Let's Focus! by Marit Hilarius
Thursday 13 December 2018, 12:15 by Michelle Peeters | 8,865 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
This non-technical photography handbook avoids endless technical explanations, where figures and complicated rules are thrown at you. This book takes a completely different approach. It teaches you how to take beautiful photos without becoming technical or boring.
The book was written and compiled by Marit Hilarius, a young, successful photographer known for her dreamy, magical photos. In a clear and accessible way, she tells you everything you need to know if you want to learn how to take photos yourself, either professionally or otherwise.
All the relevant questions are covered: How do you decide which camera to buy? How do you make the best use of all your camera's functions? How do you take a good portrait, landscape or product photo? What is the best time to take photos? And what can you do with your phone?
The subtitle actually says exactly what it is: a non-technical photography handbook. There are already lots of technical books about photography. That is precisely what Marit did not want this to be. She wants to share everything she knows about photography in a fun and accessible way.
Of course, you cannot completely avoid technical explanations, but she has done a great job of doing this without endless stories or complicated mathematical formulas.
Everything you should know about photography is in it, but it has been made as simple as possible. She uses the same writing style in the book as on her blog.
Chapters and structure
The book is divided into three parts. Actually, four, but the best section is the introduction, which is about what photography actually is. Then come the three parts: Let's study, Let's go, and Let's go pro.
Let's study!
In the first section, 'Let's study', she explains a lot of theory. Topics covered include which camera and which lenses you should buy. If you are going to take portraits, for example, what would be a good lens to choose?
It also covers everything about the basics, the shooting modes, how to take sharp photos, how to play with light, what appears in the frame, and finally storage media and file formats, raw or jpg.
Each chapter has a beautiful title page and the book is packed with illustrative photos, all taken by Marit herself.
Let's go!
In the chapter 'Let's go', she moves on to practice after covering the theory. The practical section is set up in such a way that, if you really do not feel like reading the theory, you could even skip the first theoretical section.
In the practical section, she also explains each time in a separate text box which camera settings you could use to take particular photos.
The practical section is also divided into a few separate chapters:
Nature photography: this covers how to photograph landscapes and wildlife, as well as how to do macro photography properly. She also explains something about using filters and explains how to photograph the Northern Lights and the Milky Way. This can be very useful when you are on holiday!
The chapter on Portrait photography is, of course, about how to take a good portrait photo. She also explains how you can take journalistic or conceptual photos.
She also shows a number of poses for, for example, love shoots, individual portraits, children or families. The book contains plenty of illustrative photos that you could take with you to the shoot for inspiration.
In the chapter on Product photography, she tells you everything about taking product or food photos. This is followed by a short section about taking photos for Instagram and a very short section about post-processing.
There are no tutorials in the book. This works better in video form. Her blog also explains plenty about this, covering both Photoshop and Lightroom.
Let's go pro!
In this chapter, she shows how you could become a professional if you wanted to. She discusses things such as how to set your prices and the advantages and disadvantages of professional photography.
At the end of the book, you will find an index.
Conclusion
It really is a beautiful book. It is very enjoyable and relaxing to read, even for an advanced photographer. The design is also excellent and makes the explanations even clearer.
Different types of photography are covered, and the many examples shown in beautiful photos make everything clear very quickly, even to a beginner. The photos in the book have been chosen perfectly and the balance between text and photos is just right.
What I particularly like about the book is that it offers so many practical tips and ideas that you can apply yourself straight away. They are the kind of ideas you often just do not think of yourself and that can even save the day during a shoot.
For example, the tip for making your own background in the form of a bunch of brightly coloured flowers, simply bought from a shop. If they are out of focus in your photo, it looks as though there really are lots of brightly coloured flowers behind your subject. A golden tip!
Online course
Marit has also created a basic photography course for our Photofacts Academy in her pleasant style. Ideal as a supplement to this book, or vice versa.
Price and where to order
The book is available for 21.99 euros from, for example, Bol.com, as well as from many different bookshops throughout the Netherlands.
Want to learn more about the basics of photography?
At Photofacts Academy, our online learning environment for photographers, we have a complete basic photography course. This course is also taught by Marit. You can take this and other courses for two weeks with a free trial membership.
About the author
Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
