My New Book on Exposure Released

My latest book Exposure Photo Workshop (2nd edition) has been released (a week early!) and is now available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble and is probably in most major bookstores already. This book is a total revision of the previous edition and features more than 100 new photos and virtually every page of text in the book has been updated. The book also features more than a dozen photos by my good friend and world-renowned photographer Derek Doeffinger, as well as photos by two of my former students, Gavin Zau and Jennica Reis. It's a very handsome book and the publisher, Wiley Publishing, did a superb job with reproduction.

There are also several new topics that weren't covered (or were only lightly touched upon) in the original, including High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI), an expanded RAW section, details of the latest mirrorless (MILC) digital cameras and much more. I spent nearly four months updating this book and I think it covers the subject of exposure better than any other book on the market. Shutterbug magazine said of the original: "...possibly the best book ever written on the subject." The book is also available as a Kindle edition and, on the first day that it was available, reached the top 100 Kindle photo reference books in the world (just click on the image to go to the Kindle page).

While the book covers the entire topic of exposure, there's nothing in it that will scare off or confuse any photographer--and yet I think it's complete enough to satisfy any advanced shooter. I worked very hard to break the entire subject down into easily understood pieces and every concept and technique is well illustrated. The book is also quite a bit longer than the original and is almost 350 pages long--a bargain for the price these days!

And, as always, if you have any questions about exposure or photography in general, I answer every email so feel free to write. And if I could figure out a safe way to put my email address right here I would--but you can find a contact form on my main site.

Santa's Favorite Book of Digital Basics

Around this time of year I always get a panicked call from Santa's Workshop asking me if I have written a really basic book on digital photography that the old bearded gent can hand out with confidence. And this year, thankfully, I was able to say yes! (And trust me, they were more than grateful at the North Pole book warehouse!) In May Lark Books released Focus on Digital Photography Basics (A Lark Photography Book), a really handsome and fun little book that, I think, is perfect for kids or adults getting their first digital camera.

There is nothing about this book will scare off anyone and the techno talk is kept to an absolute minimum--on top of which, it's so full of nicely reproduced photos that even if all you did was look at the photos and read the captions it would be a fun read. I cover the entire gamut of camera basics in the book including: types of cameras (and why there are different kinds of digital cameras), what the term "resolution" means, what pixels are, a really basic look at the different types of lenses that are available and the accessories that you might want. But much of the book is devoted the more fun and creative aspects of photography--composition, natural light, shooting photos of your kids and pets, taking pretty sunsets, etc.

It's a really simple book and yet I think it covers a tremendous amount of ground. I shot almost all of the photos and the reproduction is extremely nice. (I'm told the elves are particularly smitten with the photo of the penguin on page 109! Who knew?) Oops, I better go, the Candy Cane phone is ringing again and you know who that is!

Holiday Photo Book Suggestions

Books make great holiday gifts and throughout my life some of the best Christmas presents I've ever received were great  photo books. If you're looking for a good photo book to give as a gift, look at my holiday photography book guide. I've chosen a few dozen books that are aimed at a variety of different photo interests and learning levels.

Books inspire, they educate, they're fun and they last a lifetime. I've had some of my favorite photo books for more than 40 years--gifts from my parents that thankfully knew the value of having great books in the house. My mother never missed an opportunity to encourage my photography, my writing and my wanderlust with books.

By the way, the book pictured here is Michael Freeman's fantastic book The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos. Michael is one of my favorite photographers and authors and this is one of his finest books. Feel free to email me if you're looking for a book on a particular topic, I'll be happy to help you find one.

The NEW Joy of Digital Photography is here!

The NEW Joy of Digital Photography is now available on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This is a complete revision of the book with hundreds of new photos and tons of new text--literally everything in the book has been updated. I think this is the best book I've ever written and it's a great introduction not just to all things digital, but to photography (design, composition, lighting, technique) in general. The book sold over 80,000 copies when it was first published in 2005 and this is the first major revision. A great holiday gift! I'll write more about the book in the days to come, but right now you can read several extensive excerpts (on "People" photography) on the Black Star Rising blog. And here's the direct link to it on Amazon The NEW Joy of Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book).

