How To Take Great Photographs

by John Hedgecoe

Bring a master photographer and bestselling author into your home for a back-to-basics course on practical photography. This unique series of hands-on exercises, illustrated with more than 200 of John Hedgecoe's superb photos, will build important skills, one at a time. Begin by getting to know your camera (conventional or digital) and its functions, analyzing lighting setups, and understanding the fundamentals of composition. Once you feel comfortable behind the camera, you're ready to move on to more challenging areas of photography, such as capturing fast-moving or poorly lit subjects. A final section offers details on the latest equipment and specialist techniques.

Genres: Photography

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

John Hedgecoe (24 March 1932 – 3 June 2010) was an award-winning British photographer and author of over 30 books on photography. He established the photography department in 1965 at the Royal College of Art, where he was Professor from 1975 to 1994 and Professor Emeritus until his death. He was also Pro-Rector of the college from 1981 to 1993. His photographs appear in permanent collections at the New York Museum of Modern Art and London's National Portrait Gallery.

"Professor John Hedgecoe was a photographer who took the portrait of the Queen which is used on British postage stamps; as such he is credited with the planet's most reproduced image, which has so far sold more than 200 billion copies." (The Telegraph)

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of ideas for all sorts of photographs in this book, plus some "assignments" to get yourself thinking more. A book I may want to read again.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are largely outdated, and in many cases not very good. The principles are good, but not really explained or evaluated, just stated. Overall it's decent, but fairly basic.