Now that you’ve bought that amazing new DSLR, you need a book that goes beyond the camera manual to teach you how to take those great shots. One key element is composition—the creative arrangement of components in the shot, and the way a viewer’s eye travels through an image.
With Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots, author and photographer Laurie Excell starts with the basics of composition and explores how the elements of color, shape, angles, and contrast work to create compelling images. Contributing photographers, John Batdorff, David Brommer, Rick Rickman, and Steve Simon, provide unique perspectives on black and white, sports, art history, and other subjects related to composition. Beautifully illustrated with large, vibrant photos, this book teaches you how to take control of your photography to get the image you want every time you pick up the camera.
Follow along with your friendly and knowledgeable guides, and you will learn about:
- Key camera features that affect composition, including the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed)
- Shadow and light and how to direct the viewer’s eye to your subject
- Lines and shapes that create visual paths to points of interest in your image
- The role of color—using complementary or contrasting colors—to add your own unique artistic expression
- Spatial relationship and placing your subject within the frame for portraits, action shots, or landscapes
And once you’ve got the shot, show it off! Join the book’s Flickr group, share your photos, and discuss how you use your camera to get great shots at flickr.com/groups/composition_fromsnapshotstogreatshots.
Customer Reviews & Comments
This is a great book with lots of useful easy to read and digest information for NEW and/or NOVICE photographers. There is much less to gain from the book if you are an experienced photog but that is no reason to downgrade the rating for this book given its TARGET audience.
The chapters are well organized, the pictures are accompanied with relevant information. I would have loved to have had this book a few years ago when starting out my photography hobby. It would be a GREAT complement to the Scott Kelby series of books about Digital Photography:
Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3.
The book is compact enough that you can take it on a holiday with you to get inspiration on the road. Highly recommended for NEW photographers.
