more design than composition
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i was looking for a book to help with my photo composition and was recommended this, so perhaps i was expecting something a little 'less formal'
for me, its quite formal and concentrates on design aspects rather than composition itself in which i would think of things such as framing subjects etc, but perhaps i was just expecting more along the lines of "rules of thirds", "bottom heavy images" etc.
with that said, its a good book for ppl who have already familiarity with general composition rules.
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At long last
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A book on composition that delves down further than the rule of thirds and the likes. I'm still waiting for my copy but had a half hour skim through it's content in a book shop, can't wait to start reading. He uses shapes on his photos to describe what makes the compostion work on certain situations. I found the content easy to read and comprehend.
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One worth buying
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I'm not usually a fan of books by Michael Freeman but when I received this book, I was pleasantly surprised. It covers the basics concepts of composition in-depth with more clarity than his previous books.
The book covers areas such as; graphic photographic elements (horizontal lines, vertical lines, curves, motion etc) composing with light and colour (colour in composition, colour relationships, muted colour, black and white) intent (reactive or planned, simple or complex, clear or ambiguos)
The book has a great and careful selection of photos to support the text and clearly illustrate the concepts covered.
Don't let his previous books stop you from buying this one.
Enjoy!!
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Fantastic Book
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This book is really hitting the mark. if you are serious about your photography and want to improve then this is a must purchase. The subject matter, the explanations and the photography are all excellent. I fail to see how anyone could not gain benefit from this book. And you will always want to take a look when you are about to photograph a new subject.
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The Best Single Volume on Design and Composition in Photography
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This is the best single volume on visual design and composition in years. Painters need a book this good. Freeman's earlier book from the 1980s, "Image," had long held the status, IMHO, of being the best single volume. His new book surpasses the older one by a significant margin.
Freeman is one of very few photographers, or artists of any ilk, who can articulate their art-related thoughts in concrete, accurate, analytical ways, and not in the jargon of so much of what is written about art that lacks any actual content. Not only is he an outstandingly gifted photographer, with dozens of books to his credit, but one who has mastered the grammar of images and is one of the few who can describe how and why visual phenomena work.
This is the most complete volume on this subject out there in terms of numbers of topics introduced and discussed at a reasonable length. It is also the most effective melding of the insights of current Gestalt perception theory with traditional design elements/principles in print. The first 60% of the book deals with the more concrete aspects of designing an image.
The last two chapters marry the other part of composing that is harder to articulate well: the message in a image, or the photographer's intent. Only in this book has an author attempted to define major categories of intent in making an image. And then categorizes the physical and mental aspects of how a photographer goes after, constructs, or recognizes an image - the process.
Throughout the discussions he introduces those aspects of digital imaging that a photographer can use to influence a picture's design. Perhaps the most powerful development is that digital in-camera and post processing technologies allow the photographer to apply to color images all those image control aspects formerly available only in the wet chemistry darkroom to monochrome images, as well as many more.
Make no mistake.... This is a book for readers. One cannot get all of this book's benefit from the illustrations alone, in the manner of so many "how-to" art and photography books these days that have pictures, but little text. But this is the book to which thoughtful photographers will return over and over for many years.
The only way it can be significantly better would be to have twice as many pages. It would make a wonderful textbook for any studio art, photography, art history, or art appreciation course in high school or college/university.
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