My New Digital Basics Book is on Amazon

If you're new to digital photography, or still confused by some of the basic concepts of exposure (shutter speed, aperture, etc.), you might be interested in my latest book Focus on Digital Photography Basics (A Lark Photography Book). It was just released on Amazon today! This is a true basics book and starts at ground zero, so there's nothing in it that will scare anyone away. Other topics in the book include:

Digital Camera Basics

Learning About Lenses

Exposure

Understanding Light

Using Your Flash

Getting Sharper Picutres

Composition and Style

and Going Beyond Your Camera (printing, organizing, archiving, etc.)

There are also dozens and dozens of good photo examples--including photos that I've never published before. Hey, Mom's Day is coming--what more can I say!

Jeff Wignall's Digital Photography Crash Course--New Book Just Finished!

 

On Thursday I finished another new book: Jeff Wignall's Digital Photography Crash Course to be published by Lark Books in October--and here's the cool news: the book is based entirely on this blog! I've taken the top 150 or so tips from this blog and expanded them, added a few new twists and lots of new photos, and I think it's going to be a beautiful book. Lark did a great job and I'm psyched to see it being published  (hopefully one of several if I can keep the blog energy going). 

Finishing a book is always a huge relief and it brings with it a mixture of extreme exhaustion, the inescapable feeling of restlessness that comes from being tied to one project for many months and, thankfully, a sense of accomplishment. (The downside is that I'm already working on another book, so there is absolutely no rest for the wicked.) I'll write more about the Crash Course book when I've rested and reflected for a few days. Writing books is incredibly draining, both physically and mentally (and emotionally too, I guess): I just couldn't be more tired. Writing 75,000 words and coming up with 200 photos really grinds you down. And then, of course, after working on it for 12 hours a day (minimum) there is this feeling of "What do I do now?" I'm too wired to sleep and to exhausted to do much else.

In the meantime: I shot the final photos for the book at around 6 a.m. on Thursday morning after having been awake for 18 hours and nearly hallucinating from fatigue. The photos were made under black light (all those old enough to remember having a black light in your bedroom, raise your hands) and in the next posting I'll tell you how I made them. It's a very cool trick and it's really easy. The shot here is a mason jar full of artist's brushes that I was using to paint props with black-light reactive paint. Is that cool looking or what? I shot with a pair of fluorescent black-light fixtures and my Nikon D90 and the only tough part was not having someone there to help me hold the light fixtures in place. Anyway, next time I'll give you the whole inside scoop on black-light photography. 

Inspire Someone You Love, Give Them a Book!

Well, OK, since it's "Black Friday" and everyone is talking about holiday shopping , I'll join the chorus and talk about book shopping or, more importantly, book giving (and that includes giving them to yourself). Since I was a kid I've always loved getting books as gifts and since I got seriously interested in photography in my teens, I've loved getting photo books. Fortunately my father was a photographer and my mother loved art and books. My mother also knew how much a single book could change someone's life and bring them the inspiration they needed. She was very good at finding just the right book for me at the right time in my life.

When I was about 15 and going through that typical teenage angst about what my life meant and what I might do for a living someday, my mother gave me Edward Steichen's autobiography A Life in Photography. It literally changed my life. I practically slept with that book (in fact, I probably did fall alseep with it in my bed) and found it enormously comforting and inspiring to read about Steichen's career told in his own words. It was probably no small coincidence that she chose Steichen's book as the first big monograph she bought me because I'd met him as a kid (though I didn't have a clue how important he was at the time). The next year, based on Steichen writing so much about how important Alfred Stieglitz was to him, I asked for (and got) Dorothy Norman's biography of Alfred Stieglitz, An American Seer. Reading that book was such an exhilarating experience for me that I could barely sit still while I read it. Stieglitz was responsible for giving many of the great photographers their first public exposure in his famous "291" gallery and he forever changed the course of photography and art (he was also married to Georgia O'Keeffe, who has always been my favorite artist). Around that same time my mother met Ansel Adams by chance (and talked his ear off, I'm sure) in Yosemite Valley and the next year my parents gave me his amazing book The Camera. It's the best book on camera technique ever written--and it always will be.

