Creative Composition: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques - Softcover

Davis, Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470527145 ISBN 13: 9780470527146

Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Synopsis

From the perspective of design, this book interprets the application of composition in photography. It elaborates on the application of various composition principles in practical photography and the techniques of improving visual expressions; it also introduces relevant knowledge such as focal length, depth of field, and exposure that can influence composition effects. Renowned photographer Harold Davis informs and inspires readers with the his own gorgeous examples of landscapes, portraits, close-ups, and other photos that illustrate his concepts.

About this title

Review

Product Description

Sometimes you get the best results by breaking the rules, but first you have to know what the rules are! In this indispensable photography guide, renowned photographer Harold Davis first walks you through the recommended guidelines for composing great shots with your DSLR camera-and then shows you how to break free, build your own unique style, and compose beautiful images with confidence.

• Provides practical composition basics as well as the artistic tips and tricks eagerly sought by digital SLR camera lovers, who are growing in number as DSLR camera sales continue to grow
• Explores the fundamental rules of composition-then how to break those rules to take captivating and unique images
• Informs and inspires you with the author's own gorgeous examples of landscapes, portraits, close-ups, and other photos that illustrate his concepts
• Helps you jump-start your creativity by showing you new ways to see

Go beyond the basics and create a photography style that's all your own with this must-have guide.

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Amazon Exclusive: Interview with Award-Winning Photographer Harold Davis

We hear you’ve written some new digital photography titles. What’s the story behind these books?
Wiley Publishing is releasing three new books of mine, Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , and Creative Composition: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques . My idea with these books was to help people become better photographers by presenting the subject of digital photography in a different way.

What’s different about your approach?
They say that cameras don’t take photos, people do. It’s really true. Someone with a great eye can take masterful photos with an inexpensive camera. Therefore, it is important to know something about photo technique, but the really amazing thing is that we can conceptualize and come up with these bits and bytes that make up a photo—and they can be meaningful to people. I try to help people come up with images that are relevant and meaningful. Cameras and hardware are just tools.

What’s with all the photos in these books?
Well, everyone likes to look at striking images, so one thing my photos do in these books is get people’s attention. However, the photos play another role as well. Each photo in my book is accompanied by the story of how the photo was made and the technical data related to the photo. That way, if you’re not ready to dive into the text itself, you can learn a lot just by browsing the photos.

My feeling is that you truly do learn about photography by looking at photos. It’s much more important to look at images you admire and try and figure out why you like them than it is to read about photography. The photos in these books are baked into the DNA of the teaching strategy. By browsing through the pages, someone can learn a great deal and have an enjoyable visual experience at the same time.

What’s the most important thing that readers can get out of your new books?
I want to inspire readers to be the most creative and best photographers they can be. If you pick up one of my books, I hope you can make use of the technical content and see how the photos relate to some of your own work. The most important thing, however, is to take the ideas in the book, get out there, and do some really peddle-to-the-metal creative photography.

From the Back Cover

Cameras don't take pictures; people do. This book, with Harold Davis's exquisite photos on nearly every page, teaches you professional composition tips and techniques that advance your skills to a new level.

Learn how to pre-visualize photos and compose images in your imagination. See in advance where your choices of lenses, lighting, focal length, and exposure will take you. Take advantage of RAW format. Master depth of field. Discover how to work with shapes, lines, and patterns, and so much more.

Each breathtaking image in this book illustrates a compositional point. Davis explains what he had in mind and how he composed the photo to achieve his objective. The technical details are there, too: lens used, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lighting conditions, and other relevant data.

Read. Look. Indulge. And learn.

• Unleash the power of your imagination
• Learn to pre-visualize photos
• Find what's important about your subject
• Frame photos for impact
• Recognize powerful compositions
• Find magic in everyday objects

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470527145
• ISBN 13: 9780470527146
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 242