Techniques of Natural Light Photography

by Jim Zuckerman

Book Overview

What makes or breaks a picture? Composition, of course, and perhaps less obvious but equally fundamental--light. "Subtle or dramatic, the impact of light on an image completely alters how that image... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898797160
• ISBN13: 9780898797169
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 134 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Fine book on the most basic of topics - using natural light

One of the hardest things to learn about existing light photography is how things will appear on film under various lighting conditions. This book explains most common situations clearly, and illustrates them beautifully with a selection of the author's fine images.

Simply outstanding!

This book would be worthwhile simply for the images themselves, which are breathtaking.The fact that the author also shares his composition techniques and technical settings makes it a true gem for any serious photographer, pro or amateur.The reviewer who said the pictures are "soulless" must have a strange, strange definition of "soul". The images capture incredible beauty in the world all around us. No quasi-artistic forced poses or special effects here - just wondrous images that the author has recognized, captured, and presented to us, without pretense.Another reviewer said that he could not take the same photos because he does not have the same equipment, but I think this comment is misguided. Any 35-mm or digital camera of even moderate sophistication would capture at least 80% of the beauty of most of the images. A medium-format camera is necessary only if you want prints that are good enough for a coffee table book or fine art museum, which most of us don't need! If you learn how to control your camera and how to compose shots the way the author does, you, too, will take wonderful shots!

Good for coffee table

Though the book claims to teach you how to make use of the natural light, in reality you can hardly duplicate the efforts Jim had made, they were simply composed perfectly, flawlessly. And the equipment too...I will not buy the equipment he used and will not have the time to wait for the perfect shot like him.As for the cover shot, he claimed that it was a snapshot. And this is simply the best safari photo I had ever seen! Period.I gave 5 stars not for the techniques you can learn to use but for the flawless and simply stunning shots. However you can appreciate how the same scene will look like under different lighting conditions. And the book is organised into shots taken during different times of the day.

A book plump with tips and techniques.

Mostly I've been disappointed in the pictures I've taken outdoors. The colors were never quite right and my subjects didn't seem to be as impressive as I imagined them to be at the time. Mr. Zuckerman's book helped me understand why. His sharing of the intimate details of each of the spectacular shots in the book provided insight to the thought process of a master photographer. His simple approach took the complications out of the process and gives a feeling of confidence for even an amateur's next attempts. Beautifully written, one can sense his excitement and passion on each page. A job well done!

Excellent source for how to shoot outdoors

This was a very very helpful book in explaining how to shoot with exsisting lights. He explained how to calculate exposure using things out there in the outdoors under all lighting. He is helpful and easy to read with lots of helpful hints.I