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E-Books
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Photography - The Art of Deception by Irakly Shanidze (By (photographer)) Photography is a lie. Just think about it: photographers create two-dimensional images that sometimes even lack color and then expect everyone who views the image to believe that this is how the subject and scene appeared in front of the lens, in real life. What is truly amazing is that people fall for the visual trickery readily, almost as if they want to be deceived. It gets better: people still believe that one can photograph only what is really there. In this book, Irakly Shanidze reveals the smoke and mirrors that the best photographers use to surprise, entertain, and inspire viewers. He explains that the individual features of photographer's perception and technical limitations of his equipment make him do things that may eventually make a picture look very different from how a viewer would see the same scene with a naked eye and can lead to a ruined picture. Conversely, photographers who understand these phenomena can use the aforementioned "constraints" to deliberately adjust the level of truthfulness in their pictures. In each beautifully illustrated chapter, Shanidze discloses the photographic tools that enterprising photographers can use to create visual deception (e.g., to create a sense of dimension, create day-for-night effects, establish mood, simulate candid photographs, and generally suspend disbelief--without the time-consuming post-processing!). In doing so, he describes the image objectives (in other words, defines the image concepts) and introduces the tools needed to achieve them--whether a lens of a certain focal length, a light of a specific wattage, or a given shutter speed. He also deconstructs some of his favorite images to show readers how he was able to create a chiseled deception of his own. Armed with this book, photographers will learn to truly take the reins in their photographic pursuits and deliver supercharged, iconic, storytelling images.
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Photography and Landscape by Rod Giblett; Juha Tolonen With a focus on the settler societies of the United States and Australia, Photography and Landscape is a new critical account of landscape photography created through a unique collaboration between a photography writer and a landscape photographer. Beginning with the frontier days of the American West, the subsequent century-long popularity of landscape photography is exemplified by images from Carleton Watkins to Ansel Adams, the New Topographics to Richard Misrach, all of whose works are considered here. Along with discussions of other contemporary photographers, this extensively illustrated volume demonstrates the influence of settler societies on landscape photography, in which skilled photographers captured the fascination with and the appeal of the land and its expanse. The latest installment in Intellect's Critical Photography series, Photography and Landscape is a visually striking introduction to one of the most important modes of photography.
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Photography and the Art Market by Juliet Hacking; Simone Klein The first part of this essential handbook provides an art-business analysis of the market for art photography and explains how to navigate it. The second is an art-historical account of the evolution of art photography from a marginal to a core component of the international fine-art scene. In tracing the emergence of a robust art-world subsystem for art photography, sustaining both significant art-world presence and strong trade, the book shows the solid foundations on which today's international market is built, examines how that market is evolving, and points to future developments. This pioneering handbook is a must-read for scholars, students, curators, dealers, photographers, private collectors, institutional buyers, and other arts professionals.
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Conservation Photography Handbook by Boyd Norton (By (photographer)) This book is a call to action, providing the tools photographers need to help preserve threatened species and environments around the world or in their own backyards. Author/photographer Boyd Norton has spent over four decades successfully doing just that, and is credited with saving millions of wilderness acres through his photographs and personal activism. In this book, Norton shares his approaches to designing powerful images that communicate the threats facing wilderness areas, wildlife, and people around the world. His expert advice guides you step by step through the process of capturing effective photographs and implementing them to educate and build support for these critically important issues. Also featured are images and techniques from acclaimed conservation photographers Amy Gulick, Alexandra Garcia, Alison M. Jones, Joe Riis, Bob Rozinski, and Wendy Shattil.
