Sunday, May 18, 2014

The Ultimate Field Guide to Photography

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all claims to be the ultimate, best, brightest are usually utterly baseless and without truth. A title like "The Ultimate Guide Field Guide to Photography" is enough to make most people's eyeballs roll towards Heaven. This, however is a complete exception. This is really quite an excellent eBook by National Geographic. It is showing its age a little bit as it was probably written several years ago with plentiful references to film. There are many reading this blog that have grown up using digital cameras and who have never touched film cameras.

In the guide, mention is made of film cameras being coveted in the art world. Certainly there are enthusiasts of all genres willing to take on just about anything. As far as coveting film cameras, it is unlikely that anybody will covet them once film ceases production. Let's take a look at the death roll of film manufacturers - Agfa is dead and buried, Kodak ceased production of Kodachrome and nearly went under. Konica, Efke, Fujifilm have all cut back production dramatically. It's now very hard to find film on sale anywhere and the selection has dropped off dramatically. As digital imaging becomes more widespread, even plate film will eventually disappear. It is a rare and backward dentist for example that still uses film for anything.

While it would be possible to break down the eBook into sections and to review each section, it is quite a short eBook or rather it's a PDF rather than an actual book. It's the first eBook that I thoroughly recommend reading. For beginners it may seem daunting as there's a lot of information thrown out but really and truly, I like this eBook. I recommend it. This has everything in it and explains all the parts of photography, how exposures are made, lighting, backgrounds, framing - absolutely everything. It won't make an expert photographer of anybody overnight but reading and comprehending fully everything in the article will set somebody on the right path.

No comments:

Post a Comment