If you are looking for a book with a lot of nice pictures, then this would be for you. If you are looking for a book to learn the technique of close up photography, this is the wrong book. The book is 80% pictures and only has very basic information on close up photography. Not a good source to learn from. Close-Up Photography in Nature
First the good stuff: loads of nice photo examples, with explanations.
Bad, IMO: writer talks a lot about what I'd call "faking it": combining plants yourself, chilling reptiles and amphibians in the freezer before shooting, combining photos using photoshop.
I'm not against using photoshop to remove an errant spot or branch, and combining photos or prepping subjects might work in some cases too, I'd just not call them "close-up photos in nature" anymore. Which is what I thought this book was about.
As expected, this book is full of valuable advise and fantastic photos. I have come to expect this of all Tom Fitharris's books, and have never been dissapointed. Close up photography requies special techniques, and often equipment as well. Tim masterfully explains the techniques and expertly reccommends the required equipment needed to accomplish the task.
Bought it for a penny, and 3.99 shipping. Why? Good Question. I browsed this author's other book about lanscape photography and thought he had amazing photos. (I bought that book too, I hope its better than this one.) This book is dated. Film is cool and probably will make a come back, like LPs. But,this book suggests kodochrome. Sorry, you cant even get that developed anymore. So,its mostly about using film equipment. The digital info is so dated, a web site about photoshop will be more satisfying. Macro? Your better off browsing Smugmug, or the web for photographers with better information. But, I'm not busting on the dude, its just dated. Is it worth a penny and shipping cost, NO. If you have a nice digital camera, a good tripod, and a macro lens, you probably already know what this book covers. If at the time of this reading, you have decided to go retro, back to analog, because some magazine or web podder convinced you it was cool, better than digital, well then you'll need to re-educate yourself on all new technics and old lenses and gadgets to buy, in which case spend the 4 bucks. Love Bubba.
Fitzharris puts everything you need to start in macro photography together into one book. Its not for an advanced photographer, but a great way to get started, and has a lot of real nice example photographs. Some technical parts on equipment lead off, which is helpful for macro. I can tell you from experience that figuring out macro ratios and everything else on your own can be pretty confusing. If you are looking to get started in macro this is the book for you.
Bob Rodgers - Macro Books - Macro Photography'
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