Bryan Peterson's Understanding Composition Field Guide: How to See and Photograph Images with Impact

Another good one from Bryan Peterson. I have a lot of his books. It's easy to learn from this book. The information is broken down in an engaging way. Makes you think about how you can utilize these techniques to better your photography skills. Definitely inspired to take more photographs.

Composition is one of those fuzzy sciences; one usually might have an intuitive sense of what makes a good composition, but there's no hard, fast science to it (notwithstanding the golden rule). Peterson, however, equips the reader with a good sense of what visual tools and techniques are available for a photographer (or artist of any kind, really) to create effective compositions. He explains things so clearly and simply, and uses a variety of different examples, so anyone can walk away feeling better equipped to make photographs or art of any kind. This is a really good follow-up to his "Understanding Exposure," which I reread frequently and expect to do the same with this book. (Shooting with a Canon EOS Rebel T3, with kit lens and 55-250mm telephoto zoom, and have already applied a ton of what I've learned in both Peterson's books so far.)

While there are no really big news on the matter, and that there are better composition books to look for, I still recommend this one for everyone, but specially from begginers to advanced amateurs. The reason being that have a lot of practical, real world advice, and that the focus is on creativity, exploring, see the world in different ways, having some attention to basic ideas of composition. And all of these made with what it seems not an amazing gear, kit zooms, standards macro..nothing like this is what you may do with a 500 f.2.8 prime...

I liked this book. I like Bryan's writing style, although I do think in this book it has a bit more of an "edge" than in some of his previous books. However, he always writes in a style that is easy to remember. I found "two steps closer" a refreshing way to remember to fill the frame, for instance, and who would have thought of "crying babies" for background distractions? I have always thought of myself as a "fill the frame" photographer - sometimes too much filling the frame to the detriment of showing the environment. However reading this book that I had gotten lazy and was NOT filling the frame so much anymore - a good mental kick in the butt. I had my wife look at some of my pictures - old and new - and she really gravitated to the ones that "filled the frame." I shall also watch out for "crying babies" in the backgroun when setting up a shot. The last thing I immediately recognized was that I had gotten away from what i used to call "zone focusing." I used to use it all the time to set an area of acceptable focus. I have gotten away from that with newer lenses that only have a distance scale and not a DOF scale as the old manual ones had. However, Bryan reminds that using the distance scale and a few easy to remember distances you can basically set up your lens so you don't have to focus - and thereby work much faster. There is much more of value in this book, and it is a pleasure to read. If you are new to photography, there is a wealth of information. If you've been around the block a few times, there are good reminders. I've been at it since 1959 and, while I' now only shoot for pleasure, I still found some excellent reminders, ideas, and energy in this book. It is highly recommended.

"...compelling photography is, first and foremost, not about the content! Compelling photography is about the arrangement of content." --Bryan Peterson Bryan Peterson's Understanding Composition Field Guide: How to See and Photograph Images with Impact When I read this I immediately thought of a recent photo* I had seen of a political candidate speaking to a teacher in a grade school classroom. By any standards this is a typical campaign photo op. Yet the photographer took it one step further. Off in the corner were two children making faces at each other not paying any attention to the adults. The photo was framed with one child on the left smile askew and another on the right rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue. In between the two in the close distance was the hand shaking politician. What a fresh composition. This is what Bryan Peterson helps us understand. I have read most of Bryan Peterson's books and have always come away with a fresh perspective and a renewed understanding of photography. Through his analysis and experience you can feel him radiate his joy and love of photography. Regarding this book "Understanding Composition" Bryan gives the novice a field of view on "seeing" their image. He gives the enthusiast and hobbyist a fresh perspective and offers the advanced shooter a good read and new ideas. There is literally something for everyone. Whether you "see" new images differently or mine your old images for a fresh perspective Bryan will guide you along that path. For anyone interested in photographic composition this book is a must read. *Ruth Fremson/NY Times Slide Number 9 (Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg visited a first-grade class at PS 195 in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. [...]

I am still working through this book, but so far it has been great. Each chapter takes a new aspect of composing a photo, and is very practical and easy to understand. The example photos are super! I am taking notes on each chapter so I can go out and practice just that aspect. So far I have been pleased with the results. The book is helping me a lot to open my eyes and SEE possible compositions. Thanks Bryan for taking the time to put together a very comprehensive book on Composition.

このたび69歳でデジカメ2号機（FX機）を手に入れたのを機会にこの本を買いました。カメラの愛好家ですが素人です。人物の撮り方についてだけ過去本を読んだことぐらいです。本屋で調べましたが、感覚的にぴったりのものがなく、Amazon.com(米国のサイト)で風評などを調べたあとAmazon.co.jpで買いました。ずばり求めていたとおりの良書です。まずコンピュータなどの補正に頼らず、カメラで勝負する心構えから始まり、構図や、絞りの選択、シャッタースピードなどほぼすべてをわかりやすく説明してくれます。何よりもうれしいには、経験が腕を磨くというのは当たり前ですが、そのほか特筆すべきは、1.カメラマン近づく対象物は1/250で撮ればよい、2.服装などの反射を生き生きとした色で表現するための適正シャッター速度、3.緑の背景の場合は、-2/3の絞り補正をする、4.遠景を写しこむ夜景の場合は、絞りをf22として距離を１メートルにあわせれば奥行きのあるぴったりした画像が得られるなどきわめて具体的に教えてくれます。 読みながら後悔したこともあります。わが持っている28mmの広角レンズは絞りの限度がf18です。もう少し早くこの本を買っていれば無理してでもf32までしぼれるものを買っていたのにと反省しきりです。 翻訳ものはなさそうですが、英語はきわめて平易で、写真もついているので、絞り、構図、3分の１構図などのカメラ用語をあらかじめ英語に直しておくと簡単に理解できます。ほかにも２，３冊同じ作者の本があるそうですが、この本がそれらの本の総まとめとなっており一番良いとの風評でした。

Prático e objetivo. O autor explica muito bem os conceitos de composição fotográfica

Ayant déjà "Understanding Photography" du même auteur, j'ai trouvé ce livre intéressant pour l'approfondissement qu'il apporte. Il y a de la redite, mais le contenu est intéressant avec de nouvelles illustrations qui me plaisent toujours autant. A 12 euros livraison incluse, un must.

Of my many books on photography, this is certainly one of my top 5 must have books. You have to read it often to assimilate all the useful content and put it to good use but it is time well invested. The information here will definitely boost your artistic and photographic level in very little time. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or pro. Anybody can profit by reading this book. Peterson's writing style is easy to understand. He is a great teacher. The many photographs are perfect examples of what he explains in writing. I have the first and latest version of hos book learning to see creatively and it is a great book but in my opinion this one is even better. If I had to choose only one, it would be an easy pick.

Guardare i risultati di una sessione fotografica puo` essere un'esperienza frustrante: spesso capita di pensare: bella foto, ma forse sarebbe stato meglio spostare l'inquadratura....e lo sfondo...e avvicinarsi.... Insomma: spesso quelle che al momento dello scatto ci sembravano ottime foto appaiono come ovvie o banali quando le rivediamo. Ecco: questo libro aiuta a capire come evitare tutta una serie di errori che un neofita (come il sottoscritto) tende a fare quando scatta...e a diminuire la frustrazione!