Night and Low-Light Photography Photo Workshop Paperback – January 1, 2011

The author covers a variety of real-world locations and conditions. Images include the data you need with accompanying explanations of why those settings were chosen. Likewise, since conditions will vary based on elapsed time before/after sunrise/sunset the author encourages you to experiment, plan ahead and be realistic. You may not nail that shot on your first attempt. I especially enjoyed some of the San Diego area example images since I lived in the area a few times over the years. Software descriptions and post-processing advice focus on Lightroom, Essentials, and Photoshop however the techniques are applicable to other editing software as well. Well written. Easy read. Informative.

There are many books available dealing with night and low light photography, but not a lot of them are available in Kindle format. As a hobby photographer now inching up the learning curve, I prefer to keep my photo guides close at hand, so this Kindle edition was the obvious choice. Unfortunately, I have the original Kindle, so the big drawback is that the numerous photographic examples can only be viewed in color if I use the Kindle app for the iPad2. Fortunately, I can do this quite easily, and once I've seen the example in color and grasped the context, it no longer is a problem.I like the way the information is presented in very simple language, and the workshop format encourages you to practice the techniques learned in each section. You then have the option of uploading your best efforts to a website where it is shared with a community of photographers for comments and feedback.The first chapter provides an overview of the basics of night and low light photography, and the different scenarios for finding subjects to photograph. The second deals with light and exposure, the third with gear, and then you get to the fun stuff, as the author guides you step by step through your options for capturing people and places; weddings, concerts and events; sports; night skies, star trails and fireworks; city lights; light painting and landscapes. Finally, he includes a section on digital post production to help you fix some of the stuff you messed up in the field.This is a most helpful and informative book for anyone looking to improve their photography techniques in low light situations.Amanda Richards, December 13, 2011

I have been enjoying photography for many years as an enthusiast and focused myself in the area of landscape photography, and recently the art of "Long Exposure" landscape photography. I was searching for a book that would raise my skill-set in this last area. I thought I had found it. Unfortunately this book spends very little time in this area (about 14 pages out of 260). Because of my search bias I would have rated the book a 3 as the information was very basic and did not cover a lot of detail on ND filters, 10 stop ND filters, focusing challenges, lens recommendations, and compositional options.However, the book is not without its benefits. As photographers, we tend to steer towards biasing ourselves in a singular area in photography. Not that we don't enjoy other areas of photography (architecture, portraits, sports). Let's face it though; we get biased in what we like. Allan Hess' book gets you to explore areas you may not venture into. Clearly his interest is "concert" photography. If you have kids in theatre it may provide you helpful hints because of difficult stage lighting situations. There are a variety of other topics such as sports, county fair, neon signs, star trails, light painting, wedding and night architectural photography. In all areas he covers aperture, shutter speed, ISO and metering to optimize the situation. My favorite chapter is on light trails with fireworks.If you are looking for the optimal book on low light, long exposure landscape photography I would not spend my money here (3 star). If you are open to other forms of "art" in photography, this book will open your eyes to many possibilities (4 star).

I've been reading all the Photo Workshop books and they are all worth reading and should be part of any photographers library. They break complex tasks into simple easy to understand steps. That's not to say they give you step by step instructions (because then you'd just be another version of the author rather than shooting your own vision) but they break down topics so you and I can understand what we've been doing wrong and why we've not been getting Ansel Adams type images from our photoventures.With that said there is a lot of repeat from other books (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, equivalent exposures, etc...) that anyone above a first time photographer is going to find redundant, but it never hurts to refresh your memory. This could be because all I do is read photography books in my free time while here in Afghanistan. Anyway, the author does a really good job of explaining the approach to low light photography from a landscape and portrait perspective. Topic on how to read the light given in the situtaion and how to work with that or add your own light for an added affect without over powering the situation.There is a lengthy discussion of equipment (cameras, lenses, tripods, tripod heads, off camera lighting, etc...). All in all a really good book. Several new techniques within its pages that I can't wait to try out once I'm back in the states.