It was in reading those books (and many others that I got as gifts) that I discovered that photography was more than a hobby, it was a passion, a way of seeing the world, a way of living--and that photography was as high a form of art as any other. My head was nearly exploding with photographic inspiration in those days and my poor parents probably realized that giving me all of those books wasn't helping their cause in getting me to take up more financially-stable career like being a lawyer or a carpenter or flipping McDonald's burgers, for that matter.

I guess the point is that books can change people's lives. Books still change my life everyday. I love the idea of these new electronic readers like Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes and Noble), but there is no thrill equal to opening the covers of a brand new book and discovering the worlds within. I will always be grateful to my parents for having a houseful of books and for turning me on to the treasures of knowledge, inspiration and adventure that they offered.

If you know someone who has an interest in photography (or any other subject, come to think of it), consider giving them something that will last them a lifetime and might change the way they look at the world (and themselves): a great book. Whether it's a monograph that shares a photographer's life work or a how-to book that helps them develop their own talents, books are an amazing bargain. I've always felt (and this isn't just because I write books for a living--because I buy a lot of books) that if you pay $25 or $50 for a book and get one great life-changing idea from it, you've just got the bargain of a lifetime. I've put a page of Amazon links to photo books on my main site and maybe they'll give you some ideas. But if you really want really want to experience the fun of giving someone a book, spend a few hours in a local bookstore and touch and explore the books yourself--and while you're buying books for other people, maybe you'll buy one for yourself. You deserve it!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot to plug my own new book Winning Digital Photo Contests! Wheww. Glad I remembered. Happy shopping.

Digital Image Cafe Interview: Read More About the Contest Book

As I mentioned earlier this week, my new book Winning Digital Photo Contests has just been released (ahead of schedule, which is always nice) and it's already generating some nice media coverage. Earlier this week Todd MacMillan, founder of Digital Image Cafe, did an interview with me about the new book and it was posted today, so take a look if you have a few minutes. Digital Image Cafe is a great photo-sharing and photo-community site and it was their Photo-of-the-Day contests that helped inspired the book--so be sure to look at their winning photos while you're there. It's a very fun site with tons of wonderful photos and you can read more about their mission here.

Win Photo Contests: Read My New Book!

O.K., a little bit of shameless self promotion: I have a new book out called Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Books) and online stores (Barnes & Noble and Amazon among others) just began shipping it yesterday.

If you've ever wanted to win a photo contest or would just like to see some of the amazing photos that have won them, you'll love this book. The entire book is illustrated by photos--almost all of them shot by amateur photographers--that have won photo contests. The photographs will blow you away; their quality, diversity and sheer beauty is just incredible. And you'll not only read my thoughts on the photos and suggestions for how to take them, but you'll read comments from the photographers on how they made the pictures, why they chose that particular subject and why they shot the photo at that particular moment. Also, the meta data (exposure, camera, lens, etc.) is included for the vast majority of shots.

There are also profiles of two amateur shooters that have won enormous numbers of photo contests: Heather McFarland and Robert Ganz. When you read their stories and see their photos you will just be in awe. Honestly, their stories will inspire you. There is also an interview that I did with National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson--who has judged hundreds of photo contests--about what it takes to catch the eye of a contest judge.

I had the idea for the book about a year ago but I when I approached the publisher I told them that the only way the book would succeed would be if we could use contest-winning photos for the majority of the illustrations. Amazingly, they agreed (and probably lived to regret the logistical nightmare that decision unleashed!). We looked at thousands of winning photos from around the world, narrowed them down to the top 100+ photos and then contacted and interviewed all of the photographers. It was a grueling process at times, but it was also a lot of fun. In fact, as much as I like seeing my own photos illustrating my books, I couldn't have had more fun or been more excited about choosing the photographs for this book.

You'll also find a lot of information about how to find contests, what sorts of images get judges' attention and just a lot of good picture-taking advice. Entering contests is a great way to motivate yourself to shoot new pictures, it's an excellent way to share you photos with a worldwide audience and, of course, you could win some really cool prizes--trips, cameras, workshops, etc. So don't hide your photos in your hard drive, show the world! And we'll be updating the book regularly, so if you do win, let me know and we'll consider them for the next edition.