Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Masters |  | Author: Michael Frye
Publisher: Focal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 11200
Media: Paperback
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 8.2 x 0.4
ISBN: 0240812433
Dewey Decimal Number: 778
EAN: 9780240812434
ASIN: 0240812433
Publication Date: January 20, 2010
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Product Description
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a pioneer of landscape photography, whose imagery-especially his iconic views of the American National Parks--is widely published and instantly recognizable. While he is undoubtedly one of the best-loved and best-known visionaries of American art, photographers also recognize him as a pioneer of technique, a theoretician, and as one of the great teachers of the craft of photography.
His zone system has been widely adapted, but Adams unique imagery also relied on his determination and application at every stage of the photographic process; he spent years in his darkroom, as well as out in the open air. For decades, this kind of attention to detail required the kind of equipment, time, and facilities that were out of the reach of most photographers--but now, in the digital age, technology has finally made his techniques accessible.
This book will show you what can be learned from Adams working process, and how these lessons can be applied today. The craft of Adams photography is discussed, and the ZONE SYSTEM is related to the digital age. Sections on light, composition, mood, and the darkroom all show what can be achieved today using and understanding his thinking. Michael Frye's own photography provides many stunning examples of the results that can be achieved and, as one of Adams' natural successors in the field, he is well placed to analyze the inspirational shots which open each chapter.
* Demystifies the art behind the iconic shots
* Contains a number of breathtaking works by Ansel Adams and other landscape masters such as Edward Weston and Elliot Porter
* Written by one of the most reputable fine landscape photographers, who (like Ansel Adams) uses Yosemite National Park most frequently as his subject
* Breaks the zone systems (famous to Adams) down in a way that digital photographers can use
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
 Lessons from the Masters January 31, 2010
Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Eliot Porter were amongst the greatest landscape photographers of the twentieth century. Unlike many of today's photographers, they used film. The book "In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters: Digital Landscape Photography" tries to translate their techniques into the language of modern digital photography.
The first part of the book, called "Technical Foundations" deals with the basic techniques of digital photography with emphasis on how those techniques might be applied to landscape photography. Experienced users may find little new here, although the explanation of the zone system may introduce people who have mastered the histogram to another method of calculating exposure. At the same time, the explanations of the fundamentals may prove much too pithy for beginners. Perhaps the section will most help those already familiar with the basics to understand how to apply these techniques like the masters.
The second part of the book, entitled "Light, Composition and the Art of Seeing" evokes the masters, mostly by quoting their words. The images presented are primarily those of Frye, but those familiar with the masters will recognize that much of his work is clearly derived from their style, except for being captured digitally and usually in color. Although this aspect of photography is the most amorphous to describe in writing, Frye does a good job, and his lovely pictures, taken mostly in Yosemite and other favorite locations of Adams, are well worth studying.
The final part deals with "The Digital Darkroom: Editing, Processing and Printing" and it is here that Frye shows how I imagine the masters would use modern image processing software and hardware rather than the chemical darkroom. Although quite extensive, it is certainly not a Photoshop primer. Instead those who already know how to use such software will see examples of how Frye uses it to emulate the style of the masters. Since most Photoshop manuals do not show many examples of actual applications, this can be quite useful.
My only complaint with the book is that I would have liked a few more photographs by the masters included, with some deeper analysis of the images to reveal the techniques they used to fulfill their vision. There is still plenty of room for the photographer to view and analyze their works in other books.
No photographers should expect (or fear) that after reading this book they will take pictures like the masters. Instead, they should expect that some of the techniques, if adopted, will be incorporated into their own style and add to the quality of their images.
Excellent adaptation of light masters to digital media January 30, 2010
Chris Zee Shutterbug (Baton Rouge La)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Digital Landscape Photography
Excellent adaptation of light masters to digital media -minimum self advertising.
Truly an enjoyable and useful book that dissects the Ansel Adams et al style and then explains how to achieve a similar vision in today's digital media. I was immediately taken in by a discussion of one of Adam's classics, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941". Briefly we are exposed to his vision, and learn how to see beyond the obvious. Technique for an enduring masterwork - compose in one's mind then incorporate emotions to be be moved in one's heart. Hard to put into words, but Michael Frye succeeds quite well.
Surprisingly the notion of a pure image is also dispelled. In other words what you may be tempted to do in Photoshop, Ansel did as well in the darkroom. Dodging and burning are translated into manipulating the curves, layers, saturation and other parameters available to us now. So rest assured, and feel free to evolve your image, Ansel would have done the same.
Much of the book is spent on discussion of the Zone System. Briefly, diving the light in the scene in up to 10 zones from the lightest to the darkest. This is equated to evaluating a digital images' histograms. Explanations are given regarding when pictures should be high tone (mostly bright) or low tone (mostly dark) and when its just fine to have a gray image. We are also taught about the multiple exposures and HDR images. Combining over and underexposed images in such a way to enhance the image by showing details that otherwise would be hidden in the shadows of erased in blown out highlights.
There are examples of each of these methods sprinkled liberally throughout the book. This is where my comment about self advertising comes in. Many photo self help books are actually a gallery of the authors best works, we are not involved in the process all that much and are simply told to admire.
