What do you think?
Rate this book
The Photographer's Eye - Definitive Edition: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
192 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2025
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Michael Freeman
284 books7 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2025
The latest edition of Michael Freeman’s The Photographer’s Eye provides much useful instruction in a straightforward way with many examples, without ever feeling too technical or too artsy.
The book is neatly split out into chapters that cover a different theme in photography. Lighting, framing, usage of colour, ratios, lenses, and so forth. Each of these are split into subchapters on very specific items, which makes it handy as a quick reference guide as well as something to be consumed as any other nonfiction book. Freeman never fully comes down on one side of art vs. science in photography. Instead, as explicitly mentioned at one point, it is a little bit of both. This is another aspect that makes it a useful compromise between those that will go into great detail on f-stops and those that will cover every potential artistic ratio. Each subchapter is accompanied by at least one visual exemplar to illustrate Freeman’s points, drawn from his vast library of photographs. Sometimes, different pictures of the same shot will be presented to contrast different styles or techniques. These in particular help to spell out the subjects and an overarching theme that there are multiple ways to take a single image.
The book never becomes too instruction in the ‘do this, use these settings, to achieve this look’. It will describe how certain settings will impact the overall image, but it stops far short of describing how to use a particular combination of settings. It is not a technical manual of photography. Similarly, the theoretical elements of artwork in photography are not presented as ironclad laws, again going back to there being more than one way to take a photograph. Though these are described in enough detail to where the principles can be understood from the book but leaving photographers the freedom to make their own decisions. Freeman does not recommend a particular brand of camera equipment over another. He does mention those that he uses in the introduction but does mention that he has used others in addition to these and got great use from them. Whenever technology does come up as a subject it is done in a brand agnostic way. For instance, it will describe types of lenses and their uses instead of mentioning exact models.
The breadth of Freeman’s career as a photographer means that all the images used in the book are his own and cover a wide variety of subjects, peoples, nations, times, and themes. It really helps sell that the author knows of that which he writes when there is direct evidence placed right before the reader. It is, however, the point of view of one. More a statement of fact than a criticism that what we are reading, even with Freeman’s vast experience and portfolio in mind, is the opinions and theories of one person on photography. A very well-informed, tenured person, but one person, nonetheless. The variety of the examples used throughout will mean that for most readers there will be at least one image that inspires or has resonance of some level. One picture that the reader will see and think: I can achieve that! If this was someone’s first book on photography, it could not fail to encourage them to do more.
The Photographer’s Eye is an essential book on photography, covering almost all elements on the subject to some degree, making both an effective introduction and a good reference guide to have on hand.
The book is neatly split out into chapters that cover a different theme in photography. Lighting, framing, usage of colour, ratios, lenses, and so forth. Each of these are split into subchapters on very specific items, which makes it handy as a quick reference guide as well as something to be consumed as any other nonfiction book. Freeman never fully comes down on one side of art vs. science in photography. Instead, as explicitly mentioned at one point, it is a little bit of both. This is another aspect that makes it a useful compromise between those that will go into great detail on f-stops and those that will cover every potential artistic ratio. Each subchapter is accompanied by at least one visual exemplar to illustrate Freeman’s points, drawn from his vast library of photographs. Sometimes, different pictures of the same shot will be presented to contrast different styles or techniques. These in particular help to spell out the subjects and an overarching theme that there are multiple ways to take a single image.
The book never becomes too instruction in the ‘do this, use these settings, to achieve this look’. It will describe how certain settings will impact the overall image, but it stops far short of describing how to use a particular combination of settings. It is not a technical manual of photography. Similarly, the theoretical elements of artwork in photography are not presented as ironclad laws, again going back to there being more than one way to take a photograph. Though these are described in enough detail to where the principles can be understood from the book but leaving photographers the freedom to make their own decisions. Freeman does not recommend a particular brand of camera equipment over another. He does mention those that he uses in the introduction but does mention that he has used others in addition to these and got great use from them. Whenever technology does come up as a subject it is done in a brand agnostic way. For instance, it will describe types of lenses and their uses instead of mentioning exact models.
The breadth of Freeman’s career as a photographer means that all the images used in the book are his own and cover a wide variety of subjects, peoples, nations, times, and themes. It really helps sell that the author knows of that which he writes when there is direct evidence placed right before the reader. It is, however, the point of view of one. More a statement of fact than a criticism that what we are reading, even with Freeman’s vast experience and portfolio in mind, is the opinions and theories of one person on photography. A very well-informed, tenured person, but one person, nonetheless. The variety of the examples used throughout will mean that for most readers there will be at least one image that inspires or has resonance of some level. One picture that the reader will see and think: I can achieve that! If this was someone’s first book on photography, it could not fail to encourage them to do more.
The Photographer’s Eye is an essential book on photography, covering almost all elements on the subject to some degree, making both an effective introduction and a good reference guide to have on hand.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2026
When I first saw this book I was skeptical whether it would be right for me or not. But I gave it a chance anyway.
As a photographer who has been in the industry for 10 years, I found this book extremely interesting to read. Despite knowing various techniques, I took away a lot of new knowledge.
I will continue to use the book to help me find and practice finding better, cleaner, easier and more interesting shots.
I definitely recommend reading it. Especially at the beginning of a photography or videography career.
As a photographer who has been in the industry for 10 years, I found this book extremely interesting to read. Despite knowing various techniques, I took away a lot of new knowledge.
I will continue to use the book to help me find and practice finding better, cleaner, easier and more interesting shots.
I definitely recommend reading it. Especially at the beginning of a photography or videography career.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews