Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens

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31 Reviews

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Peterson's books on Shutterspeed and Aperature are among the best I've ever encountered so when I saw this book in the soon to be released section I ordered it immediately. After waiting three months, it finally arrived and although I would not put it into the same category as the Aperture and Shutterspeed books, it is certainly a worthy addition.

First, I'm not a pro but enjoy close-up and macro probably more than any other type of photography. This book strikes a solid balance between buying advice and explanations sufficient for newbies wanted to get started in close-up or macro and a few creative ideas or style for others with more experience.

The emphasis is certainly on close-up above macro but with sufficient appeal to keep both happy. Ample explanations, nice use of comparative photo's and Petersons exceptional style of casual communication that provides insight into the shot itself.

Also, he includes wide angle, fish-eye and other less common lens types outside of just the macro itself...for that he gets an extra star as it is a topic rarely included in most close-up discussions. Not every photo is of stellar quality - although there are some beautiful examples.

Briefly, topics include equipment, depth of field and aperature, general tips, home studio, framing, magnification ratios, depth of field preview, and other essential information.

To sum it up...a worthy addition but not of the same quality or caliber as exposure and shutterspeed. Newbies will benefit the most while more experienced users may pick up a few worthy ideas.

The newest book from Bryan Peterson, released in March 2009, it cannot help but come in direct comparison with John Shaw's primer on macro photography.

However, this is a book on CLOSE-UP photography and that should be kept in mind when reading it. While macro is covered as much as close-up photography, both are given strong emphasis and many techniques can be applied to either situation.

This book goes into good detail about nearly every aspect of close-up and macro photography you might want to know a bit about: equipment, lenses, filters, diffusers, reversing rings, good point and shoot cameras, tripods, reflectors, ring flash, etc. However this will be a 'bit' about each one. On some, such as lighting topics, there are entire books out there written just on those subjects.

Depth of Field is covered very nicely and in more detail than Shaw's book, tying it in with composition, lighting and artistic decisions.

Overall, this is an excellent book and very up to date, printed March 31 2009. The cameras, lenses and other items mentioned are ones we are all using today or might buy. Artistically, the ideas are presented in a way that make you want to pick up your camera and go see what you can find. Readability wise, Peterson is an excellent writer and teacher which make this book very accessible to photographers at any level.

I have taught photography for the past 20 years and for much of this time I have been relying on Brian Peterson's ideas to help make many photo concepts more interesting going back to his original "Learning to See Creatively".
I found this book to be particularly worthwhile because it isn't limited to extreme close ups and, thank heavens, isn't filled with insect photographs. Rather, Brian suggests a number of approaches to the subject and shows wonderful examples.
If you are interested in close up photography, this is a Very Good Read!

For me, the bottom line is he gets good photos. They are arresting, technically excellent, and creative. At least some of them I would put on my wall. That's actually a very interesting "litmus" test - If you were to look at the "artistic" message you would get from many of these put on the wall at 16x20 size? I find many of these shots very pleasing, and certainly they would make a wonderful "trendy" design motif for any architectural interior. But is it art? I think in Peterson's hands, it is. It is close to some types of avante garde (did I spell that right?) art, or modern art. Its quite abstract, yet there is a visceral impact to the textures, broad soft colors, and complex play of light that fascinates, draws the attention in to another world which we never see in this way. I notice my mind, in writing this, tries to fall back into the truism that "this is just a magnification of small things, just an interesting curiosity is the result - like a strobe picture of a water drop." And then I open the book to "grok" a shot and imagine how it would look on my wall. Holey Moley! Looking at some of these shots does something that great art usually only promises to do - it refreshes the soul, preens the feeling of self-esteem, expands the sensibilities, opens the heart. This is obviously something that defies analysis and buggers description. I notice that any reviews at Amazon, the 5 star kind, may "gush" with praise or say things like "awesome." While often lacking in detail, such reviews may reflect an "enthusiasm of the soul" that gets opened up on an experiental basis. Just look at Peterson's shots and see if you agree, but as for this review in advance of purchase, my vote is that some of them are art you would want on your wall. This is an amazing "plus" for any photo book, to participate in the process of a good, perhaps great, artist at work.

Throw in the detailed usefulness of the mechanics of getting these shots, the skillful manipulation of technology, good writing etc, and you have a winner. You can't lose. This is a gem.

The only question I have is that Peterson uses really good lenses - expensive. I shoot Nikon myself, and with my D300 have a Nikkor 10-24 wide angle that cost around $1000. I have to admit the results seem spectacular and seem to reflect the expense, yet its hard to quantify this. Yet it's there. I don't think you need to spend $5000 to get these results, but it helps.

By the way, if you vote my review helpful, I get a nickel from Amazon for each positive vote. :)

Like many people buying books on macro photography, I'm a somewhat experienced amateur who recently bought a dedicated macro lens and feeling underwhelmed with the initial results. After looking for decent free content on the Web, and not finding much, I started looking at books and settled on this one after reading all the good reviews.