This is not the case in this book. It succeeds very well in exploring the inner artist in those of us who may not be handy with a paintbrush, but are capable with a camera. The explanation of the thought process behind some of the excellent masters works here (ie Clearing Winter Storm by Adams) combined with the hardware and software techniques makes this an excellent reference source material.
For the beginner it illustrates some of the possibilities, for the advanced amateur it offers the glimpse of becoming a master.
On a technical note, the book is a soft cover one, but the cover and pages are heavy stock that feels plasticized and high quality. Unfortunately the dark pages show fingerprints quite distinctly.
Finally the quality of the images would make this book feel quite at home on a coffee table for the quests to browse through as well.
How to achieve the classic "Zone" with digital photography February 1, 2010
Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I spent a lot of my teenage years doing darkroom photography. I still have some of my black and white photos and it's still a passion for me, but there is NO WAY I have time to spend hours on one print in the darkroom. Digital photography is now getting resolutions that rival the best film, and new software like Nik Software Complete Collection - Professional Photographic Tools for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture lets you convert shots to black and white and even choose film grain and a gray scale altered by the Zone System.
Armed with such software and this book, you can adjust your digital photography along with scoping out subjects to attempt the type of work exemplified by Ansel Adams.
The Zone System was a way of exposing, developing then printing film to enhance the range of grays or alter the contrast of a photograph. Since digital photography doesn't involve development but relies on software to "process" your raw image, this book goes into histograms, exposure alterations, bracketing shots, shadows versus highlights, and filters. (Filters were used to change the light hitting film and taking advantage of differential sensitivity to colors of light in black and white film or enhancing the polarization of light. Only a polarizing filter really works on digital cameras. So to use "filters" you have to employ a digital algorithm to replicate the effect, say, of a yellow filter on a blue sky.)
There is also information on choosing subjects, composition and cropping as well as color enhancement. The book is lavishly illustrated with excellent photographs that are printed beautifully so you can appreciate the details.
Probably for me, the three most valuable chapters are processing order (how to use the software to fix the photo), expanding the contrast range (getting that "Zone" effect) and finally, printing, always the most challenging part since what you see on the screen isn't what comes out of the printer.
If you admire classic photography and want to replicate its beauty with digital tools, this book is essential. Big Thumbs Up.
The Masters, 2.0... February 1, 2010
John P. Jones III (Albuquerque, NM, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Humbling. Both the book, as well as the reviews posted to date. This book indicates how the master landscape photographers, like Ansel Adams, might have taken their pictures if they had a digital camera. Frye has included everything you would expect from a quality "how-to" book. He has mastered his material, does not talk down to the reader, and makes his points lucidly. He knows a lot more than I do, and that is why you pay the money for his expertise. He has included numerous quality pictures, often taken in similar settings to the "masters." For me the real strength was looking at multiple pictures of the same scene, as taken under different parameters.
And then there are the other reviews. Submitted by those who will probably always understand the zone system, tone, composition, and digital manipulation better than I. Still, there is much to aspire to, and as one reviewer said, "...for the advanced amateur it offers the glimpse of becoming a master."
So, I struggled to find something original to say, in order to "thank" the Vine program for its book. And there is was on page 6: "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," a copy of the photography that Ansel Adams took in 1941. A lot of photographers have been moved by this picture, so, why not try, as a first approximation, to duplicate what Adams admitted was a "lucky shot," in digital? There is a book entitled "New Mexico, then and now," in which the author traveled around the state, taking pictures in the same spot as one was taken 50-100 years ago, in order to illustrate the development and changes. Even he didn't try! The problem is this: Google might easily find Hernandez, but you'll have a much more difficult time sorting out where it is in the doublewides that sprawl along US 84, north of Espanola. I persevered though, and suddenly it dawned on me that I was standing in the exact spot that Adams had. There was the church; there was a sliver of the graveyard. But the austerity was long gone, replaced with congestion, including doublewides and bright red pickup trucks. A picture is obviously possible, if your inclinations run towards Diane Arbus. True landscape photographers should carry crying towel in hand.
Well, when your own resources are limited, and inadequate for any further effort, as the former Vermont Senator, George Aiken once said about Vietnam: "It is time to declare victory, and get out." And so I will, but not before thanking Michael Frye for an excellent book that will be a standard reference for many years to come. Highly recommended.
Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Masters January 22, 2010
Andrew E. Nixon (Hanover, MA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Well worth the purchase for the chapter on editing, processing and printing alone!
This is a relatively slim volume - 160 pages - given the breadth of the subject matter covered. If each of the chapters were given a full treatment this book would easily be 3 or 4 times the size. That's not the point though. What the author appears to be attempting, and achieves in my opinion, is to enhance the readers visual literacy and show how you can use the tools of the digital darkroom to mimic the approach the masters used in the traditional darkroom. How did the masters approach subjects and develop emotion in their photographs? This is illustrated through a combination of photographs from the masters and also from the authors own work - much better this way than pages and pages of text. The section on editing, processing and printing I thought was particularly good - I liked the dodging and burning examples and would happily have seen this section doubled. I'm sure that this book will be well thumbed in the weeks to come.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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