This is yet
another in a series of reviews written by the of readers here at Weekly Photo Tips, if you you'd be
interested in writing a review
just drop us
an email and we'll throw your name "
in the hat" from which we pick our
reviewers.
Now back to the business at hand, the review of "
Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer", by Michael Clark.
This review is written by Paula Apro who is both a
photographer
and a
yoga
instructor and I have to be honest, after reading it I (
almost) regretted sending her the
book, as it sounds too good to have missed!
Here is the Review:
I
recently had the pleasure of reading "
Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer",
by Michael Clark. The book was very unique in that it wasn't just a "
How-To"
photography techniques book. In fact the photo tips were really a side line to
the positively fascinating stories of Michael's adventures as an action sports
photographer. Have you ever looked at ridiculous adrenaline sports action shots
and wondered how on earth they were photographed? Well, this book explains just
that. If you have an interest in both photography and adventure sports, you will
love this book. In fact, my husband (
who is not a photographer) insisted that I
read most of the book out loud because he was so interested in the adventure
sports stories. These stories weren't just what equipment was used and how the
lights were set up (
although all of this information is also included at the end
of each story) but Michael takes the time to really set the scene. And some of
the scenes were nothing short of amazing.
Take for instance his coverage
of the
Wenger
Patagonian Expedition Race. This just happens to be the toughest
race in the world, with only the most elite athletes participating. You can't
even imagine what the photographers go through! As if getting the perfect shots
isn't enough work, the amount of physical hardship that Michael had to endure
was just unreal.
Each story explains the
extreme conditions and how he managed to work within those conditions. From
catching the monster waves during surfing competitions and creatively shooting
Red Bull's base jumping, to only being given 2 minutes and 10 total shots to
shoot a pro golfer, Michael explains what it's like to work under the extreme
pressure of high paying and high profile clients.
All of this extreme
sport photography may seem glamorous, but when Michael explains the amount of
stress that this job causes it made me realize how few people in the world could
do it. As much as I love adventure sports, I realized that I could never do this
job. What I did take away from this book was the necessity of stoking your
creative spark and creating your own body of work on self-assignments. No matter
if it's in sports photography or any other niche, he explains the importance of
going out and shooting what you enjoy in order to build your portfolio. Most of
the paid assignments that Michael got came as a direct result of his
self-assignment work. Perhaps everyone should place as much importance on their
self-assignments as they do on their paid assignments.
One of the most
valuable parts of the book was the fact that Michael showed his work as it came
straight out of the camera. Then he covered (
in detail) any and all adjustments
that he made to the photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop, until he finally
showed the final picture. One of the photos that I found the most interesting
was one of his surfing shots that didn't look like much straight out of the
camera. But after the post production edits, that once-dull photo scored him an
account with Apple. And of course, this was a self-assignment shoot. Just proves
his case even further. In addition to the technical details that he shares, he
also outlined the exact equipment and used for each shoot (including an
explanation of why he choose the equipment he did) and in most cases there was
even a diagram illustrating the lighting setup.
In a nutshell it was a
great combination of photographic inspiration, technical details, and pure
reading enjoyment. I know a picture alone is worth a thousand words, but the
chance to hear the stories behind those pictures was a pure treat.
A DVD
is also included with the book, it's over 2 hours and covers color management, "
how to", and
Michael's start to finish workflow using both Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 for
images that were featured in the book.
The combination of the book and
DVD make this a "
must" have.
Thank you Paula for this review.
I
would strongly suggest hat you take the time to check out
Michael's website
and
his blog,
as you will be truly amazed.
