Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens

5 Comments

1. 

   javajunki / September 22, 2010

   Review by javajunki for Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens
   Rating:
   Peterson’s books on Shutterspeed and Aperature are among the best I’ve ever encountered so when I saw this book in the soon to be released section I ordered it immediately. After waiting three months, it finally arrived and although I would not put it into the same category as the Aperture and Shutterspeed books, it is certainly a worthy addition.

   First, I’m not a pro but enjoy close-up and macro probably more than any other type of photography. This book strikes a solid balance between buying advice and explanations sufficient for newbies wanted to get started in close-up or macro and a few creative ideas or style for others with more experience.

   The emphasis is certainly on close-up above macro but with sufficient appeal to keep both happy. Ample explanations, nice use of comparative photo’s and Petersons exceptional style of casual communication that provides insight into the shot itself.

   Also, he includes wide angle, fish-eye and other less common lens types outside of just the macro itself…for that he gets an extra star as it is a topic rarely included in most close-up discussions. Not every photo is of stellar quality – although there are some beautiful examples.

   Briefly, topics include equipment, depth of field and aperature, general tips, home studio, framing, magnification ratios, depth of field preview, and other essential information.

   To sum it up…a worthy addition but not of the same quality or caliber as exposure and shutterspeed. Newbies will benefit the most while more experienced users may pick up a few worthy ideas.
   

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2. 

   L. Peasley / September 22, 2010

   Review by L. Peasley for Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens
   Rating:
   The newest book from Bryan Peterson, released in March 2009, it cannot help but come in direct comparison with John Shaw’s primer on macro photography.

   However, this is a book on CLOSE-UP photography and that should be kept in mind when reading it. While macro is covered as much as close-up photography, both are given strong emphasis and many techniques can be applied to either situation.

   This book goes into good detail about nearly every aspect of close-up and macro photography you might want to know a bit about: equipment, lenses, filters, diffusers, reversing rings, good point and shoot cameras, tripods, reflectors, ring flash, etc. However this will be a ‘bit’ about each one. On some, such as lighting topics, there are entire books out there written just on those subjects.

   Depth of Field is covered very nicely and in more detail than Shaw’s book, tying it in with composition, lighting and artistic decisions.

   Overall, this is an excellent book and very up to date, printed March 31 2009. The cameras, lenses and other items mentioned are ones we are all using today or might buy. Artistically, the ideas are presented in a way that make you want to pick up your camera and go see what you can find. Readability wise, Peterson is an excellent writer and teacher which make this book very accessible to photographers at any level.

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3. 

   Robert M. Stahl / September 22, 2010

   Review by Robert M. Stahl for Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens
   Rating:
   I have taught photography for the past 20 years and for much of this time I have been relying on Brian Peterson’s ideas to help make many photo concepts more interesting going back to his original “Learning to See Creatively”.
   
   I found this book to be particularly worthwhile because it isn’t limited to extreme close ups and, thank heavens, isn’t filled with insect photographs. Rather, Brian suggests a number of approaches to the subject and shows wonderful examples.
   
   If you are interested in close up photography, this is a Very Good Read!

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4. 

   John Brookes / September 22, 2010

   Review by John Brookes for Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens
   Rating:
   For me, the bottom line is he gets good photos. They are arresting, technically excellent, and creative. At least some of them I would put on my wall. That’s actually a very interesting “litmus” test – If you were to look at the “artistic” message you would get from many of these put on the wall at 16×20 size? I find many of these shots very pleasing, and certainly they would make a wonderful “trendy” design motif for any architectural interior. But is it art? I think in Peterson’s hands, it is. It is close to some types of avante garde (did I spell that right?) art, or modern art. Its quite abstract, yet there is a visceral impact to the textures, broad soft colors, and complex play of light that fascinates, draws the attention in to another world which we never see in this way. I notice my mind, in writing this, tries to fall back into the truism that “this is just a magnification of small things, just an interesting curiosity is the result – like a strobe picture of a water drop.” And then I open the book to “grok” a shot and imagine how it would look on my wall. Holey Moley! Looking at some of these shots does something that great art usually only promises to do – it refreshes the soul, preens the feeling of self-esteem, expands the sensibilities, opens the heart. This is obviously something that defies analysis and buggers description. I notice that any reviews at Amazon, the 5 star kind, may “gush” with praise or say things like “awesome.” While often lacking in detail, such reviews may reflect an “enthusiasm of the soul” that gets opened up on an experiental basis. Just look at Peterson’s shots and see if you agree, but as for this review in advance of purchase, my vote is that some of them are art you would want on your wall. This is an amazing “plus” for any photo book, to participate in the process of a good, perhaps great, artist at work.

   Throw in the detailed usefulness of the mechanics of getting these shots, the skillful manipulation of technology, good writing etc, and you have a winner. You can’t lose. This is a gem.

   The only question I have is that Peterson uses really good lenses – expensive. I shoot Nikon myself, and with my D300 have a Nikkor 10-24 wide angle that cost around $1000. I have to admit the results seem spectacular and seem to reflect the expense, yet its hard to quantify this. Yet it’s there. I don’t think you need to spend $5000 to get these results, but it helps.

   By the way, if you vote my review helpful, I get a nickel from Amazon for each positive vote.

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5. 

   Mitch G. / September 22, 2010

   Review by Mitch G. for Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens
   Rating:
   Like many people buying books on macro photography, I’m a somewhat experienced amateur who recently bought a dedicated macro lens and feeling underwhelmed with the initial results. After looking for decent free content on the Web, and not finding much, I started looking at books and settled on this one after reading all the good reviews.

   I’m sure the author is a fine photographer. That’s easy to see from looking at the photographs but I have to say this is arguably a better coffee table book than it is an instructional on how to take better macro photos.

   Like so many photography books, there just isn’t enough information on how the photos were taken to allow the reader to go out and try to do the same…One mistake (and I don’t know why editors let this go) is listing incomplete information the body, lens, and settings used for each of the photos. In some, he gives you the focal length used but since he doesn’t specify whether he’s using a full-frame vs. cropped sensor body you don’t know specifics, and they can in some cases be important.

   There are two chapters about the “Canon 500D” but they’re so hard to follow I ended up looking online to see what he was talking about. He starts by calling it a “lens” and later a “filter”…Starting out explaining what it is and then showing a picture of it in use would be a much better way to start off. I’m still not sure whether he’s recommending using it on a macro lens or just other lenses.

   There is a lot of great information in the book, I just would have edited it completely differently. Show some great “classic” macro pictures, show the set up you used (ie a photo of the camera, tripod, lighting, etc.), give the exact settings, explain options, and move on to the next one. Flowers, feathers, surfaces, all kinds of interesting stuff is mentioned and his pro results shown, but having finished the book I haven’t really added much at all to my knowledge of how to make my photos pop.

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