Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers

Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers

Well, O’Reilly publishing really bailed me out by providing another great book to review.  This particular book on photographic techniques by Harold Davis was absolutely fantastic.  The images throughout were wonderful and the layout provided serindipidous discovery.

About the author

Harold Davis is a writer and professional photographer whose work has been widely published and collected.  His most recent books are The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite & the High Sierra: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them and 100 Views of the Golden Gate. Harold writes the popular Photoblog 2.0.

The Book

You can get lost in this book and typically I don’t like that. But in this photography book it works well. The book does run through the typical array of lighting and exposure explanations and techniques such as aperture, exposure, shutter speed, ISO and noise, etc, but littered throughout are wonderful examples with greatly detailed explanations of how and why the image was captured. It’s like reading a photoblog in book format where you also get to learn about light and exposure. Pretty brilliant if you ask me.

Overview

Described as a pragmatic guide for digital photographers looking for a creative way to explore the world, Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers really emphasizes that equipment alone won’t help you capture compelling images. Of course this is a topic we speak about often here at Your Photo Tips. There are two ways to read this photography book: Read the chapters as laid out or flip through the book stopping at images that pique your interest. You’re sure to learn much either way.

I recommend this book to:

1. New digital photographers
2. Amateur photographers
3. Photographers still using auto modes
4. Art photographers
5. Photographers stuck in a creative rut
6. Macro photographers
7. Landscape photographers

Bonus

As previously stated the images throughout the book are wonderful and I love the technical and creative descriptions for the images.  Harold Davis has an ongoing blog so if you liked the book you’ll be able to learn more from the author by heading to Photoblog 2.0 and subscribing!

If you like this review and want to get the book it can be found at Amazon by following this link Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers.