Photography Outdoors: A Field Guide for Travel and Adventure Photographers

Rating:
Summary: It's All in There!
Review: At first glance this looks like an ideal book for someone who is moving from the point-and-shoot stage of photography to something beyond snapshots. Everything most people want to know about photography from the relationships of f-stops, shutter speed and film speed all the way to underwater photography is in this book. Unfortunately the book throws the information at you so quickly and with so little discussion and few examples of applications that you may miss some very important concepts and confuse others.

It would be nice to think that a person could improve his or her photography without a lot of effort, but that just isn't so. It's not enough to have a new rule thrown at you. Most people need photography principles to be explained, usually in several different ways, with plenty of examples. You'd expect lots of pictures to be used to illustrate points. After all, this is about photography. But that is not the approach taken by this book. The principles are stated, and later in the book, restated, but not illustrated well.

It's really a shame, because this book is small enough to carry with you in case you want to check on something in the field. Art Wolfe, whose pictures appear throughout the book, is one of the great outdoor photographers (Gardner's pictures also appear to a lesser extent, but they aren't in the same league as Wolfe's.). Unfortunately the pictures aren't tied to the teaching points very strongly. That's a shame because stronger ties to Wolfe's pictures could really teach one about outdoor photography.

The book gives a nod to incorporating digital photography, but only in the most rudimentary fashion. For example, I consider an understanding of "white balance" to be essential for a serious digital photographer, but this book just barely acknowledges that there is such a thing.

There are several mistakes in this book. A chart on page 83 suggesting exposure guidelines for low-light photography captions a column ISO 50 (film speed) when it means ISO 400. Follow these guidelines and your picture will be hopelessly underexposed.

The author discusses pushing film. This process involves setting your camera as if the film you are using is more sensitive than it really is and then asking your lab to develop the film in a way that will make it that sensitive. The author says that pushed film is less grainy then film with a higher rating shot and developed normally. It's not true. If it were, all we'd ever need is one speed of film.

If I absolutely needed a guide that would fit in my pocket in the field I'd consider this book. Otherwise I'd buy a book like John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide. It's physically bigger, but will be more effective in improving your outdoor photography.

Rating:
Summary: It's All in There!
Review: At first glance this looks like an ideal book for someone who is moving from the point-and-shoot stage of photography to something beyond snapshots. Everything most people want to know about photography from the relationships of f-stops, shutter speed and film speed all the way to underwater photography is in this book. Unfortunately the book throws the information at you so quickly and with so little discussion and few examples of applications that you may miss some very important concepts and confuse others.

It would be nice to think that a person could improve his or her photography without a lot of effort, but that just isn't so. It's not enough to have a new rule thrown at you. Most people need photography principles to be explained, usually in several different ways, with plenty of examples. You'd expect lots of pictures to be used to illustrate points. After all, this is about photography. But that is not the approach taken by this book. The principles are stated, and later in the book, restated, but not illustrated well.

It's really a shame, because this book is small enough to carry with you in case you want to check on something in the field. Art Wolfe, whose pictures appear throughout the book, is one of the great outdoor photographers (Gardner's pictures also appear to a lesser extent, but they aren't in the same league as Wolfe's.). Unfortunately the pictures aren't tied to the teaching points very strongly. That's a shame because stronger ties to Wolfe's pictures could really teach one about outdoor photography.

The book gives a nod to incorporating digital photography, but only in the most rudimentary fashion. For example, I consider an understanding of "white balance" to be essential for a serious digital photographer, but this book just barely acknowledges that there is such a thing.

There are several mistakes in this book. A chart on page 83 suggesting exposure guidelines for low-light photography captions a column ISO 50 (film speed) when it means ISO 400. Follow these guidelines and your picture will be hopelessly underexposed.

The author discusses pushing film. This process involves setting your camera as if the film you are using is more sensitive than it really is and then asking your lab to develop the film in a way that will make it that sensitive. The author says that pushed film is less grainy then film with a higher rating shot and developed normally. It's not true. If it were, all we'd ever need is one speed of film.

If I absolutely needed a guide that would fit in my pocket in the field I'd consider this book. Otherwise I'd buy a book like John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide. It's physically bigger, but will be more effective in improving your outdoor photography.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: I am a keen amateur photographer on a steep learning curve and a tight budget. I spend a lot of time in bookshop cafes reading (for free!) any book about photographic technique that I can find. I am becoming quite technically proficient but I also happen to be an outdoor enthusiast who loves white water kayaking, mountain biking and nature photography. Therefore, I no longer want to learn about how to photograph animals in zoos (although I'm sure I can practice there!), nor do I really care about studio flash photography. I spied 'Photography Outdoors 2nd edition' yesterday and, after a quick flick through, I didn't think twice about spending AU$32. I haven't put this book down since, this is my type of photography and illustrates my type of subjects. The text is clearly written (point taken about mis-printed ISO rating p.83) and focuses on developing the readers creative potential using sound technique rather than rote learning about how to photograph particular subjects. More importantly, it is A5 format and thus is clearly meant to be carried and used!! I have no doubt that this book will become tatty and well loved (like my camera) and will reside permanently inside my pack, pannier or pelicase.

Note: This book is definately written for someone with a sound understanding of photographic principles wanting to pursue outdoor and adventure photography, rather than for beginners. Beginners wanting to photograph outdoor and adventure activities should therefore read this book in combination with Michael Langford's 35mm Handbook (like I did). You can't go wrong then.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect book for any skill level
Review: I suppose if you were absolutely just starting out, and didn't want to visit photo.net or other websites, this book might be a good, concise source of basic information. However, I bought it and was disappointed. I'm not a professional photographer, but I'm apparently a little beyond the target audience of this book, which puzzles me because I still sometimes take shots I don't like. It's not a *bad* book, it's just overshadowed by some *great* books that happen to compete directly with it!

If you are a climber or mountaineer, I would urge you to look at Jeff Achey's 'Guide to Climbing Photography' instead. If you're just interested in nature photography in general, you can't go wrong with Galen Rowell's books, the man is a master of the craft and not as climbing-centric as Achey. Clyde Soles has some terrific photos up on his website, too -- he's no Rowell, but he's also no slouch at outdoor photography. And his articles in Rock and Ice magazine are often quite good, too. This book just isn't worth buying in a world with great online resources and great printed how-to books like Achey's and Rowell's.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely informative book!
Review: Photography Outdoors is a must-read for any serious photographer. I read the book from cover to cover and it was easily as pleasent to read as a best-selling novel. Art and Mark present the subject matter in a way that keeps you constantly interested. Their writing is as good as thier photography.

I learned that lenses have a "sweet spot" aperture for producing the sharpest image.

I learned why my snow always looks gray, and why black objects always come out too light.

I learned more about working with my images after digitzing them.

There's too much to list here. I learned a little more about every topic they covered than I knew before reading the book. This book opens up a whole new world of techniques for you to experiment with.

There are tips and tricks inserted throughout the book. Many I transcribed into my PDA, others I scanned and printed to keep in my camera bag.

Buy it. You'll like it.

-CK