50 Lessons for Stronger Photographs – The Visual Toolbox

Another book from Craft & Vision, they are coming thick and fast but at only £9.40 for so much useful information and inspiration a bargain

“These are the lessons I wish I’d learned when I was starting out.” – David duChemin  if David says this then it really means something, he is a world beating photography teacher read what this man says and improve your photography

 

 

The Visual Toolbox is packed with lessons about the tools of the photographic language – the camera, the lens, and the more important stuff like visual language, composition, and learning to see. Most of those lessons are accompanied with real-life, honest-to-God assignments to get you out there learning how to make stronger photographs, not just learning to use a camera.
The Visual Toolbox is 201 pages long: a big, gorgeous, PDF eBook, filled from front to back with the stuff that will make you more comfortable with the tools of your craft and more fluent with the language of this art. It’ll take you past images that are sharp and well-exposed, to photographs that are alive and say something.
View the Table of Contents.
Lessons include topics like isolation, scale, balance and tension, abstraction and expressionism, seeing light, understanding visual mass and energy, using negative space, using your lenses more expressively, exploring the effects of perspective on your image, and so much more. Then it’s your turn and if you’re looking for practical hands-on ideas to really solidify this stuff, those are there too.

 

Check out more about this book here

PHOTOGRAPH: ISSUE THREE

This magazine from Craft & Vision, the third in the current series is jam packed with fascinating articles, for $8 it is a bargain.

A Digital Quarterly Magazine for Creative Photographers

Issue 3 is packed with incredible portfolios and Q+As—this time from: Hengki Koentjoro, Dave Delnea, and Kevin Clark. And there are the usual great columns from people like Martin Bailey, Nicole S. Young, Kevin Clark, and John Paul Caponigro, as well as a featured article from David duChemin about his recent work in Northern Kenya.

A Digital Quarterly Magazine for Creative Photographers

Over at OSP Towers we really like the ebooks and other output from Craft & Vision, not only are they exceptional value but also expertly written and lavishly illustrated. All of the books, you can see them by clicking the link to the right, have something valuable to say and you would learn technical and creative skills for less than a cup of coffee. Now they have a quarterly magazine and here is the information.

The newest issue of PHOTOGRAPH—a digital quarterly magazine for creative photographers—is now available!

This is a gorgeous, ad-free magazine full of great photographs from exceptional photographers, and articles from photographers and authors who understand that this is not only a technical pursuit but an artistic one and write as much from the heart as they do from their expertise.

Issue Two includes featured portfolios and interviews with Martin Bailey, Andy Biggs, and Chris Orwig, as well as articles from some of my most trusted colleagues on topics like composition, post-processing, inspiration, editing, printing, and yes, even gear. Curious about what’s inside? Download the table of contents. See more sample spreads.

You can purchase Issue Two of PHOTOGRAPH for USD $8 by clicking any image above, or by visiting Craft & Vision. As with everything we offer we aim to knock the content out of the ballpark and do so at exceptional value. So we’re offering a one-year subscription for $USD 24 – that’s four issues for the price of three.

I really believe the best way to learn photography is to study exceptional photographs, and to listen to voices that not only know the craft, but practice the art of photography. I hope PHOTOGRAPH inspires you the way it has already inspired us.

– David duChemin

7 eBooks Every Photographer Should Read

I am a great believer in learning from others and  ebooks are by way the easiest and cheapest way of learning assuming you can’t make it to Oxford and attend one of our courses

I found this useful post on photographyblogger.net I would add to their list anything by the excellent Craft & Vision people

Here is what PB say:

While there are countless eBooks out there on photography, it can be a daunting task to filter through them all. Which books are worth their price tag, and will you walk away with the knowledge you need to improve your photography?

We set out on a photography eBook expedition to bring you a collection of guides that deliver – ones that will enhance your craft and widen your knowledge, so you can focus on enjoying your photography. Whether you’re buying for yourself or for the photographer in your life, these 7 eBooks can take your photography to the next level. See the full post and list of ebooks here

This is one sample from the post

Ten

If you’re looking to enhance your photography – that is, take what you have to another level – Ten is a solid source of inspiration that will help you grow as a photographer. Author and humanitarian photographer David duChemin is well-known for his eBooks, which are sold through Craft & Vision. Although he has authored many, his eBook Ten has earned a reputation as being a staple for photographers who have learned how to use their camera and are searching for that next step.

The eBook outlines ten ways to improve your craft, and none of them involve purchasing more gear. At $5, it’s already well worth the price – but as an added bonus, each step is followed by a creative exercise to help get you into the mindset needed to further your craft.

 

Lightroom 4 and Black and White

A week isn’t worth having unless I have time to visit some of my favourite sites on the web. One of these is  by David du Chemin. David duChemin is a world & humanitarian assignment photographer, best-selling author, international workshop leader, and accidental founder of Craft & Vision. When not chasing adventure and looking for beauty, David is based in Vancouver, Canada.

This week I found an article he had written about Lightroom 4 and black an white conversions, here is a bit of what he says:

One of my favourite improvements in Lightroom 4 is the ability, in the graduated filter and the adjustment brush, to dial in colour temperature and tint……It’s worth remembering that in Lightroom you aren’t really working on a monochrome image. You’re working on a colour image with a monochrome filter on top. So moving the colour values around underneath that filter – either with temperature or with the channel mixer (Black and White Mix) – will change the tonal values you see in the resulting image. Different tonal values, different contrasts, and different visual mass – in other words, a different feel for the image, and new ways for us to hone our expression. Want more read on here

©David duChemin

Forget Mugshots, Make Stronger Portraits

David DuChemin over at the Pixelated Image blog has another book out, you can download this for a paltry $4 if you use the discount code on offer.

Forget Mugshots won’t make the process of making portraits less scary, but it will help you make stronger people photographs. It’s available today as a PDF for only $4 for the first five days. See below for details. And if you’re a member of the Craft & Vision Community, listen for the next podcast, because Matt Brandon and I are planning to spend it telling stories and talking about this very topic, including more tips and tricks.

Special Offer on PDFs
For the next five days only, use the promotional code MUGSHOTS4 when you checkout so you can have the PDF version of Forget Mugshots for only $4 OR use the code MUGSHOTS20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ PDF eBooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST March 17, 2012.

“Forget Mugshots, 10 Steps To Better Portraits, is a 35-spread course in improving your people photography. I always laugh when the odd review comes back with sage comments like, “there’s nothing new here.” No, there isn’t. Of course there isn’t. And anyone who pretends to teach “new secrets” is just after your buck. I’m not telling you which aperture to use, or letting you in on some new technique that no one else knows and will rock your world. It’s sound teaching about the priorities, thoughts, and techniques I’ve used to create portraits of people at home and around the world. It’s the “if I could teach you only ten things to focus on when making portraits and people photographs, what would those be?” book.”

FULL DETAILS HERE

An exercise in presumption (Or: How To Transition To A Life of Gratifying Poverty as a Humanitarian Photographer.)

David duChemin is a world & humanitarian photographer, best-selling author, and international workshop leader. David uses his powers for good and not for evil.

Here is the start of his article on being a Humanitarian Photographer

David duChemin’s Thoughts on Starting Out.

1. First, you don’t need to get paid for your images in order to create great, world-changing stuff. It helps, but it’s not necessary. Thinking so creates a trap and makes your images more about money than about truth and beauty and witnessing to what is and what should be. Money can be a means to an end, but is not the end itself. If it is, you’re in the wrong line of work. Consider commercial photography..….MORE

Mhong village Laos ©Keith Barnes