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Mastering Landscape Photography: The Luminous Landscape Essays
This book includes thirteen essays on landscape photography by master photographer Alain Briot. Topics include practical, technical, and aesthetic aspects of photography to help photographers build and refine their skills. Also covered is how to be an artist in business. Alain Briot is one of the leading contemporary landscape photographers. He received his education in France and currently works mostly in the southwestern part of the United States. This book starts with the technical aspects of photography; how to see, compose, find the right light, and select the best lens for a specific shot. It continues by focusing on the artistic aspects of photography with chapters on how to select your best work, how to create a portfolio, and finally concludes with two chapters on how to be an artist in business.
- GenresPhotography
280 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2006
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December 23, 2021
This book was an interesting series of essays by an interesting professional photographer. To the uninitiated in landscape photography, this book certain contains enough of the concepts to get started from the beginning.
One of my biggest issues with this book, and it may have more to do with reading in 2021 rather than 2010, is that the book is still firmly grounded in a period of time where mass use of digital photography and the digital medium is a debate. This leads to many confusing or irrelevant discussions regarding utilizing film and film format during photography. In today's world, I wouldn't dream of seriously pursuing photography with film, yet the world of 2006 was completely different. To this end, Master Landscape Photography could do with having another addition that updates to today's modern workflows. Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of the book that speak to somewhat modern workflows, but nothing like a digital version of Adams' zone system.
As Mr. Briot says multiple times in this book, it is not worth focusing on the negatives when there are so many positives. Have read quite a few books on the topic of photography, I thought this book dove into some interesting subjects including a distinction between artist and an artist in business. Personally, I have no designs to make a livelihood from the art of photography, but I really enjoyed reading about the process by which Briot went from an artist selling print on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the photographic powerhouse that offers so many products on the marketplace. I would have liked a little more detail on the points of his life after his stint at El Tovar, but I understand that would, to a certain extent, "show his cards" for others trying to directly duplicate his career progression.
This was a fun book to read if you are interested in the topic of landscape photography. Many of the images in the book are symbolic of the type of professional career that Briot has enjoyed.
One of my biggest issues with this book, and it may have more to do with reading in 2021 rather than 2010, is that the book is still firmly grounded in a period of time where mass use of digital photography and the digital medium is a debate. This leads to many confusing or irrelevant discussions regarding utilizing film and film format during photography. In today's world, I wouldn't dream of seriously pursuing photography with film, yet the world of 2006 was completely different. To this end, Master Landscape Photography could do with having another addition that updates to today's modern workflows. Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of the book that speak to somewhat modern workflows, but nothing like a digital version of Adams' zone system.
As Mr. Briot says multiple times in this book, it is not worth focusing on the negatives when there are so many positives. Have read quite a few books on the topic of photography, I thought this book dove into some interesting subjects including a distinction between artist and an artist in business. Personally, I have no designs to make a livelihood from the art of photography, but I really enjoyed reading about the process by which Briot went from an artist selling print on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the photographic powerhouse that offers so many products on the marketplace. I would have liked a little more detail on the points of his life after his stint at El Tovar, but I understand that would, to a certain extent, "show his cards" for others trying to directly duplicate his career progression.
This was a fun book to read if you are interested in the topic of landscape photography. Many of the images in the book are symbolic of the type of professional career that Briot has enjoyed.
Displaying 1 of 1 review