John Hedgecoe's New Introductory Photography Course Reviews

• Waste of Money!

  
  By ANNDAYVVFMBM2 on 2001-11-05
  More a portfolio of self-aggrandizement than a "introductory course" on photography, this book is a waste of money and time.

  Unless you are a fan of Hedgecoe's photography and simply want a portfolio masking as a guide to photography, there are other books that are much more useful for the beginning photographer.

  The instructional section of the book is limited to a few sparsely and vaguely written paragraphs in the first section. This is followed by the "projects" which would imply some sort of instruction on taking photographs in a step-wise fashion that increases the readers skill. Instead, each project is nothing more than a series of photographs aimed at demonstrating Hedgecoe's skill along with a brief and vague paragraph on the topic at hand. Hedgecoe does not even make the effort of explaining how he arrived at the photographs or the techniques used.

  Hedgecoe has numerous other books on the market. Apparently, the reader is supposed to purchase all the books to get a grasp of photography from Hedgecoe's perspective. I would recommend avoiding any book from this author.

  Those interested in increasing their photographic skills, are better served by two books I purchased after picking up Hedgecoe's book. I found them much more useful and wish I had not wasted my money on Hedgecoe's book.

  The New 35mm Photographer's Handbook by Julian Calder and John Garrett (ISBN 0609804227)

  The Basic Book of Photography by Tom and Michele Grimm (ISBN 0452278252)
  
  

• Not that informative

  
  By A14QPD6AP4WEQ8 on 2002-06-24
  I recently got into 35 MM SLR photography as a hobby and was looking for a good book to start with. I was looking for a book that would take me through the basics like, exposure, aperture and shutter speed etc., and then on to the advanced topics. I bought this book going by the reputation of the author, but I was honestly, disappointed.

  The first few chapters in the book does a good job of explaining the basics in aperture setting, shutter speed etc. But from then on, its merely a collection of good photographs with some accompanying text, which do not delve much into the details. While I should accept that this is the first ever photography book I purchased and read, I did manage to glance through a few more and found out that this book is severely lacking in content and details.

  If you are looking for a good introductory book to photography which could also be used as a worthy reference, go for Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", definitely not this one!
  
  

• Just many pictures. Nice to sell, actually nothing to read

  
  By on 1999-12-30
  Well, I've bought the book because of descriptioin that promised to cover almost every field in photography. Actually, each of those 65 "projects" is exactly one page, filled with 4 or 5 author's photographs and 1-2 paragaphs of text.

  The author did not actually write a book - he just browsed his heap of older photos, selected some and dropped some words to each page.

  Good "chapter" names cover all major topics of interest, but there are no chapters themselves - just some words that tell you nothing but something very generic.

  Author's ego is something really tremendous. Each photo commented "why this is good", and there is no single photo of other photographer and no single photo that the author would not treat as good.
  
  

• Great book for a learner

  
  By A270MKQ9QYBQ65 on 2000-12-30
  This book has been very useful. As the name indicates, it is an introduction to photography. Don't expect it too in depth, as another reviewer has mentioned, it only touched on subjects. Really this was ideal as there are many aspects of a good photograph.

  There are two pages for each subject, consisting of a few paragraphs of text and examples. You might fool yourself in thinking that the photos are no use. They are examples of the subject and offer good insight. For example, it lists how using diagonal lines can help suggest movement. He starts by shooting a head on view of a waterfull, producing a "static" shot. Then takes a series of pictures showing how using diagonals can a powerful tool for indicating movement. Another example on the next page offers an introduction to improving composition where he takes a picture at eye level, looking down at some children on bikes, producing a cluttered picture, then shoots a similar picture where he lies down on the ground for a low angle shot, achieving a "cleaner composition".

  Overall I'm very happy with the book and feel it is well worth my time and money.
  
  

• So far so good

  
  By A1MJMYLRTZ76ZX on 2000-12-30
  I only just last January bought a good camera (a Rollei QZ35W) and started to do some serious shooting. It wasn't cheap but I couldn't pass it up as it originally listed for $1800 but was being closed out at $999, so I went for it. But it has some great features despite still being a "cadillac point and shoot," such as the ability to store the exposure settings in memory for the last 100 photos, not to mention the amazing 1/8000th of a second top shutter speed.

