National Geographic
Posted by photonovice on January 13th, 2007
As a Christmas present I got the Hungarian edition of National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures written by Rober Caputo and Peter K. Burian.
As a beginner of photography I find the book extremely useful. It writes about the basic technical things, such as aperture and shutter speed settings, measuring light and illumination, and also about how to compose a picture.
The most surprising thing I found in the book is the continuous awareness and patience that is required from a photographer. Awareness like always knowing what you are doing and why, what the result will be of what you do (cause and effect), what you are experiencing and how to take a picture of that. And patience of going back to the same place to see things in different illumination scenarios or waiting (peace of mind) in front of a remarkable sight, like a building or landscape, until something really interesting appears in the viewfinder making the picture special and meaningful.
Even though some professional photographers are making huge amount of pictures, they do not make great pictures accidentaly. They always have a message to tell, and a mission to accomplish.
This is the cover of the Hungarian edition:
April 13th, 2007 at 2:23 am
I am the co-author but I have never gotten a copy of the Hungarian edition.
And interestingly, I was born in Budapest. We moved to Canada many years ago.
Peter
April 13th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Peter,
It is an honour to receive a comment on my blog from you.
The book is rarely available in the bookshops these days (I don’t know how my wife could find it), but I’ll try to find a copy and send it to you.
I never thought that Burian might have been Burján or Burián some time ago.
I would be interested in how you found my blog and would appreciate any comments on my pictures as well.
photonovice
June 24th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
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