I'm sure the author is a fine photographer. That's easy to see from looking at the photographs but I have to say this is arguably a better coffee table book than it is an instructional on how to take better macro photos.

Like so many photography books, there just isn't enough information on how the photos were taken to allow the reader to go out and try to do the same...One mistake (and I don't know why editors let this go) is listing incomplete information the body, lens, and settings used for each of the photos. In some, he gives you the focal length used but since he doesn't specify whether he's using a full-frame vs. cropped sensor body you don't know specifics, and they can in some cases be important.

There are two chapters about the "Canon 500D" but they're so hard to follow I ended up looking online to see what he was talking about. He starts by calling it a "lens" and later a "filter"...Starting out explaining what it is and then showing a picture of it in use would be a much better way to start off. I'm still not sure whether he's recommending using it on a macro lens or just other lenses.

There is a lot of great information in the book, I just would have edited it completely differently. Show some great "classic" macro pictures, show the set up you used (ie a photo of the camera, tripod, lighting, etc.), give the exact settings, explain options, and move on to the next one. Flowers, feathers, surfaces, all kinds of interesting stuff is mentioned and his pro results shown, but having finished the book I haven't really added much at all to my knowledge of how to make my photos pop.

This is one of the worst books put out by Bryan Peterson. This book is more about a photographers personal opinion than a technical reference book. Most of the pictures in this book are not sharp and are displayed in this cheap pastel style that does not agree with the subject matter. I found other books including Brian Shaw's book on close-up and macro photography much more interesting. When I purchased Bryan Peterson's book on Understanding Exposure, I could not put this book down it was so indepth, but this book seems to have been made up in a very short period of time.

Peterson is in fine form here with his trademark style of plain-spoken, practical teaching. He has a way of putting abstract concepts into easily understood, everyday language that leads the reader to truly OWN the idea. And at the same time he nudges along the more experienced photographer to reach beyond the familiar techniques and styles it's so easy to rely on in the myriad artistic selections one makes with every shot. The photos Peterson selected to illustrate his points communicate perfectly everything from the arcane to the simple, and they are consistently beautiful as a bonus!

Understanding Close-up is better edited than his prior books but retains the charming, "note to a friend" voice that typifies Bryan Peterson. As someone who has taken his on-line classes, heard him speak at conferences, and read most of his books, I am clearly a fan, but I'm also a reader and I appreciate the fact that his latest book is fun to read, beautifully made and still causes the little light bulbs to go off above my head!

Bryan Peterson is a great teacher. All of his books are great instructional aids and this one is no exception. A lot of photography books get over technical and dense. Bryan has a real knack for presenting subjects at a level where you can easily pick up the concepts he is teaching. I find that as I get better and more experienced in photography, I keep going back to his books as a referance. I loved his books so much, that I've taken on-line classes from him and have gone on photographic trips with him.

I have all of Bryan Peterson's books; I rate them all 5 Stars... they are clear, well written, easy to understand, informative and contain beautiful photos used for instructional purposes. With his books, I have learned all technical aspects of photography; my first book was "Understanding Exposure". This latest book did not dissapoint and I can't wait for his next one!!!

An excellent book for beginners or the more advanced. Beautiful pictures and clear interesting writing. Also includes great tips on indoor macro photography; setup, technique and ideas. The author covers more then just nature subjects and after reading this book you'll have some interesting creative ideas to work with. He also gives some tips on specific equipment such as closeup lenes.

Un libro muy ameno, muy fácil de entender al autor. Me agrado mucho su sinceridad a la hora de hablar sobre los equipos y sus usos, pues no pretende venderte nada, ni hacerte que compres nada que sea realmente costoso.

Lo recomiendo mucho para las personas que quieran entrar a la fotografía de acercamiento antes de invertir en equipo.

Me agrado tanto el autor que comprare sus otros libros.

Photographer and instructor Bryan Peterson provides a sixth book on photography: this one on close-up work, to challenge common assumptions and ideas. Both traditional and untraditional viewpoints and camera shots are included in a survey on how to gain the most using minimal specialized equipment, offering new ways of using lenses and discovering unconventional subjects to photograph. Any library strong in photo techniques needs this.

This book is excellent for its explanation on close up photography and is easy to read and understand as are all of Brian Peterson's books. Photos are great too.

Great information as well as great ideas. Explains the equipment used in macro photography very well.

This book is good for anyboby that wants to get up close with macro photography. It opens the mind to be creative and see everything as possible art. Gives good tips how to get certain type of shots. But most of all be creative and keep shooting! Macro Photograghy can be quite frustration, lots of patience my friends! In conclusion this book can be very helpful and motovating towards macro photography and all kinds of photography as well.

Great book that some pros also need to read.

Anything by Bryan is a great read!

