National Geographic Photography Field Guides: Landscapes

by National Geographic Society, Peter K. Burian

Featuring simple instructions for all levels of photographers, a handy instructional guide, filled with essential information, shows readers how to compose and photograph the lay of the land, from the Grand Canyon to their own backyard, revealing the secrets behind National Geographic's own legenda

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a big fan of this series of books for quite some time. It’s nice to observe some of the tricks and techniques of some amazing photographers in the world. Of course I shoot digitally so a lot of the film talk doesn’t mean much to me, but I think we can’t fully appreciate more modern shooting without some respect for the way it has always been done. So many of the images in this book are just breathtaking and so much to aspire to and beyond.
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He sido un gran admirador de esta serie de libros durante bastante tiempo. Es bueno observar algunos de los trucos y técnicas de algunos fotógrafos increíbles en el mundo. Por supuesto, filmo digitalmente, por lo que gran parte de la charla cinematográfica no significa mucho para mí, pero creo que no podemos apreciar plenamente los disparos más modernos sin un poco de respeto por la forma en que siempre se ha hecho. Muchas de las imágenes en este libro son simplemente impresionantes y mucho para aspirar y más allá.

[Ljubomir · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some useful tips in this book, both practical and aesthetic. The theory is illustrated with good examples in the form of beautiful photographs.
From one point on, however, the book gets quite repetitive and you hardly read or learn anything new.

The guide seems to end up in no man's land. On one hand, it is too technical for people who don't intend to spend money on photographic equipment, and on the other hand too general for those who have the said equipment and presumably are already familiar with most of the advices found in the book and want to learn more details.

I am somewhere in the middle - I am familiar with the basic technical theory and I intend to obtain more serious equipment one day, so the "pro" tips did not bother me, and neither did the summarizing character of the info and the lack of details, since I am not yet that advanced.
And I did enjoy the book. It helped me understand some things better, and it is a little step forward, but overall it provides just a basic insight in landscape photography and is rather meant to inspire you to look for more info and try new things yourself than actually teach you anything advanced.

It is also a bit outdated, as it focuses almost entirely on film cameras and merely mentions once or twice that such a thing as digital photography actually exists.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this little book at my local library, and am glad since it was aimed at film photographers and I own a digital SLR. On the whole it was helpful. It wasn't awesome, but it is short. I can take "not awesome" in short doses.

It does earn bonus points for the inside cover being an 18% gray card. That was a nice little plus.

[Judine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are pretty and some of the basic tips are good, but this book assumes you want to make photography a career. While it made me want to take a photography class to REALLY learn how to take pictures and develop film, the guide itself is a little too technical to really be enjoyable.