landscape book
zeus
I have an Amazon book token and would like to buy a book about
landscape photography composition and techniques.
IF you could have only ONE book about landscape
photography..
which would it be? and by whom?
TIA
Mark
Alan Justice
-Alan Justice
"zeus" <ze...@cix.co.uk> wrote in message
news:memo.20001204...@zeus.compulink.co.uk...
Curt381635
Curt R.
GADA1
purchased John Fielder's book. Both are excellent, but I'd pick John Fielder's
if I had to pick one.
Mike
ColoradoKid
much better grasp of technique and instruction than Fielder. There are
also a few mis-statements that I've seen in Fielder's book that you
should be wary of. (no, a polarizer is NOT two pieces of glass
sandwiched together)
--
A bad day in the mountains is better than a good
day most anywhere else!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Alan Justice
-Alan Justice
"GADA1" <ga...@aol.com> wrote in message
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Curt381635
I think. He explains the process in different "segments" - each coming
together w/ the next to make the whole moment of the shot. Just my opinion
though
By the way - Fielder has a book out titled "A Colorado Winter" - it will just
blow you AWAY!
Curt R.
Ken Wyatt
Ken Wyatt
www.wyattphoto.com
Alan Justice <a.ju...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
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GADA1
Probably just a matter of taste, but it works for me. A good a
photographer/teacher as John Shaw is, John Fielder is a pure landscape
photographer, while John Shaw does a little of everything. I just liked the
way John Fielder presented the material. I've been photographing landscape for
many years, but I still learned a lot for Fielder's book.
Mike
GADA1
much better grasp of technique and instruction than Fielder.>>
I agree that John Shaw is an excellent teacher, but I don't think I agree that
he has a better grasp of technique in landscape photography. John Fielder is a
pure landscape photographer, while Shaw does a little of everything.
I still like and recommend all of John Shaw's books, but I really liked John
Fielder's book on landscape.
Mike
GADA1
Ken - The 8/2000 book is a revision of his "techniques" book, not his landscape
book.
Mike
Liz
(zeus) wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> I have an Amazon book token and would like to buy a book about
> landscape photography composition and techniques.
>
> IF you could have only ONE book about landscape
> photography.. which would it be? and by whom?
I'm certainly not knocking the John Shaw book (I have an earlier edition)
but for a more UK-bias try one of the Heather Angel books e.g. the one
called Landscape. If you want equipment tips etc, her lists contain things
you can get here without taking out a second mortgage to import specially,
also light (I don't care what anyone says, the light here *is* different),
locations etc.
Also I have one by Charlie Waite, whose images I personally prefer to either
John Shaw's or Heather Angel's. I can't lay my hands on it ATM, but you
could search on Amazon by author - it's called something like 'Landscape
Photography'.
For sheer inspiration, though not instruction, The Expressionist Landscape
by Yuan Li can't be beaten (IMO), though I think there was discussion last
year on this ng that it is o/p.
Just my 2p.
Pity you couldn't look at all the suggestions and pick the one which most
closely matches your intended vision!
Good luck!
Liz
--
...Happily nonPC - a M$ / Windoze-free zone
Website: http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/lizleyden
- Safari, Seychelles & image manipulation
Nandakumar Sankaran
recommend it. I dont agree with your observation because I dont see why
somebody who "does a little of everything", cannot have a "better grasp of
technique in landscape photography". I have read many of John Shaw's books
and watched his wonderful videos. Given his successes, I'd be hard pressed
to believe that he doesn't have a strong grasp of relevant techniques.
Nandakumar
http://www.geocities.com/concertocolors/
Photography related book reviews, hundreds of links and more...
"GADA1" <ga...@aol.com> wrote in message
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GADA1
pressed to believe that he doesn't have a strong grasp of relevant techniques."
You might want to read my post again. I didn't say John Shaw doesn't have a
strong grasp of relevant techniques. I certainly believe he does.
I simply disagreed with a previous writer that said John Shaw has a better
grasp of technique in landscape photography than John Fielder. In my opinion,
he does not a better grasp than Mr. Fielder. John Fielder's book worked a
little bit better for me, perhaps because Mr. Fielder specializes in landscape.
One other difference to note is that John Shaw works in 35mm, while John
Fielder used mainly larger formats.
Both photographers are excellent, as are both books. I own both.
Mike
Kerry L. Thalmann
>
> I haven't read John Fielder's book although I have heard others highly
> recommend it. I dont agree with your observation because I dont see why
> somebody who "does a little of everything", cannot have a "better grasp of
> technique in landscape photography". I have read many of John Shaw's books
> to believe that he doesn't have a strong grasp of relevant techniques.
Which is why I recommend BOTH books/authors. Come-on, were talking
books here. You can buy both books for less than $50.00 from
amazon.com. Most of us spend many, many times that on just a body and
standard lens (heck, I spent 3 1/2 times that much on a polarizer). Why
pinch pennies when it comes to learning how to use that expensive gear?
Shaw and Fielder are both excellent photographers, and based on their
books, I think they are also both excellent teachers. They have
distinctly different photographic styles, and distinctly different
teaching styles as well. One could argue that Shaw's books are better
suited to 35mm photographers and Fielder's book is aimed more at large
format shooters, but that would be an over-simplification that would do
an injustice to both authors. That may be true considering equipment
selection, but there is a lot more to good nature photography that
deciding which camera or lens to buy. Even though I don't shoot 35mm, I
have all of Shaw's books and recommend (and loan) them to others.
Likewise, I think Fielder's book has a lot of good info that is format
independent (I especially like his section on color). There is enough
good information in both books to make them well worth the $20 - $25
they each cost.
So, why quibble over who's "better". Just buy both and learn from two
good teachers/photographers with different appraches to the same
subject. When learning something as subjective as photography (or any
form of artistic expression), I think it's much more important to be
exposed to diverse works than to be a disciple of one style/guru.
Kerry
--
Kerry L. Thalmann Large Format Images of Nature
A Few of My Images Online at: http://www.thalmann.com/
Liz
<K.Tha...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> Which is why I recommend BOTH books/authors. Come-on, were talking
> books here. You can buy both books for less than $50.00 from
> amazon.com. Most of us spend many, many times that on just a body and
> standard lens (heck, I spent 3 1/2 times that much on a polarizer). Why
> pinch pennies when it comes to learning how to use that expensive gear?
Near enough.
The original poster is, like me, from the UK.
So I searched Amazon.com.
Shaw's 1994 book - $19.96
Fielder's book: $23.96
Shipping to UK $7.90
Total $51.82
The Expressionist Landscape is listed as o/p.
Tried amazon.co.uk,
Shaw's landscape book isn't listed at all, not even by special order
Fielder's book is listed at £19.02
Heather Angel's Landscape book isn't listed, her new book, Natural Visions
isn't published yet.
Charlie Waite's book (the one I have) is The Making of Landscape Photographs
and is priced at £10-39
I didn't take these through to checkout, though, so don't know about
postage.
A quibble I'd have about the Shaw book (and this might or might not be
relevant to the original poster) is that his equipment recommendations, as
well as being American, are now dated.
BTW, another book I like is Patricia Caulfield's "Capturing the Landscape With Your camera",
with the same provisos that it's an American book and the equipment recommendations need
updating, since the book was written in 1987.
Available from amazon.com at $18.00 and from amazon.co.uk at £14.28, both plus postage.
Kerry L. Thalmann
> A quibble I'd have about the Shaw book (and this might or might not be
> relevant to the original poster) is that his equipment recommendations, as
> well as being American, are now dated.
OK Liz, you've got me baffled on this one. How, exactly, are Shaw's
equipment recommendations American? I though he used Nikons, a Fuji 617
and occasionally a 4x5 Linhof (or was it Toyo - don't have the books
handy at the moment). In any case, all distinctly non-American. WRT to
being dated, I can't comment on that, since I don't shoot 35mm where the
camera and lens models seem to change about as often as the
flavor-of-the-month, but I have heard there is a newer edition of his
book out. Perhaps he updated the equipment section for that one, I
don't know. To me, the strength of his teaching lies more with
technique than equipment anyway, so it really wouldn't matter.
> BTW, another book I like is Patricia Caulfield's "Capturing the Landscape With Your camera",
> with the same provisos that it's an American book and the equipment recommendations need
> updating, since the book was written in 1987.
> Available from amazon.com at $18.00 and from amazon.co.uk at £14.28, both plus postage.
I've had that one for years, but never really cared for it. Probably a
matter of personal taste, but again, it's a good thing to be exposed to
many different styles, especially when starting out.
Liz
<K.Tha...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> Liz wrote:
>
> > A quibble I'd have about the Shaw book (and this might or might not be
> > relevant to the original poster) is that his equipment recommendations,
> > as well as being American, are now dated.
>
> OK Liz, you've got me baffled on this one. How, exactly, are Shaw's
> equipment recommendations American? I though he used Nikons, a Fuji 617
> and occasionally a 4x5 Linhof (or was it Toyo - don't have the books
> handy at the moment).
Certainly in sunny Scotland, I can't find a dealer who's heard of Gitzo, for
example.
> In any case, all distinctly non-American. WRT to
> being dated, I can't comment on that, since I don't shoot 35mm where the
> camera and lens models seem to change about as often as the
> flavor-of-the-month,
Hmmm
The only medium=format user Iknow personally seems to change his entire gear
about every year-to-18 months.
> but I have heard there is a newer edition of his book out.
No, only the 1994 eidtion of his *landscape* book.
There is a new editon of his more general nature techniques book out
recently.
> To me, the strength of his teaching lies more with
> technique than equipment anyway, so it really wouldn't matter.
That's why I said "which might or might not be relevant to the original
poster".
> > BTW, another book I like is Patricia Caulfield's "Capturing the
> > Landscape With Your camera",
> I've had that one for years, but never really cared for it. Probably a
> matter of personal taste, but again, it's a good thing to be exposed to
> many different styles, especially when starting out.
Indeed, which is why the problem with recommending only one book, especially
if it's to be bought 'online'.
All the books I have I bought 'sight (virtually) unseen' from my bookclub.
If I was going to buy *one* book (as an 'only' book), I'd want to browse
them carefully first to see whose pictures I most admired,
and whose style of teaching I found most helpful.
For example, I like Heather Angel's explanations, but I don't always like her pictures.
I do rather think that if I browse in a bookshop, it is a bit 'cheeky' to
order online.
That again is obviously my own 2p.
It's how I ended up getting the Audobon NA Mammals book from Amazon (no
shops in Glasgow seemed to stock any NA mammals books), and don't like it
(photos rather than drawings; my personal preference is for drawings in a
field guide)!
Kerry L. Thalmann
> > OK Liz, you've got me baffled on this one. How, exactly, are Shaw's
> > equipment recommendations American? I though he used Nikons, a Fuji 617
> > and occasionally a 4x5 Linhof (or was it Toyo - don't have the books
> > handy at the moment).
> Tripods etc. and other accessories.
> Certainly in sunny Scotland, I can't find a dealer who's heard of Gitzo, for
> example.
But, Gitzo is a Franch brand, not American (and Manfrotto is Italian and
Arca Swiss - well Swiss). If you can't find Gitzo products locally it's
a problem with your regional distributor, not because they are American
products. Anyway, in this global marketplace, it should be possible to
get just about any piece of equipment your heart desires.
> The only medium=format user Iknow personally seems to change his entire gear
> about every year-to-18 months.
I was referring to the frequency the manufacturers change their models,
not the indecision of a particular user. In the large format market,
there are entire years that go by without a single new lens being
announced by ANY manufacturer. Many of the lenses still in current
production were introduced decades ago (in fact, at least one model,
the Rodenstock Imagon was designed over a century ago). I'm not saying
technological innovation doesn't happen in large format (take Schneiders
Super Symmar XL aspheric lenses, for example), it just occurs at a MUCH
slower pace with a lot less churning of model numbers and feature sets
than the 35mm marketplace.
> Indeed, which is why the problem with recommending only one book, especially
> if it's to be bought 'online'.
> All the books I have I bought 'sight (virtually) unseen' from my bookclub.
> If I was going to buy *one* book (as an 'only' book), I'd want to browse
> them carefully first to see whose pictures I most admired,
> and whose style of teaching I found most helpful.
> For example, I like Heather Angel's explanations, but I don't always like her pictures.
>
> I do rather think that if I browse in a bookshop, it is a bit 'cheeky' to
> order online.
> That again is obviously my own 2p.