  I have two friends who are very technically savvy photographers and have helped me a lot, but I thought I should read a few books to try to fill in some of the inevitable "holes" in my background. My problem is probably the reverse of most experienced photographers: I have few technical skills at this point as I just let my Rollei run pretty much on automatic the whole time, but I think I have a pretty good aesthetic sense because I have a couple of friends who are semi-professional photographers and although they are often able to give me suggestions on how I could have improved the photo technically had I been shooting on manual override rather than on automatic, they're often very complementary about my choice of a subject, how I framed the subject, and how I composed the picture.

  That being the case, I kept seeing Hedgecoe's books and thought I would give one a try and see if I could learn something. So far this book has been fine for me, since I pretty much need to start from the ground up, but anybody with even a minimum of experience would probably find it too basic. Still, it's okay if you're like me and just wanted to make sure you had a solid foundation in the fundamentals before advancing to the next level.
  
  

• Lacking worthwhile content
  By on 2001-12-04
  I have recently picked up photography, and I have bought a few books along the way. One of them is a 35mm photography book by Kodak (the name slips my mind). It's not a bad first book, and should be considered is you are a novice.

  Then I bought this book. It was recommended to me by my photography college. While the book has a sprinkling of nice photos, the text that goes along with it has nothing much going for it. For most areas, it tends to glance over the topic without any really useful tips. I suggest that all potential buyers have a flick through it first before purchasing, as it may not be all it's cracked up to be.

  The book that all novice/amateur photographers should be reading is "National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures". This book by far is most useful for all photographers. That's definitely a five star book.
  
  

• It's a nice book, but...
  By A1AO304VECPFEO on 2006-02-28
  I bought this book because it is used in a photography class I'm going to take. First the good things: a hard cover book, full color print, nice thick paper, a pleasing format and good pictures. What else to expect from a book about photography?
  
  First of all, most of the pictures are good, but not /excellent/, and quite frankly, that's what I would expect.
  
  Second of all, it contains a lot of pictures, neatly organized by theme or concept. But it doesn't judge any of the pictures. Granted, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it would be nice if the author said "the reason picture x isn't working as well as picture y is abc". Now, the style is more like "different angles will give different result for pictures. This picture was taken from the front. This picture was taken from the side".
  
  It's not a bad book, and you can learn a lot from studying the pictures and discussing them (I guess that's why the photography class uses it), but it doesn't give 'recipes' on how to be a better photographer, and why to take pictures 'x' and not 'y'. The book is marvelous if you're not looking for those recipes.
  
  But with a title 'introductionary course' is do expect them.
  
  
• Great for photography courses
  By A2KVXLDKLD0H5O on 2000-02-18
  I disagree with the other reviewer. I teach photography and I found the book to be very useful. My students also like the book.
  
  
• Not for pure beginner, but quite useful for more experienced
  By A5HSDGKCDYVYE on 2003-12-06
  The title of this book may be misleading, and some people who is totally new to photography bought this book and don't find it very helpful. This is why it gets such low rating. But if you have basic understanding of exposure and composition, you will appreciate this book. It has a quite extensive list of possible subjects and topics of photography, and shows how to approach each of them with brief text introduction and several sample pictures. For example, when it explains how to take sports photos, it shows how to composite, what shutter speed to use, and what is the best time to press the shutter. It is not a step-by-step guide for beginners, but can be very valuable guidance for people with some experience and want to widen their photographic coverage.
  
  
• Was required for my photography class
  By A3O707K93XMYW on 2007-01-19
  Currently taking a Intro to Photography class and my instructor insisted that we get this book. Though it is a bit old 1998, and does not refer to digital cameras a great read. To make up for no digital reference we are also reading a book by Scott Kelby, the Digital photographer. Buy the book used, I spent $3.10 and it looks as good as new.
  
  

• The Photographer's Handbook (Third Edition, Revised)
• The Book of Photography
• How To Take Great Photographs
• The New Manual of Photography
• The Digital Photography Book