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Basics Architectural Photography by Bert Bielefeld (Editor); Michael Heinrich Architectural photography is an important tool for studying built architecture and documenting students own projects. Basics Architectural Photography provides a practically based explanation of the key technical aspects of photography, image analysis and photo editing, and includes helpful tips on how to take and process photographs. Topics: Photographic concepts (focal length, image circle, angle of view, depth of focus, exposure time, contrast range, etc.) Equipment (camera, lens, tripod, light meter, etc.) Photographing architecture (perspectives, architectural models, etc.) Stylistic devices in architectural photography Exterior shots Interior shots Image editing, scanning, image correction
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Storytelling Portrait Photography by Paula Ferazzi Swift (By (photographer)) Photojournalists are trained to scout important events, capture mood and emotion, predict peak action, and create images that, in an instant, tell a compelling and memorable story. In this book, award-winning photojournalist Paula Ferazzi Swift (from Framingham, MA) shows readers how she adapted her photojournalistic approach to create a thriving family portrait business. In an increasingly competitive market, professional portrait photographers need to hone their skills to capture heirloom-quality images that are a step above the rest. With the tips in this book, readers will learn how to use -- or cultivate -- a photojournalist's precision capture skills to chronicle family moments that matter. Ferazzi Swift offers ideas for creating a strong and lasting client connection, eliciting memorable moments, finding storytelling locations, inspiring natural action and reactions, and capturing the inter-relationships between siblings and between children and their parents. Armed with the skills in this book, photographers will be able to capture more genuine, charming, memorable, and expressive portraits that truly depict the family's interests, the subject's personalities, milestone moments, meaningful locations, and the unique bond the family shares.
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Stories from the Camera by Michele M. Penhall (Editor) The remarkable photography collection of the University of New Mexico Art Museum owes its unique character and quality to the directors, curators, scholars, and artists who have taught, worked, and studied at the museum and in the university's Department of Art and Art History. In this indispensable book, these distinguished scholars and artists reflect on the pictures from the collection that hold significance to them. Through their own professional and artistic practice, they represent different generations of aesthetic voices and intellectual directions. As one of the earliest collegiate institutions to begin collecting photography, the University of New Mexico Art Museum holds a stunning array of images that span photography's 175-year history. In addition to iconic works by famous photographers, this book also features less familiar but equally masterful pictures. Together, these essays represent a unique history of photography and this renowned museum.
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Painting with Light by Eric Curry (By (photographer)) Throw your preconceptions about light-painting out the window and prepare for a creative journey that will revolutionize your photography. Light painting is a classic photography technique that involves selectively illuminating sections of a dark subject by moving a light source (like a flashlight) over the subject during the course of a seconds- or minutes-long exposure. This results in uniquely nuanced depictions with a high level of technical artistry. As Eric Curry shows, however, today's hardware and software allow you to produce light-painting images that are anything but traditional! In this book, you'll learn, step by step, how to plan and execute incredible, nuanced images using simple gear, a whole lot of imagination, and today's powerful postproduction software. With these techniques, your imagination is the only limit to what you can create!
Photographic Processes
- Albumen: Albumen Photographs: History, Science and Preservation
Sections are devoted to primary source literature, the science and technology of albumen prints and implications for preservation. A gallery of albumen prints, a video demonstrating the albumen photographic process, and a discussion forum are included as well.
- British Library | Historic Photographs, Photographic Processes
This site provides definitions and examples of eight early photographic processes.
- Glossary of Processing Terms
Part of a larger site of Victorian photograph exhibit catalogs, this page provides overviews of more than 50 terms related to photographic processing. Includes suggestions for additional reading and links to examples from exhibits.
- Graphics Atlas | Image Permanence Institute
Let Graphics Atlas guide you through individual prints in a virtual online study collection that contains processes ranging from woodcut to modern digital print. Learn more about the processes and what to look for in an image.
- American Antiquarian Society
The Society under Graphic Arts holds a diverse collection of American photography ranging in date from the 1830s to the 1920s. The collection is primarily organized by process such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and cartes-de-visites, stereographs, tintypes, and ambrotypes.
- Art of Photogravure
This site has extensive information on the role of the photgravure in the history of photography. It includes information about key photographers, a detailed description of the photogravure process, a search-able database of early and contemporary photogravures, information about collecting photogravures, and a glossary of terms.
More Resources
Searchable Image Collections
Blogs & Podcasts