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Book Review – For Love of Insects

If you want to photograph insects, it is always a good idea to learn more about them.  For that reason, I have tried to read a book on them whenever I read a photography book.  For those who are curious what the life of an entomologist is truly like, this is the best book I have seen.

This is not a reference book, but is instead more of a collection of stories.  Eisner goes through the major projects he has worked on during his career and how they came about various discoveries.

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Book Review – Macrophotography

I cannot remember being more excited to read a photography book.  As most of you know, macro photography is my passion.  It is also a rather difficult field to get good tips about.  Most of the top macro photographers are quite silent about their techniques.

Therefore, I was extremely excited to find a book by such a talented artist.  Gilles Martin has photographed for the places I could only dream of and he has also dabbled in pretty much every type of macro and micro technique.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge let down.  I could not have been more disappointed.  Granted, the photographs are gorgeous and Gilles certainly has tremendous skills, but the text of the book (and in some ways the photos too) suffer from some huge flaws. Continue Reading…

Book Review – The Photographer’s Eye

I have read quite a few photography books and, while most are helpful, in truth most of them do not deserve a place on my book shelf.  It would have been perfectly find to borrow them from the library, read them, and return them.

This book is one of the small handful that I intend to keep within a moment’s reach on my book shelf.  It is loaded with helpful information and – even more important – serves as a ledge from which to access other material.

Some time ago I reviewed the book Take Your Photography to the Next Level.  In general I liked the advice in the book but did not like the photographs.  When I reviewed that book, someone recommended this one and there really is no comparison between them.

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Book Review – Life in the Undergrowth

As I mentioned before, I have had the chance lately to get a bit of reading done.  While wandering through a used bookstore some time ago, I picked up a copy of Life in the Undergrowth.  When I finally received some time to get some reading done, I sat down and went through it.

This is a very entertaining book.  If you like insects, and you enjoy watching shows typical of Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel, this book is for you.

It is intended to supplement the television show presented by the BBC of the same name.  The book reads very much like one of those shows, which IMHO is good in some ways and bad in some ways.

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Book Review – Understanding Shutter Speed

Since I had some time off due to the snow here, I took the time to read several books.  One book that I had been wanting to read for some time is Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson.

Since reading Understanding Exposure by the same author, I had been anxious to give Understanding Shutter Speed a read.  For those who have not read Understanding Exposure first – I recommend that you read it before reading this book or at least have a solid understanding of exposure.

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Book review – Take Your Photography to the Next Level

While waiting for my 5D Mark II to arrive, I have been reading a number of books.  I have also been learning Turkish, but that is the subject of another conversation.  In particular, I have been trying to learn how to better compose my pictures.  I noticed this book in the library and decided to take a look.

In general, I found this to be an outstanding book for learning composition and how to inspire yourself to take better pictures.  A lot of the advice here are things that make sense and should be intuitive, but still ring a bell when reading.

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Book Review: Light Science & Magic

Nelya often gets upset at me because I often prefer to buy books rather than get them from the library.  With the exception of technical books for work – which go out of date quickly – I prefer to buy books and read them over long periods of time than have the books for only a few short weeks.  In addition, I often refer to books in the future.  Still, a number of times she does have a point.

However, Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting is not one of those books.  This is a book that you will refer over and over to and is well worth the investment.  In fact, in my opinion this book is required reading.  It is not for beginners, but anyone who hopes to understand light at all should have it.

First, let me stress again that this book is not for beginners.  It assumes that you already know the basics of photography and how to properly expose a picture.  What it doesn’t assume, however, is that you know anything about light.

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Book Review – The Photographer’s Guide to Light

Understanding of light is crucial to any photographer – from beginners to experts.  Therefore, some time ago I purchased The Photographers Guide to Light in order to get a better understanding of it.  The book is well organized for beginners and each chapter covers light in a different aspect of photography.

The book begins with an introduction into the kinds of light and some of the scientific aspects of it.  The language is very easy to understand and is accessible to almost anyone.

He then goes into more detail on the following subjects

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Book Review – The Olympic Rain Forest

I have spent a decent amount of time reading about ecological systems in far away places like the jungles of Peru, so when I came across this book on an environment just a few hours away, I decided it was time to better learn about the ecologies I am more likely to photography.

The book The Olympic Rain Forest: An Ecological Web is about the same size as your standard photography book and was written by two individuals who have spent a large amount of time in the forest.  I was quite excited to read this book, as similar writings that covered the diversity of the forests were extremely interesting and now I had the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of my own backyard!

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Book Review – Carpenter Ants of the United States and Canada

OK, I have to admit that this book is not for everyone.  Who should read this book?  Hmmm… Well, if you’re not interested in carpenter ants, you can skip this review.

I happen to find carpenter ants quite interesting and one species of them – Camponotus Modoc, is very common around here.  Therefore, when I saw Carpenter Ants Of The United States And Canada on sale at a used book store, I decided to pick up a copy and learn more about them.

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