The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

This is an instructional book that makes no pretense of being the last or only word on the subject. The author does a good job of illustrating the techniques and values involved in creating good photography according to established practice. At the same time you are reminded that the subject is artistry and that no rules exist.

What I like most about the book, even more than the attractive layout, is the clear relationship between the written descriptions of ideas and the examples shown. I've been an amateur photographer for decades and have "learned" most of the concepts in the past but I find this book a fresh look with new ways of viewing most of the basics upon which good pictures are made.

I had seen this book's pictures and notes on the photos it has before I bought it, now Im happy to find out that this guy writes very well and clear. The book is based on desing principles and theory more than other things. It helps the photographer to have a better idea of why and how images work and how they impact. The book its packed with info on all pages.

I highly recomend it

Great book! Loved the simplicity and extremely educative for novice photographers like me. Loved the clean and crisp language, very well composed book, just like the concepts it talks about.

Love it!

If I were putting together a recommended list for a photographer with any ambition of going beyond vacation snapshots, this book would be on it. After you've acquired a good grasp of the basics -- aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and so forth -- and you've become familiar with the essential post-processing tools available in Photoshop; its powerful but much less expensive offspring Photoshop Express; or Apple's cool new Aperture application, you'll want to begin to incorporate design principles into your shooting and post-processing. Freeman's book does a great job of explaining these principles clearly and simply, so that you'll begin to think in design terms before you push the shutter release and again when you're deciding how to crop, etc., during post-processing. And the book itself is beautifully designed.

Strengths: Beautiful photographs. Great layout and good titling next to photographs.
Weaknesses: The chapters relate to design and composition. The somewhat helpful if the author also focused on the subjects of most photographs as applied to photographs (nature, sports etc).
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 5/5

Introduction

This book is all about design, a most important factor in the creation of good photographs. The main focus is the subject of composition and design for digital photographers. The importance of seeing and the n shooting your favorite photographs, involving all the dynamics, can be a daunting task. The Photographer's Eye can be a book that can help you see your visions more clearly.

The author is a renown international photographer and writer who specializes in travel, architecture and Asian Art. The 6 chapters have a multitude of stunning photos that implore you to read further into the insights that went into creating these insightful visuals. The main aim of the book is to show you more about what is behind the author's eye as he took this photographs.

The book covers the essentials of: image framing ( cropping, stitching and extending, filling the frame); design Basics involving contrast, texture, pattern, balance, visual weight etc); graphic/ Photographic Elements (horizontal, vertical, diagonal lines, curves, motion, focus, exposure); light and color composing; focus on the Intent (a great chapter which made me stop and ponder my own internal motivations and intentions in taking images); process (search for order, anticipation, juxtaposition). So while the book is not a lengthy one it covers much within its pages.



Conclusion

This book is not an easy read per sey. Most of these photos include a title which highlight and critique the the details that produced the idea behind the photograph. This book is definitely not a quick guide or set of easy tutorials. It is more a comprehensive look into many approaches that will help in the taking and later possibly editing your photographs.

Normally the procedure of taking a photograph is think of a scene or a photograph you want to take of it and then let your digital camera do its work. However to acquire a better photograph you need more then quick ideas. This book is not about quick ideas to make your photographs quickly. This book is all about absorbing the ideas found in the details of the book. The author really wants you to see into the "minds eye " involved perceptions. He shows you with brilliant photographs, helpful principals to guide you through taking better photos. He reflects on the dynamics involved and shows the results "that will stand out".

All in all, I like this book. I can't fault the author for designing a labor intensive reaching. Learning about details and composition and translating these to making your photographs better takes more time then just browsing. There is much to learn from this book and what he has to say. But for me (and possibly others), to really get the most out of the book, I feel like I will have outline some of these design aspects and seeing how I can incorporate his ideas and insights into my photographic sessions in the future.

The trick will be how and when this book will, to even greater extent, help me with the viewing or seeing a scene that can help me visualize and take better notice of opportune moments, reflections or scenes I see through my camera's viewpoint. Reading this book will help me in the future. It is just a matter of looking through all these "pearls of wisdom" and focusing by better use of opportune times when I hope to make better photographs. While I have done that in the past, the book has helped me realize there is even further "ground for me to break" in the area of capturing better photos using "my mind's eye". Take a look at this book and see what it might do for you.