Photography

I’ve been to the Gerlach’s Michigan fall color workshop, I have both of their books, I’ve been getting Nature Photographer magazine for years just to read the Gerlach article in each issue, and I’m saving up for their Yellowstone workshop, BUT… and it’s a big BUT…

This book is unreadable. The publisher saved $0.50 in black ink; for what… to piss off their customer?

I’m sick of this “Cheapening of America” to save the manufacturer a few pennies but to make the product on the cusp of unuseability. From paper grocery bags to aluminum foil, EVERYTHING in this country is designed and made to be as cheap as possible (but the decreased cost never trickles down to the consumer).

Had I known how difficult this book was going to be to read, I never would have bought it!!!
Rating: 1 / 5

John and Barbara Gerlach have done it again! Digital Landscape Photography follows after and builds upon the simple approach they adopted in their first book, Digital Nature Photography: The Art and the Science, and is characterized by simple, thoughtful text and eye-popping, gorgeous photography. Anyone who has attended the popular workshops and seminars presented by the Gerlachs will be immediately at home with this format. A casual style is employed deliberately by these talented teachers, who tirelessly assist their students with cheerfulness and humor. While reading this book, one can virtually hear the lilt in their voices and the chuckle following tongue-in-cheek remarks which make their lessons unforgettable. The splendid photography corroborates their expounded methods for refining your photographic technique.

Aesthetically the Gerlachs’ new book is very attractive. The design / layout is, in my opinion, a potential award winner. I also enjoy the landscape 11.5″ x 8″ format of the volume, which matches its predecessor as a set on my shelf. The mesmerizing images themselves, from prints which Barbara personally produced, are perhaps rightfully the central joy of holding this book, and are entirely digital. (Some books, even recent ones, by notable photographers are still using scanned slides.) Such pictures are bound to get you reaching for your camera and running out the door. If you’re more disciplined than that, you’ll be hungrily reading the text to discover the techniques used to open a window on such beauty. I have passed the book around to friends who are only casually interested in photography. They’ll politely open the book in the middle, stop and stare, grunt a little, then turn to the front of the book and systematically page through it from beginning to end, ooh-ing and ah-ing along the way. They are obviously entranced. Sometimes they start thumbing again. Indeed, it makes you want to repeatedly peruse and to reread.

A wealth of topics is covered in 10 chapters: Landscapes are Everywhere; Cameras and Accessories; Choosing and Using Lenses; Mastering Exposure; Techniques for Sharp Images; Light on the Landscape; Composing Pleasing Images; Special Subjects; High Dynamic Range Images; Panoramas. Succinctly, emphasis is placed on carefully selecting and correctly using photography equipment suitable to your budget and imaging intent.

It will be noticed that little space is dedicated to post-processing, although it is often mentioned in passing. “So many books already cover that topic”, the Gerlachs write. Their purpose, then, is to stress “shooting the highest quality images possible in the field”. But they don’t want you to wait until you get “in the field” to prepare for fine pictures: they also underline the crucial importance of learning to use your equipment: reading and continually consulting user guides and manuals, getting a thorough feel for the controls and menus of your camera, lenses and other gear, experimenting with options you may not understand. These are central tenets of the Gerlach doctrine, repeatedly stressed in the classroom, in nature and, of course, in this book.

Relevant aspects of post-processing aren’t ignored, either. Two digital techniques that have increasingly fired the enthusiasm of photographers, including the authors, are specifically treated. These are the ‘panorama’ (digitally stitching overlapping views together to make one wide – or tall – seamless image) and high dynamic range imagry (or HDR, combining a bracketed range of exposures via software to capture both shadows and highlights otherwise impossible in conventional digital photography). Included in the discussions are the equipment needed to shoot the images, the photographic technique used to actually capture the pictures, and the software used to produce the finished results. I found their tutorial on using Photomatix Pro to produce HDR images clearer and more practical than many other “how-to” books books and web-pages dedicated specifically to this purpose. Of course, gorgeous photos are presented as examples which delight and inspire.

I can’t think of a basic digital landscape photographic technique which is left unmentioned in Digital Landscape Photography, and much of the advice for achieving high quality landscape pictures is also applicable to other types of image-making, such as macro and close-up photography.

While the book is deliberately untechnical, hard-core perfectionists will be delight in advanced topics such as finding a given lens’ nodal point (which needs to be above the turning axis of your tripod) in order to shoot panorama without troublesome distortions.

John’s and Barbara’s friends, students, nature lovers and photographers-at-large will be eagerly awaiting their next volume… t.b.a.!

Disclosure: The Gerlachs kindly gave me a copy of the book, since I helped edit the text. This review is a spontaneous reaction to my own enthusiasm at seeing the final copy. To be sure, there are always corrections that can be made in the next edition of a book, this fine one included. In fact, someone has mentioned some typos: oops! Sorry those were missed. Let the Gerlachs know if you find any – their contact information is found in the back of the book. One small correction I personally desire concerns the caption (put in after the final edit) regarding a certain image on page 137 by (ahem!) yours truly, which was not taken at the Michigan Falls Color Workshop, as stated, but during the Spring in Ohio at the Hocking Hills in the Shoot-the-Hills Contest. (Goto [...]). Of course, attending a Gerlach educational and economic day-long seminar shortly before inevitably improved my technique, and I am a true believer. This book promises to do great things for your own images. Nothing would make John and Barb happier.

Dan Pater
Rating: 5 / 5

I recently purchased this book and Digital Nature Photography The Art And The Science, by the same Authors. I have read both books cover to cover and then some. I studied photography part time for a year in school, but there is so much to learn and often things you miss or don’t get at the time, this book fills in the gaps! It is easy to read and understand and also gives good practical advice on purchasing equipment, including the advantages and disadvantages of each piece. It answers questions on where to meter, what mode to meter in, how and when to compensate, for the best exposure, focussing, how to get the sharpest images, including different techniques and how to do them. The histogram, how to understand it, how to use it well and why you use it. Working the subject, composition. It even has a section on cleaning your lenses and how to use that plastic bag correctly, in extreme temperatures to save condensation problems. I could go on and on about this book and how happy I am that I purchased it and their Digital Nature Photography book. Every chapter is informative and of assistance to anyone pursuing their love of landscape photography, who feel that they still need to hone their skills. It covers light, colour casts, where they occur, and why and what to do about them. Polarizers, ND Filters, warming filters, how to use them, when and where and why we use them. The chapter on HDR Images, how to shoot for them and how to process them is great. Those of us who understand f/stops, aperture, speed, ISO, depth of field, histograms etc. can skip those pages, although I chose to read them, because sometimes these authors come up with something that you should know and that no-one else thought to tell you and you never know on which page, that tid bit of info will turn up. All of that and then the beautiful photographs that inspire. If your looking for post capture techniques this book is not for you, if your looking to hone your in-camera techniques, that will definitely save you time in post capture, then buy this book. These Authors to my mind are great teachers, there are those who are excellent at imparting their knowledge and John and Barbara certainly fall into this category! they obviously love their craft and they love to teach it! I highly recommend this book!!
Rating: 5 / 5