An excellent and thoughtful book on photography. Much more about what to photograph than how to use a camera. A book that every serious photographer, professional or enthusiast should read at least once and probably refer to again. ( )

This book has changed my view of photography, and has done so with astonishing grace. I have rarely seen a book written as concisely, as effectively, as this one. Every chapter describes a single aspect of a good picture, without dwelling on irrelevant details, or over-explaining minutiae. It trusts the reader to pause, ponder, and consider, instead of drowning him in superfluous prose. A true work of art, that I will no doubt re-read multiple times. ( )

Any two dimensional artist should read this book closely, to understand the principles of composition. The last chapter is the most photography-centric but even then it is good advice on how to approach subject matter and style. ( )

El primer libro que aborda la composición y el diseño en fotografía digital. Cómo encontrar las mejores oportunidades fotográficas a través del análisis de situaciones y lugares. Ejemplos de proyectos fotográficos reales con ilustraciones esquemáticas para explicar cómo y por qué funciona una imagen. La fotografía digital ha aportado un elemento nuevo y estimulante al diseño: primero porque la visión instantánea que proporciona una cámara digital permite aprender y mejorar con suma rapidez, y segundo porque las herramientas de edición digital hacen posible modificar y mejorar el diseño después de pulsar el disparador. Estos aspectos han tenido un profundo efecto en la forma en que los fotógrafos captan sus imágenes. Este libro muestra de qué modo cualquiera puede desarrollar la habilidad para captar excelentes fotografías digitales. Explora todos los enfoques tradicionales de la composición y el diseño y se adentra en técnicas digitales que emplean nuevas tecnologías para ampliar las posibilidades del medio sin comprometer la visión del fotógrafo

As someone only just playing around with digital photography, I picked up this book as a complement to Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure to get me started and provide some inspiration. Neither book disappointed. Where Peterson's book is an excellent starting manual for people new to the world of photography, Freeman's goes into much greater depth about composition techniques.

The book is divided into 6 chapters, with each chapter further divided into sections dealing with a certain aspect of photographic design. Whilst some sections make reference to others, and in particular to photographs on other pages, in general it is possible to read this book piecemeal, skipping over bits that are of no interest, or returning and dipping into others. Each section abounds with example photographs, many also exploiting instances of photographs that didn't quite work to further highlight a point.

As many have already said, the writing is at times a little academic, and has the feel of being written with a photography or similar course in mind, but there is little that should prevent the average reader from understanding everything covered here. Freeman quotes a number of other photographers to illustrate his points, as well as dipping into other artistic fields to contrast the particular challenges of photography. One genuine criticism I have of the book is that Freeman sometimes describes certain features of (albeit famous) photographs that, perhaps for economic or legal reasons, do not appear in the book. Whilst said images can easily be found with a quick search on the Internet, it nevertheless detracts from the book's readability, particular for the novice this book is clearly aimed at.

Just to pick up on two of the most common criticisms many of the negative reviews have on here:

* the photographs are rubbish - whilst I personally find this to be pretty harsh criticism, the fact that not every image is a spectacular masterstroke is in my opinion one of the book's greatest strengths. These may only be 'ordinary' photographs, but by illustrating what makes them work it is easy to understand the principles being explored, whether focusing on the basic elements, perspective, timing, exposure etc. For instance, there is a photograph in one section of a house and a tree--an entirely throwaway image, one that you wouldn't normally linger to look at for more than a split-second--but its inclusion is used as an illustration of using natural elements of the subject as a frame within the picture.

* the book has no lessons, it simply describes why some photographs work - this is more valid criticism, and I think down to personal taste. I found the book's structure to be almost perfect - each section explored one particular concept, with a number of real-world examples used to highlight how this idea can be employed, and why this makes the photograph 'work' where a different angle, a different exposure, a different composition etc. failed.

Ultimately, with a value price tag, the buyer can't go wrong with this one. If you agree with other comments that the photographs should be nothing short of spellbinding in order to be able to learn from them, by all means look elsewhere. Nevertheless, this book's structure and the authorship, combined with ample photographic examples, make for an excellent beginner's guide for improving composition, and being aware of what is possible behind the lens. ( )