I skimmed this book at first but then started reading in earnest- Mr Peterson has
cornered the market when it comes to New and unusual Perspectives. Something that I
try to do every time I go out to shoot. I always come up with a close up shot but usually
straight on-- Brian shows you how to do close ups in various angles and using all around you
( especially things in the background) to lend interest to otherwise bland shots.

A great book. He not only shows pictures but explains how he did it. I have tried to duplicate many of them and it works. Still trying to get the lemon shot right but I recommend this book for those interested in macro and or close up photography.

As every other Bryan Peterson's book, this one comes with lots of great shoots with explanations using a simple yet precise language. There is no way ANYONE couldn't learn a lot from the book. Even the so called specialists.
A must-have book!

I always learn something from Bryan Peterson. His books are very helpful to me and my photographic efforts.

The book is easy to read, entertaining and quite comprehensive. This book is of the same level of quality as Bryan Peterson's other books. I highly recommend this book to all newbies and experienced photographers alike.

Can't wait to read the next one. If you are into close-up photography (non-macro)...just get this book.

I am not a professional by any means and this book really broke everything down for me. I loved the equipment suggestions. Now I just have to find those extensions!!

Beautiful book with great info on each photo. Learned even more about closeups and macros and some equipment. Thanks.

I have one HUGE complaint about this book, while reading it I spent about $500 buying every item the author presents. After reading about the Canon 500D filter, I had to have it. Why? Because the Peterson gave such compelling information with the pictures to back up his advice. Same thing for the extension tubes, and the reversing ring, and the macro flash. I'm sure I'm missing something, but you get the point. The only thing that I think he didn't mention (or maybe I missed) is the need for a focusing rail. The most amazing thing is that he gives the information and provides AMAZING photos as examples, and then if you follow his advice you can take exactly the same quality of photo. I take issue with another reviewer on here that says the instruction found in this book is limited. Peterson provides great information with brand recommendations, tips on using the equipment, and great examples of his work using the equipment (and techniques). The only way he could provide better instruction is by coming to your house and setting up your gear. If you've read Peterson before, you know that he's the real deal.

Picture worth a thousand words. Bryan Peterson explains everything so well. Yes, some of his points are repeated in his other books. But repetition and association makes understanding his points easier to digest.

...and I mean a lot. He's quick to give helpful hints and tips with clear vivid analogies...but don't go and buy the book just yet. Those of you who are professionals or experienced amateurs will find this book lacking in very advanced techniques. It explains middle range basics (It won't tell you how to turn on the camera) on Close up photography. Don't be surprised if at times you find the author almost appear to be bragging about his life and supposed success. However, it is still a good book for people that have little to no experience in taking their camera out of auto mode and getting better exposures. It's not the best but definitely really good. I think instead of writing separate books the author could have composed the whole series into one book because reading all his books you will often find yourself re-reading information from book to book. Instead of buying this buy his Understanding Exposure and pick this up from the library.

I almost never leave reviews but am making an exception for this book. I've got a decent collection of photography books but this is one I could hardly put down. Bryan Peterson takes the reader through close up photography step by step in clear, easy to read language with loads of pictures to illustrate the written text. He shows the differences between settings and discusses how he achieved the best result. The book was so clear, so inspiring, I found myself itching to go out and try shooting using his techniques immediately! If you like close up and macro photography, this is a great book to add to your collection! Highly Recommended!

Amazon's shipping, as always, was prompt and well packaged.

I got this book from Amazon with the intent to learn about macro photography. During this past year, I have been getting back into photography after a 20 year layoff. Never having done any "Macro" photography, other than getting as close as my lens would allow me to do and still stay in focus, I had lots to learn. Wow, did Bryan open my eyes to the beauty of "close up/macro" photography. But MOST important, he really taught me about the Nikon equipment that he uses in his own work. So if you are a Nikon shooter, you will especially appreciate this book. While the concepts apply to all brands of cameras, his examples all include working with Nikon equipment. Except, for the apparently amazing Canon 500D closeup filter. That is a lowcost item that really enhances your macro capabilities without lots of cost. Yes, I just ordered the Canon closeup filter; about $169 via amazon.

Have I told you about the beautiful photos in this book? Well, they are spectactular and just rev up your own enthusiasm to jump into the world of closeup/macro photography. Check out that pix of the dragon fly! This is one book that really delivers technically and esthetically.

I really like the way Bryan Peterson writes in his books. Makes for easy reading and understanding photography. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is into digital or film photopraphy.

Understanding Close-up Photography is a great tool for any macro photographer. Bryan Peterson writes in a clear and non complicated style, making his book easy to understand for all levels of photographers. I found he answers many questions that macro photographers have when first beginning macro photography, like explaining DOF (dept of field) and focusing with a macro lens. I found his book, "Understanding Close-up Photography" one of the best I've read and will be using it as a reference for many years to come.
Bryan McCall