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Probably 98% of all the photos are taken with the aid of light boxes, movie lights, what have you. It is a fine book of pictures, with descriptions of how the majority of the photos were taken. However, you need to know this guy has more gear than imaginable (it's all pictured at the end of the book), and an assistant. I consider myself an advanced amateur. I guess my point is, unless you are an advanced professional, this is a nice book of pictures. I bought this book after reading Scott Kelby's "Digital Photography Book-Volume 2," great book and very useful to amateur photographers. Over many years I've progressed to the Nikon D300 with a nice assortment of gear. At the end of the book, Kelby strongly recommends "your next book" should be "The Moment It Clicks." So I ordered it.
Your photos can be better after this. Keep it close to you and read it over and over.
Great tips on how to get the images. this book was awesome to read. Author was funny, photos were great.
McNally's thoughts and advice are written in an easily understandable and very approachable manner. well, colloquial, for me. "Then I was like.", "Dat's one fine lookin' photo subject", and the like makes it all a bit too. There are plenty of hints and 'I got hold of helicopter and had my fleet of assistants doing this and that to get the proper lighting on the King of Siberia while the catering firm truck was just in the right spot for creating the right shadows', which creates the feeling, at least to me, that the author (who is a great photographer) just tells stories about why he is as good as he is (this is not boring or bad as such, mind you, just not what one is expecting). It's not a big problem, though (you can't have a book tailored to just your own needs, can you now. All very well, then.Well, not entirely.
There are some photographs in here, though, and hints and advice are never a waiste of time. As photography books, especially instructional ones, go this is definitely an interesting one. The layout is really good and the images nothing short of stunning. Kelby) is a bit on the simple side ("Bring your camera").
With danger of sounding hippocritical, I'll say that some of the advice (sold as 'nuggets of wisdom' in the foreword by S. There are, in other words, not enough tips on shooting for amateurs in the field (in my opinion). There is also a slight problem with the writing. It's just not the book it could have, or indeed should have, been.2,5 stars
colloquial. If you know all there is to know about lighting and creative photography, I guess you could look at the advice in this book and say 'oh yeah, I forgot about that. Approachable and easily understandable as it is, I think that the language at times is a bit too. Mr.
And this one does actually cover quite a bit of ground). I have definitely learned, from most of the advice in this book, that one needs an assistant, 5 flashes, tons of reflectors, and all kinds of other stuff to get any sort of portrait in the field as well as in the studio. Many reviewers before me have mentioned that there are few real pieces of advice as how to go out and produce shots similiar to those presented. Let's do it this way', but unless you're quite good with lamps and lights, there's not enough to be had here.
This book makes a great gift for anyone who is interested in making pictures or just looking at them. I bought this for a friend who is a photographer and teacher of photography, and he loved it.
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