Close Up Photography in Nature

I found the book very useful in identifying the concepts and techniques which make for good macro and close-up photography. It opened my eyes to the use of light, ambient, reflected, diffused and flashed. They describe the main ways to use light. It identifies useful equipment including cheaper alternatives if you can’t afford huge lenses. I.e., you will need a tripod much of the time. It covers exposure strategies to make better photos and is aimed at those who shoot outdoors, not in studios. When technical terms are used, they are defined, but the author has made an effort to keep the text flowing and readable. And I liked the way he clarified terms such as “flash” and “speedlight”.A few problems: many of the photos in the book are not themselves of excellent quality and seem to have also lost a lot in the reproduction process. Too much reliance has been placed on textual description: some diagrams would have made a nice break in the text to illustrate certain concepts. I would have also appreciated less space on the page given to chatty asides and much more given to breaking techniques down into step-by-step lists, separated graphically by spacing and indentation. Final gripe: the index is in such a small, faint font as to be nearly illegible.Nonetheless, this is an excellent intro to the subject. If possible, read it before you buy a lot of expensive equipment so you have a better idea what you need. I liked the chapters on “Cameras and Lenses” and “What’s in Our Bags”, which list and discuss their equipment choices including accessories. There are many, many “product placements” for a certain brands throughout the book, but I didn’t much mind. If you own or are about to acquire a camera with good manual controls, this book is for you. Won’t work for point-and-shoot cameras.I watched many YouTube vids on this subject, before buying this book, but learned much, much more from this book.

The Gerlachs' pictures and explanations are very clear and concise. This is one of the best written books on photography I have read. In terms of a beginning close up and macro photographer, I doubt you could find a better book with explicit recommendations and great recommendations regarding technique. This would be an excellent text in a photo course in closeup photography or a supplementary book for a general class in photography. (I used to be in charge of textbook selection as Associate Superintendent of an urban school district.) Their photo examples include all the camera data. This is rare in most photo books.One of the many instructional positives of their book is that it includes photo examples (always with data) to illustrate differences in settings for the same subject. In these photos you can see the differences between possibly acceptable and wonderful pictures. It appears that all of the pictures are taken by John and Barbara. There is a mountain of information in the pictures. In other words, the pictures amplify the text.The chapters often reinforce learning in previous chapters. This is a great way to learn and maintain the information. The first chapter, the shortest chapter, deals with equipment. The specific camera equipment they talk about using is Canon and Nikon (Barbara/Nikon and John/Canon). Though they use high end full frame cameras, it is refreshing to see they do not put down crop cameras and even say for most of us they will work fine.. Some of their recommendations are rarely seen in other photo books. For example, one should really use an L bracket and a Plamp (clamp-like device to steady plants from wind movement) .The chapters on exposure and flash provide some of the best information and examples I have seen on use of the histogram in taking pictures. You will understand histograms and how useful they are in taking any pictures, let alone close up pictures.This book is a classroom in a book and you get the impression the teacher is with you as you read the paragraphs. This book has an excellent index. It will be a book you will want to keep and recommend to others. If it wasn't for ethical and legal problems, I could imagine photo instructors plagiarizing this book and making money conducting classes and/or workshops solely using Gerlachs' material. In my opinion, it is that outstanding. This is based on my experience reviewing and selecting textbooks for a school district and having taught photography for one year in a high school.Terry Sandlin

Buy this one! If you only have one close up photography book, get this one. All skill levels of photographers will find many, many useful tips and instructions. You will want to read and reread this book many times. It is that good! Instead of some books wishy-washy _ "You could do this, or you could do that," or "Watch me. This is how you do it." like some authors, the Gerlachs TEACH, take a stand, like "Do it this way for good results, based upon our experience.". Great tips on everything from how to set up you camera, to all the variations of how to use flash effectively - AND they take time to explain WHY this or that technique works better than some other technique. There are also lots of useful tips about equipment, too. As I said, they are teachers - Tell, Show, invite to Do, and Review before moving on to the next subject. Just excellent!.Overall, I found this to be one of the best and most useful photography books that I have yet found. I highly recommend it. It should be on every photographer's bookshelf.

First of all, a Rocky Nook it ain't. The images are just not as brilliant and colorful as they should be.But, after all, it's not a coffee table picture book Each image illustrates some concept.It is one of the most thorough macro and close up book on the market. I have several, some in the to sell stackThe text is a delight to read. The concepts are explained clearly and concisely.This book is a keeper for your photographic library.

I read the reviews before I purchased this book and they are correct. This is an excellent book for the nature photographer wanting to learn about macro techniques. Written by a husband & wife pair of professional photographers, this book is full of solid information on how to do plant and wildlife macro well. Good advice covering photographic technique and advising on good quality practical equipment. This book does indeed deserve its 5 star rating.

I have done a lot of macro photography in the last ten years. Occasionally I search for a book that might give me new insight or better ideas or simply help with new techniques. I brought this small book on that idea and started to read cover to cover. Within a few pages I had ordered extras, and found ways of using flash with insects that had (sadly) never occurred to me.The book is also written in a down to earth humours way that gets across new ideas really well. Very impressed with this book. If you are doing macro then go for it, if you learn just one new idea it will have paid for itself.

If you are a complete beginner with macro photography don’t bother. But if you do buy it it will come in handy when you are a professional photographer. Tk

Simply the best book on close-up / macro photography I have read. OK you have to think a bit and get past the over-use of "...Barbara and I...." but if you can live with that the points made and the logic of the approaches is first class.

i absolutely love this book.. so much which has previously eluded me is now clear and precise.. the use of flash has been quite a revelation and am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to put into practice what has been set out in this informative and enjoyable book..