepts, other than to fill enough pages to make a book. Way too much unnecessary info (like botanical names of every plant, or the fully qualified name of every lens and every piece of gear for every photo for every demo in the book) made for painful reading. And where more info was needed, none was there. Statements like "I used back tilt", without any indication of which direction, or approximations as to the degree of tilt provides little usable data. If you want to wade through all this useless data, and lots of personal comments on the beauty of his subjects to glean a few morsels of actual operational instruction, then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Large Format Nature Photography
Review: I found this book to be filled with valuable tips/advice. It gives an excellent overview of Composition, Light, Focusing the Camera, Lenses, Exposure,Film, and Filters, Gear and Weather and Career. Each chapter is to the point and has Jack's beautiful photographs for use in illustrating each point he makes. Many of the photos have information regarding the lens used with additional info that ties in with the text itself.I can assure any landscape photograper who shoots large format or is considering stepping up to large format that this is a must have book. Even though I've been using a 4X5 for nearly 10 years I have learned a great deal from this book. Actually, I've read most of it 3 or 4 times already. I can't wait to leave on my next trip so I can put the things I've learned to use.
Rating:
Summary: Large Format Nature Photography-It's a must have!
Review: I have only recently made the move to large format photography and welcomed the publication of Jack's book. Not only are the photographs inspiring but there is a great weath of technical information to help with composition, exposure and camera movements. It is always interesting to learn how photographers work and this book gives insights into how Jack works a situation to get the photograph.
The section on camera movements is particularly helpful. Jack has created excellent pictorial diagrams to show the effects of camera movements on the focusing plane. In addition there are chapters on film exposure, reading the light and filters.
Making the commitment to large format photography can be a very daunting experience. This book helps. It is an excellent reference tool. One that I would not be without.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Practical Book for the Large Format User
Review: I have read many of the technical books which describe many of the physical & optical principles of large format photography. Being an experienced 35mm, but relative novice to large format photography, I found Dykinga's book packed with good practical information readily applicable to the field. I have read it once, I re-read it a second time, and I have read it a third time once again. Each time new gems of information pop out at me. As my experience grows, so do I appreciate all the more the many practical hints & pieces of valuabel advice . AND, if you cannot read(!) or do not understand English, this book is worth every penny, because it has what very few other large format books have, and certainly not instructional ones. It has many absolutely magnificent nature photographs by one of the best & most widely acclaimed Pullitzer prize-winning nature photographers.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Practical Book for the Large Format User
Review: I have read many of the technical books which describe many of the physical & optical principles of large format photography. Being an experienced 35mm, but relative novice to large format photography, I found Dykinga's book packed with good practical information readily applicable to the field. I have read it once, I re-read it a second time, and I have read it a third time once again. Each time new gems of information pop out at me. As my experience grows, so do I appreciate all the more the many practical hints & pieces of valuabel advice . AND, if you cannot read(!) or do not understand English, this book is worth every penny, because it has what very few other large format books have, and certainly not instructional ones. It has many absolutely magnificent nature photographs by one of the best & most widely acclaimed Pullitzer prize-winning nature photographers.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Practical Book for the Large Format User
Review: I have read many of the technical books which describe many of the physical & optical principles of large format photography. Being an experienced 35mm, but relative novice to large format photography, I found Dykinga's book packed with good practical information readily applicable to the field. I have read it once, I re-read it a second time, and I have read it a third time once again. Each time new gems of information pop out at me. As my experience grows, so do I appreciate all the more the many practical hints & pieces of valuabel advice . AND, if you cannot read(!) or do not understand English, this book is worth every penny, because it has what very few other large format books have, and certainly not instructional ones. It has many absolutely magnificent nature photographs by one of the best & most widely acclaimed Pullitzer prize-winning nature photographers.
Rating:
Summary: Get it!
Review: Jack Dykinga together with David Muench is today's top shot of large-format-colour photograpers out in the landscape. It's quite a fortune that he shares his best advice and some of his wonderful pictures with us in that book. This is not dry physics about tilt and shift. This is pure practice and it explains why many serious landscape photographers switch to large format and it makes you want to go out into the wilds and capture your own picture in 4x5.
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