> It's how I ended up getting the Audobon NA Mammals book from Amazon (no
> shops in Glasgow seemed to stock any NA mammals books), and don't like it
> (photos rather than drawings; my personal preference is for drawings in a
> field guide)!
Good points. One other way to browse before you buy is to frequent your
local library. Not sure how the libraries are set-up in England, but
here in the states, even if your local library doesn't stock a
particular title, they can get it for you through inter-library loan.
That way, you can check it out and if you do decide to buy online, do so
with a guilt free consious. I do still hit my local Barnes & Noble and
Borders about once a week just to browse for new titles, and if
something grabs my attention, I buy it on the spot. That's how I ended
up with Charlie Waite's book. Again, a different style of both
photography and teaching than either Shaw or Fielder. I still
personally prefer the Fielder book followed by Shaw's, but that's a
matter of personal preference/bias. What I do like about Waite's book
is that it was fresh compared to most of the other books I see on the
subject. That alone made it worth the price. I'm sure a lot of it had
to do with the fact that many of the subjects were unfamiliar to me
(places I haven't visited personally, or seen before in a book). But,
that's a good thing, it made me look more closely at the images rather
than just say: "Oh, there's another image of Monumnet Valley".
I think we both agree that this whole notion of limiting your reading to
a single book or a single author is a bit absurd. This is especially
true given the amount we all spend on equipment, travel, film etc. I
even learn from books I don't like, or books I think are chock full of
bad photography. I generally don't buy these, but at least they help me
differentiate between what I like and what I dislike.
Nandakumar Sankaran
This is perhaps "American" but I'm sure there are similar resources
available in other countries. I've personally borrowed (and read) so many
photography-related books from my public library that I've only purchased
the books that made a serious impact on my senses. My point is that for
somebody starting out, a local library is perhaps the best bet. Even
out-of-prints are accessible and as Kerry said, for a starter, it is perhaps
best to expose yourself to many different styles, in order to develop an art
of seeing.
Nandakumar
http://www.geocities.com/concertocolors/
DWA652
http://www.PhotoBookstore.com
Enjoy!
God Bless,
Don Allen
http://www.DonAllen.net
Photos + a large set of photo links including my PHOTO BOOK LIST - NOW WITH
BOOK REVIEWS!!!!
zeus
and will be seeing what I can preview at the library
before buying.
I suspect my collection of books is about to grow
Mark
Ian Rawlings
Liz <lizl...@argonet.co.uk> writes:
> Tripods etc. and other accessories. Certainly in sunny Scotland, I
> can't find a dealer who's heard of Gitzo, for example.
You have some strange dealers ;-) I live in the south of England, if
you go to your nearest Jessops store (they're everywhere, so I doubt
there's none within a hundred miles or so although having lived in
Scotland for 11 years if you're in one of the more remote areas all
bets are off!) and ask them to get hold of the equipment you'd like to
order. They can get it in for you and there's no obligation to buy.
Many other dealers will do the same.
--
There are no facts, only opinions
Keith Clark
Dude, library books are probably years out of date. Do you have a
Borders, or Barnes & Noble's within driving distance?
Ian Rawlings
Liz <lizl...@argonet.co.uk> writes:
> Jessops (Glasgow where there are two) was the first one I tried. I
> think it must depend who you happen to get and how busy they are.
Jessops unfortunately employ a large number of idiots on Saturdays,
people who hardle even know what a camera is. I'd suggest going in on
a weekday rather than a weekend, the idiot count reduces at the
weekend. Don't take no for an answer as well, if the person you talk
to doesn't know what a gitzo is then get them to pass you on to
someone else. There's usually *someone* in the store who knows what
they're on about, it's just a case of finding them ;-)
zeus
> Borders, or Barnes & Noble's within driving distance?
A trip to, that hell hole, London would be required
costing more than the books.
Shaw and Fielder are at the top of the list and despite
my "one book only" statement I shall probably buy both.
I can get Charlie Waite and Heather Angel from the library.
Talking of libraries I have just found Julius Shulmans
"Architecture and its photography" at the library,
Julius is new to me but the book has some wonderful images.
Mark
Keith Clark
Understood.
Good luck!
Have you found an online bookseller that has a good return policy?
Keith
Liz
I think it must depend who you happen to get and how busy they are.
Liz