The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 1)

One technique I enhanced from this book was the use of a high camera position. Ansel took many of his photos from a tripod which was mounted on the roof of his station wagon. One of the benefits of such a location is the "semi-helicopter" look to the photos. The foliage is more interesting from this height, and the viewer can see more than he would be able to from ground level.


Wanna learn to take pictures, start here.   October 6, 1996
71 out of 73 found this review helpful

Einstein wrote a book for lay people to explain the theory of relativity. I've read it twice, and I still don't know what Albert's talking about. Ansel Adams wrote three books on photography, The Camera, The Negative, and The Print, for lay people to explain how to take good photographs. I've read 'em all, and at least I know what Ansel's talking about, even if I can't take photographs like his yet (gimme fifty years of practice). Whether you like Adams' style or not, in technique, he is to photography what Einstein is to physics: a single authoritative master who's work can be relied upon. Of the three books, _The Negative_ is the most important; but if you are just getting started, the Camera is where to begin.


The ultimate book for purist photographers!   July 30, 1998
31 out of 33 found this review helpful

The Camera, book 1 of 3 in the Ansel Adams Photography Series, is well written with many illustrations of the subjects in each chapter. It also includes many of Ansel's own photo's as examples. The chapters are written for the the novice as well as for the journeyman who want to refresh one's memory on the basics. The latter chapters get more involved with technical information. Book 2 and 3, "The Negative" and " The Print" are eqully well written with an introduction to Ansel's own Zone system. A must read for serious photographers or the novice interested in advanced techniques and/ or terminology. Ansel will go down in history not only as a great photographer but teacher and writer as well. I highly recommend this series to anyone interested in taking better pictures.


Required Reading for the Serious Photographer   February 15, 2001
R. Sandridge
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

I thought that this book was very thorough. I learned many useful things, and I also learned many things that don't really apply to me but I found interesting none-the-less. Ansel Adams writes very precisely, and the book is packed with lots of very useful figures/photographs that help in understanding the text that is being read.

The book might be a little boring for a casual picture taker. Also, I imagine that the book might be too basic for a professional who has been doing photography for a great number of years. But for a serious photographer getting started, it is an excellent book. And who better to read than the master Ansel Adams.


Formal Photography Lessons Start Here   January 18, 2006
W. Ng (San Rafael, CA United States)
21 out of 23 found this review helpful

Recently bought a DSLR, and really needed something to help me improve my knowledge on photography. Since lots of pros online recommend it, I got this book.

This book helped me understand the most important fundamentals of the camera. After reading other photography books, I learned a few things like smaller aperture causes a greater depth of field. All I got to do was set the aperture to the largest or smallest possible in my point-and-shoot aperture priority mode. It is because other books never taught me why apertures can affect the depth of field, and the explanations are largely insufficient for the reader to understand how to use the intermediate aperture settings (which ranges will become out of focus, for instance). It is not until this book that I got the "that's why it is like that" enlightenment.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand photography. Some people may find the book too academic, and the pictures here are black and white. But I learned more from this book compared to those that have very nice colorful photos. Some don't even have captions with the aperture, shutter, ISO, etc. used. But even if they do, without adequate explanation on why they chose those particular settings (never mind understanding them), it is really difficult for novices like me to improve our photography skills. This book solves that problem for me.