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

This is a cut-paste review taken form my blog at www.megapixelicio.us
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I have been recommending the book Understanding Exposure via my Amazon affiliated link for a while now. This is far from being an original suggestion since this book must be on every photographer's blog I know. Still, this is a mandatory reading and I one of the best book to read when you are leaving the "green rectangle" mode.

As much as I like that book, I think it is time to share another book that I really like: The photographer's eye. I still have a few more pages to read before reaching the end but it has to be one of my favorite book so far.

It is not a technical book per say. It is never written things like: use spot metering and under-expose by X stop, etc. Yet, it has to be the most technical book I have read about what makes a good picture. There are a lot of explanations about how to approach a scene and how to exploit the color/contrast/lines to your advantage.

The content
One of the many things I like is the way each fact is justified and backed by a scientific concept. Sometimes the explanations might go a bit too philosophical for my taste but most of the time I could relate to them.

Basically, the author identified all elements/concepts that could be used to make a picture and describe their impacts. He starts with the simplest of them all (the dot) then building on top of it to move to more complex design (ex: curved lines). The approach works very well, especially if you take a break every few pages to go out and try this new knowledge. For example, after reading the section on framing, I gave a try to square aspect ratio (which is not that practical when you have a 2x3 viewfinder). It forced me to see my subject in a new way to make better use of the space. Now, when I am shooting a subject that is not suited for a 2x3 ratio, I instinctively check to see how it would look in a square frame.

This is just one of the many ways this book has changed my shooting style. Some of the other interesting topics covered are: framing/cropping, colors and shapes relationships, how to shoot with an intent, etc.

The pictures
This is not an art book, each picture was put there to illustrate a specific concept. The author has taken great care in his selection to pick images from around the world (with a focus on Asia) and often give some background information about them which is a nice touch. I also liked the fact that many versions of an image/scene are often used to illustrate a concept. Because, sometimes, pictures are stronger than words...

Conclusion
I got this book because I wanted to increase the artistic quality of my pictures. What I did not plan for was that my level of self-criticism would increase too. So Now I end up with a better skill set, but I am still aiming higher... I guess that is the only way to improve!

Ignoring technical details like f/stop, this book concentrates on the final image. What makes an image 'pop', and how to you take more photos that elicit "wows"? Moving past the well-known rule of thirds, Freeman covers concepts such as contrast, gestalt perception, rhythm, graphic elements, chiaroscuro, color relationships, intent, and other 'artistic' concepts.

You will need a fair bit of technical skill to take pictures like these, and the intent of this book isn't teaching you that skill (although Freeman has written his share of how-to books). Instead, this is about analyzing what you see and deciding what you want to make a picture of. I expect I'll be learning from The Photographer's Eye for years.

If, like me, you keep reading photography books and still don't understand composition, this is the book we have been waiting for. Here the ideas of what makes a composition strong and captivating are explained with numerous examples and case studies. This is the only book I've seen to explain composition in detail.