Wide-Angle Photography

5 reviews for Wide-Angle Photography

1. 

   Gloria September 1, 2018

   This book could not have been more timely – I just bought a wide-angle lens to use in my nature photography.I like that the author begins by saying that you don’t have to read the book in the order he wrote it but can jump around according to your interest. It’s what most of us do anyway, but nice to have permission 🙂 It’s the first book I can recall that has several great photos mixed in with the table of contents — a fun idea!

   The author points to several podcasts he does on photography which will be helpful as well. Nice to have information from more than one medium.
   The author is a very good writer and makes a lot of technical information quite accessible to non-technical readers like I am 🙂 I also appreciate that he includes brief exercises throughout the book to demonstrate what he’s been teaching so that we can see for ourselves what he saying.

   The author points out, wisely, that wide-angle lenses will include much more detail within the frame of the photos. Thus, we need to pay more attention than usual to what we are shooting — composition becomes critical. Unlike most photography authors, Marquardt points out that although there is a lot of distortion at the edge of the frame, sometimes when you use a wide angle lens, playing with that effect can be “a lot of fun“.

   He does an excellent job of explaining the different focal lengths and lenses and the images that result. He uses easily understood illustrations and even gives us simple real life exercises to try for ourselves. I found this very useful. Later in the book he points out something I had never seen explained: that the wind angle lens will capture a wider range of dark and light so that the range of contrast with in the frame would be much greater than usual. HDR, of course, is one of the ways to address this issue.

   Although he includes the expected sections on shooting landscapes and architecture with wide-angle lens is, he surprised me by talking quite a bit about using wide-angle lens for street photography and portraits as well – very useful information and not always included in that discussion of the wide-angle lenses.

   In just about every chapter he suggests what he calls “tricks“. Just the sound of that is fun. For example, in the street photography section he suggests but if you are shy shooting strangers you start first shooting their pets. That’s exactly what I did at the beginning 🙂 The author of coarse also spends time setting forth technical information on how to improve sharpness, depth of field, etc.

   The author covers fisheye lenses and taking panoramic photos as well. In the final sections, he discusses the use of tilt shift lenses which is a great bonus. He points out that they are not useful only for architectural shots but also, for example, for intentionally emphasizing certain things in the frame by manipulation of the plane of focus, and even useful in portraits – I would not have thought that!

   The book is quite well written, a pleasure to read, and covers a breadth of topics in wide-angle photography that I had not anticipated. Well worth the read.

2. 

   rogerwoods70 (verified owner) October 15, 2018

   I love being able to watch the webinar to see and hear what the author is conveying in his book.

3. 

   jefforns November 6, 2018

   I have been creating images for over fifty years and have used my many wide-angle lenses in many different ways for many different results. This is the first book that I have read that has shown the varied and magnificent uses of wide-angle lenses. The author writes in a clear and understandable manner. I found it a joy that Mr. Marquardt uses and teaches many uses of the wide-angle, not just for nature and landscapes.

   Great (and some unusual) images can be obtained with a knowledge of wide-angle lenses. Mr. Marquardt’s technical expertise is only surpassed by his artistic talent. Any photographer, no matter what they specialize in, would benefit from reading this book and having it in their photographic library.

4. 

   James January 22, 2019

   Great Reference!
   First of all, I would like to say that this book is very well illustrated and printed on nice paper. It starts out outlining technical definitions and continues with the importance of composition. The author has lots of tips that help define the usefulness of wide-angle work. Most of the book is geared toward the beginner to intermediate photographer. However, the last third of the book covers tilt shift technology which entails specialized gear which the average photographer probably doesn’t own. I think this book is best viewed as a technical course rather than a reference manual.
   I would recommend this book, but it covers such a broad range of subject that some of the sections are very brief.

5. 

   randlstone (verified owner) April 20, 2020

   A joy to read,, easy to put into practice,, and well worth the price. One of the best wide angle photography books out there.