The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

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The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

Author(s):

Michael Freeman

Label: Focal Press
Publisher(s):

Focal Press

Studio: Focal Press
Manufacturer: Focal Press
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $19.77
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Design is the single most important factor in creating a successful photograph. The ability to see the potential for a strong picture and then organize the graphic elements into an effective, compelling composition has always been one of the key skills in making photographs.
Digital photography has brought a new, exciting aspect to design - first because the instant feedback from a digital camera allows immediate appraisal and improvement; and second because image-editing tools make it possible to alter and enhance the design after the shutter has been pressed. This has had a profound effect on the way digital photographers take pictures.
The Photographer's Eye shows how anyone can develop the ability to see and shoot great digital photographs. The book explores all the traditional approaches to composition and design, but crucially, it also addresses the new digital technique of shooting in the knowledge that a picture will later be edited, manipulated, or montaged to result in a final image that may be very different from the one seen in the viewfinder.

Features
*Covers both traditional in-camera composition and the new opportunities for picture-making made possible by digital imaging editing
*Shows how to explore situations and locations in order to find the best possible photographic possibilities
*Uses clear examples from real photographic assignments, with schematic illustrations of how and why the pictures work

Customer Reviews

Super book!

This is the first book on photography I have seen in a long time that I have actually read every word! It's a very instructional and inspiring look at how to use composition to make your photographs say what you intend them to say. The writing is terrific, and the accompanying photos are excellent illustrations of the concepts. I will look for other titles by this author and hope they are as good as this one!

Worth twice the price!

This is the best photography book I own. This book can be useful for any level photographer, but certainly is tailored to someone who has a good feel for the basics, and wishes to begin to understand how to compose great pictures. Explanations are detailed and thorough, illustrative pictures are well chosen. Buy this this book; you will not be disappointed.

Requires a critical approach in reading

Though a promising book on composition/design, it requires the reader to be careful and not take the author's views at face. The reader needs to keep a critical eye on what she reads. Examples:

On page 18, Freeman argues that "distorting" the image taken may be problematic due to ethical considerations (such as extending the sky or the background of the subject) because "the final image is not necessarily as it was seen." Interestingly enough, Ansel Adams would probably disagree, arguing that "printing" is an essential part of image-making procedure where the photographer is actually trying to produce what she *saw* ("visualization", see Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs, "seen in the mind's eye before taking the photo" according to Wikipedia) that led her to take the shot in the first place.

Or on page 20, talking about a photograph of an abandoned Thai temple besides a larger tree, a large foreground, and an elongated sky, he suggests that if the image were to be cropped, the temple should be the subject because "there is nothing else," demonstrating a problematic limit in imagination as he misses the possible significance of other numerous subjects, such as the crop in the foreground, the elongated sky, the larger tree (which I would use as my primary subject), the panorama in the background behind the haze, and so on...

Good content, poor writing style

This is a good book for someone looking for a guide to composition theory in photography. It covers a lot of ground and actually teaches you compositional principles, however it's also really hampered by the mediocre writing style. The language just isn't very concise/clear, and at times you are wishing the author would get to the point instead of writing 10 convoluted sentences, which essentially say one thing. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything else close to this book available, so if you want to learn composition and design, this is probably your best bet at the moment despite the writing style.

Best Purchase I've ever made

This is fantastic book. Let me tell you where I stand in photography and then you could make your mind regarding this book. I am an enthusiast photographer who will be taking next Spring a one year photography program after shooting for pleasure since 2002. I do a lot of traveling and portraits of family and pets. But now that I know all the nuts and bolts of digital cameras and Photoshop, I felt I wanted to improve my composition. You have no idea how many books are out there offering to teach you photographic composition! For my level of photographic expertise, this book has been a blessing. It is elegantly written and has diagrams and pictures to show you what he means. It is also a finely edited and published book, strong but beautiful. If you happen to be at my level, buying this book will be the best dollars you'll put into your photos.

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