Review: Practical Nature Photography Book NXTLVL
Friday 2 August 2019, 15:30 by Michelle Peeters | 5,600 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Do you recognise this? You are in a photogenic location and take some lovely photos, but you also feel there is more to it... How do professionals do it, what is their 'secret'? In this book, more than 15 top photographers take you through their process from snapshot to world-class image.
In more than 70 making-ofs, they write about their vision, equipment, the techniques they used and their way of seeing. They reveal all their formulas for success and secrets.
Are you looking to deepen your photography? Do you want to know how to get the most out of a situation or setting? Be inspired by the examples in this practical book and take your photography to 'the NXT LVL'!
Every discipline within nature photography is covered extensively: macro, landscape, bird, wildlife, night-time and creative photography. This book is the eighth edition in the successful series of practical photography books from Uitgeverij Birdpix / PiXFACTORY.
Contributing authors and photographers include Theo Bosboom, Marijn Heuts, Ernst Kremers, Johan van der Wielen, Bob Luijks, Roeselien Raimond, Paul van Hoof, Henri van Vliet, Arno ten Hoeve, Ron Poot and Johan van de Watering. Every one of them is a top photographer and an excellent writer about photography.
Introduction
The introduction by Daan Schoonhoven, the editor-in-chief, is about the fact that a great location does not automatically produce a great photo. How do you translate that overwhelming beauty into a photo with a corresponding wow factor?
You cannot do it with just a collection of simple magic formulas or by learning composition rules. Nor can you do it by mastering techniques or simply copying an idea. This book is about a photographic process that sometimes takes fifteen minutes, but can also take years or even an entire lifetime.
It calls on skills and qualities that you do not learn from theory. Daan is thinking of perseverance, patience, vision, seeing what others overlook, the ability to anticipate, working in a structured way, experience and discipline. In short, the mindset to go all the way.
Contents
The book consists of 73 subjects presented in random order. You do not necessarily have to work your way through the book from front to back. You can simply browse through it and find inspiration.
A small selection of the subjects covered: cranes, the Northern Lights, fireflies, how to photograph a Eurasian eagle-owl, hedgehogs, winter wild boar, the tears of Saint Lawrence, red deer, Lemelerberg, the dunes of Ameland and Lensbaby in the bush.
And also: polarising filter effects, star trails in moonlight, seeing stars, a swallow in flight, red cup lichen, foot zoom, flying bats, wisps of mist, mating toads, sika deer, Rügen, a dew-covered dragonfly, a field of poppies, gannets, fire-bellied toads, happy tree, an overdose of cuteness and much more...
Set format
The explanation for each subject in the book follows the same format: on the left, you see a photo of how you first encounter your subject in nature and photograph it accordingly. So, a fairly general and not very interesting photo. Then there is a photo that already looks more interesting and is more aesthetically pleasing.
And then the next photo, which not only looks good but also tells a real story or conveys a certain tension. This same format is followed throughout the book for all the different subjects covered.
You immediately notice that it is inspiring and very close to the practical side of photography, including technical information about camera settings. At the back, there is an index of the different photographers.
The book is part of the 'Practical Photography Book' series from Pixfactory and Birdpix. This practical book is also beautifully produced, with a great deal of attention paid to the design. This edition is intended to take your nature photos to a higher level.
What did I think of it?
I found it a very enjoyable book to read, and I learned a great deal from it almost without noticing. It takes no effort at all to pick up a chapter now and then. And I learned not just about subjects I had no experience with, I also learned a lot from shots I had taken many times before.
I marked the real 'eye-openers' with a highlighter, so you can easily find them again when browsing through the book another time.
The subjects are very varied and very interesting to me. There is no portrait photography, but there are landscapes, nature and wildlife. The nice thing is that the camera settings are included, both for the less successful and the successful shots. There is also a clear explanation of why this made the difference and what the thinking behind it was.
All in all, it stimulates your creativity and your ability to find solutions to problems in your own situations. A book you will want to consult often, and one I highly recommend!
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.
You might also like
-
Review: Blurb photo books via Lightroom Classicby Nando Harmsen
-
Review: Photo book 'Voor altijd Rotterdam'by Erik van Rosmalen
-
Book: Scott Kelby, how do you do that in Photoshop?by Michelle Peeters
-
Review: The Photoshop Layers Book - Johan Elzengaby Michelle Peeters
-
Review: The Great Landscape Photography Book by Scott Kelbyby Michelle Peeters
-
20 photography books you should read!by Michelle Peeters
0 comments
Be the first to share what you think!
Have your say
Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.
Become a better photographer every week
A practical photography tip in your inbox every week.
38,943 photography enthusiasts already receive the tips! More about the weekly mail. Or keep up to date via 
Facebook.
Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
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
