The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos | Michael Freeman | Wonderful mix of good writing and GREAT pictures - just what I needed

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The Photographer's...

	The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos Michael Freeman Focal Press, 2007 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

superbly written and photos illustrate points made

At once, The Photographer's Eye, grips you, beckons one to get your camera, and use your eyes differently, to take in what's there and not, and know when to do what. Michael Freeman is a master tutor, communicator.

This large sized book from Focal Press, a company that truly values it's readers and authors with high quality binding, paper, and print, has another winner with this book, that truly led me to reevaluate my sense of design, ways of approaching a photograph, and ponder. The book starts out like it should from the beginning of what an image is, what your eye sees, and slowly educates, showing vivid images, with notes, so I grasped what was to do and to follow. It's 180 pages, 6 chapters cover it all, left me feeling much more confident about why, what, and when. Knowing most work in digital domain now, additional skill building is brought forth on how before and after the image is taken, and what can be created.

Chapter 1 begins with the frame and image, from how to start to a sense of just how one can see what's there, and how to get it.
Chapter 2 gets into Design Basics, a topic not covered by many, but so necessary to accomplish Gestalt perception with balance, dynamic tension, patterns, visual weight, and content.
Chapter 3 covers Graphic and Photographic Elements, illustrating the two dimensional forms that show up in the picture frame.
Chapter 4 really showed me a new way of composing with light and color, using tone and color.
Chapter 5 on Intent had me examine what I was attempting to show in my composition and why, yes, answer why. Freeman has a gift in talking to the reader.
Chapter 6 is Process, brings about how design, art, and other media work together, and I found that my eye, and intuition was sharpened, more aware of this process.

A great book, just long enough to cover design, a well organized book, images that work, support what the author posits, and again, a quality book,that Focal Press brings us, a welcome git.

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Wonderful mix of good writing and GREAT pictures - just what I needed

I had been looking for a book on design for ages, since they tend to be expensive, I looked in second-hand book stores first, but it seems that all I found there was way too boring and tedious for me: starting with basic shapes only to build up to how to incorporate them into photography half way through the book at best. That could very well be the way to go for serious design/photography students, but I do not have time or interest in something that detailed and technical. I wanted a nice overview of the techniques that are available to a photographer, and not just a "follow the rule of thirds" kind of advice that you get from most online photography tips, but a more profound discussion on why the rule of thirds is even important, how it tends to affect the viewer, and when is it appropriate to break it.
And this book provides exactly that - a brief but concise overview of the most prominent design theories, based on the research on the way we see/interpret things. I am definitely not a design expert after having read this book, but I know as much about it as I need/can afford to learn at this point, being an amateur with no ambition to go pro in the observable future.
To me, it's like learning the grammar in a foreign language. Sure, you can probably survive in a country for a week by using words and verbs, but you will not be able to carry on a meaningful discussion with anyone without knowing how to string those words and verbs together. This book might not have taught me every tense and rule there is in the language of photography, but it gave me a better understanding of the logic behind them and cemented my knowledge of rudimentary structures.
The illustrations in the book ARE extremely well-chosen and beautifully reproduced, which is not always the case in photography books, alas. They are a treat to look at.

To address some of the critiques voices here in the respect to this book:
1) No, it does not cover ISO, shutter speed and aperture, and you are better off buying the book by Peterson if that is what you need. I read Peterson first, about a year ago, and it felt right to read this book second, they are not in any way complementary, their focus is totally different, but combined, they provide you with a deeper understanding of what you do when you look through the viewfinder.
2) I find the book very well written. It's concise, clear and well-illustrated and I even found it a pleasurable read. I would definitely not say it is hard to read, it is not the most fun and light-hearted thing you'll ever read, but it's not fiction, it is technical writing, so it will hardly come as a surprise to you. It is definitely among the least convoluted technical books I've ever read.
3) As to "it adds nothing new to the matter"... Well, first of all, it IS a book that basically summarizes the last 100 years of research in the design and its perception, so it does not claim that it is ground-breaking and new!
Second of all, this is a valid criticism only for those who already have dozens of photography books and are looking for more (but then again, if that is the case, why are you even looking into Freeman? he is clearly not geared towards a seasoned pro). If this is your first book on design, as it was for me, pretty much EVERYTHING in this book is going to be new for you to a degree (yeah, I've heard of the rule of thirds before, but never read a detailed overview of how it came about and why).

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Wonderfully clear, helpful advice, and well written

I own a fair number of photography books and have become a it jadded: I no longer expect much from the books I order; a few nice pictures (maybe) and perhaps one or two useful points. But this book is not like that: It is a well-written gem with many, many useful points that, for me at least, helped to clarify many concepts. It is among one of the best photography books I own.

This book is not a collection of recipes or "how to" guides designed to get your shots hanging on a museum wall. Rather, it examines core design principles from a photographic perspective: Composition, balance, contrast, and more. It is not a book by a designer about photography, but a book by a photographer who understands design, how it impacts our photographs, and knows how to clearly convey the implications.

I heartily recommend this book.

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Essential Reading for Every Serious Photographer

I always believed that the only effective way to teach/learn photographic composition was to share a viewfinder with a student/teacher. But this book has taken a very effective step away from that dependency.

The Photographer's Eye, which is full of comparative photographs, carefully backward engineers the image-making process and shows the reader what he/she can do to radically improve their photo-taking.

I recommend this book for my BFA and MFA students.

Wonderful & Useful

I am so delighted I bought this book. It's beautifully illustrated, well-written and practical! Mr. Freeman steps you through the key steps of composition that can be taught (then it's up to you to have the 'eye' to be able to capture what he's suggested!); framing images, design basics, photographic elements, using light & color, intent and the process of composing a shot. The photos Freeman's presented provide great examples of what he's suggesting we, as readers do. And the accompanying text offers a mix of factual and insightful, experiential information. The length in each section is just right. Sort of Goldilocksian, not too much, not too little. It's a nice complement to the photo Composition book by David Prakel (which I also think is very well done).

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