Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography: book review

Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography

Author : O'Reilly Media, Inc. (August 1, 2006)
ISBN-10: 059652370X
ISBN-13: 978-0596523701
Pages: 305
USA: $ 40
Canada: 56

Strengths: This practical guide has extensive information integrated with the screenshots, exquisite photographs and visuals. The tutorials and information are well done and provide much assistance for those Mac users who want to become familiar and gain and understanding of their system. Good for those who are starting with Macs or want to become more efficient with the

Weaknesses: Questions relating to troubleshooting in the first chapter could have better been placed in a section at the end or integrated into another chapter.


Rating: 5/5


reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher (Dreric1kansas@aol.com)

Introduction

The author Stephen Johnson is a landscape photographer, designer and teacher. He a world recognized digital photographer and pioneer. Many of his remarkable photographs are part of many collections in world institutions. Many of this photos and world famous photos from other photographers showcase the techniques and photographic topics.

Chapter 1 focuses with a great a great introduction to several reasons for working with digital imagery. Specific conceptual troubleshooting issues are elaborated upon while focusing upon real problems. However with all the emphasis on perfectionistic photography throughout the later parts of the book it was interesting how troubleshooting techniques were placed here. Possibly this was done to focus on what can go wrong to further demonstrate proper techniques but this section should most likely have been placed elsewhere as in the appendix.

The 21 chapters have sections relating to basics of digital photography, Film camera techniques vs. digital, Practical approaches of the non film photographer, Techniques of the digital darkroom , A photographer ™s digital journey, Photography, art and the future. Among the most interesting parts of the book are a section on compositing and faking of images (Chapter 19 : Photography and Truth - Imaging Ethics in the Digital Age), highlighted using photographs of space missions, Mt. St. Helens, and war related images. These different perspectives give a fresh perspective on comparing and contrasting historical and other techniques. What I liked is that photographic perspectives related to me personally and could relate to others based on how old you are. The author’s perspectives and photographs of him standing on the rim of the crater of Mt. St. Helens compared to my experience as a teacher that was allowed to helicopter into the crater and videotape and photograph the inside of the crater. Other readers will relate to many other photos while others will be amused or uplifted by the clarity and poignant qualities of the photographs.

Conclusion:

This book is thoughtfully produced and comprehensively written. The author has crafted a book which covers many views of digital photography taken from a historical perspective as photography has progressed through time. While it is guide, it is not an easy. The troubleshooting perspectives, which I thought should go elsewhere, were important and would help with beginning essentials. It is the additional views and perspectives that this guide has in the rest of the book that a photographer can use over time, for producing better digital photographs. The bottom line it is not an easy read. You will have to pause and reflect on the importance of digital photography through the “eyes “ of the author. That is what makes a great read.