Creative Shutter Speed: Master the Art of Motion Capture

One sunny after I was sitting in a Borders store flipping through the pages of this book. The first chapter is quite impressive, which gives some detailed use of different shutter speeds. So I rushed home and purchased this book from Amazon. But then I found out that the subsequent chapters are not as good because they immediately fall into the category of "photography for beginners" - just like other beginners' photography book, gives the very basic knowledge of photography, such as equivalent exposure, exposure compensation for extreme lighting, the use of different camera features etc.Such contents are still not bad, because novice photographers would appreciate the information. Unfortunately the book suffers from more serious drawbacks. With all due respect, the author spends a lot of text (one chapter is dedicated to this) on how he took each picture and gives readers information on the shutter speed and f-stop, but for some reason, he always leaves out the ISO settings. Also, the author seems to have a fetish about blurs. About a quarter to a third of all pictures in the book are blurred, either from panning or from camera shake. Maybe that is what he means by "creative" and thinks that these photos are "artistic", but given the large quantity of them in a book that is supposed to be for beginners, they just look more "gimmicky". Maybe it is just my personal taste because I prefer razor sharp photos.[Added: okay, so the author actually gives his reason for picking blurred photos because after seeing so many razor sharp images, he grew tired of them and wanted to show something fresh. For a pro this may very well be the case, but I believe he forgot the fact that the book was written for beginners]In summary, the only worthy part of the book is the first chapter. If you are completely new to photography and are looking for a starter's book, the ones from National Geographic or Kodak are much better.

The book is great for breaking down what each shutter speed does and with beautiful pictures to show as examples.

this is a great book, i have a single lens refex camera, and this book if excellent at teaching you how to use the shutter speed to get certain effects and talks about lenses and the use of them.

This book should have been a part of my collection a long time ago; great reading material for photography interest.

Before I review this book, a quick disclaimer: I am the author of a number of photo books myself and Derek Doeffinger has edited several of them. While that might seem to bias this review to a degree, in fact, it's from knowing Derek and having him play such a pivotal role in my own books that I can attest to the depth and accuracy of his knowledge.Doeffinger is, above all else, a natural teacher and a very enjoyable writer. You can pretty much open this book to any page and learn something about shutter speed that will improve your photography. You'll find yourself (as I have) reading this book for the sheer pleasure of being in the hands of a fun writer (something pretty rare in photo books) and looking at a lot of very creative photos.Also, while the book is very thorough, it really presupposes no previous knowledge and so regardless of where you are on the exposure learning curve, the book won't bore you and it won't leave you more confused than when you started the book. One of the worst things a writer can do is try to show off their knowledge rather than share it; Doeffinger shares his experience freely and if you read almost any two pages of this book, I think you'll agree.One of the things I like most about it is its somewhat unexpected organization. Rather than start out explaining the purely technical side of shutter speed and exposure, he begins by showing examples of many different shutter speeds in use. Using photo examples shot at shutter speeds ranging from 1/8000 second down to eight hours, his photos demonstrate why shutter speed is such a fundamental creative tool. You'll see, for example, how a shutter speed of 1/1000 second can stop a horse going over a jump while a speed of 1/8 second can completely blur a carnival ride in motion. Even experienced photographers will like this very visual chapter.In the second chapter, Doeffinger provides an excellent explanation of shutter speed and its relationship to the other aspects of good exposure, including aperture, depth of field, lighting, etc. If you're new to exposure concepts there is nothing in this chapter that will confuse or frighten you.There is also a really interesting chapter called "How I Took These Photos" where he explains how a number of interesting shots were made and why he made certain exposure choices. I'd love to see a whole book of "how I made these photos," it's a great idea because in most books that info is limited to a quick, dry caption.The book also includes a worthwhile chapter on exposure tools (camera settings like ISO, exposure modes, bracketing, etc.) and accessories (tripods, flash, remote releases) that can be used to exploit and embellish creative shutter speed choices. Personally I would have given more space to the importance of tripods (which I consider essential), but maybe that's just my obsession.The book concludes with extensive individual chapters on how to stop action and how to deliberately blur motion. Some of the blur shots will really surprise you (have you heard about camera "tossers?"). I got a lot of picture ideas from both of these chapters and I love reading a book that gives me new ideas.Shutter speed is a fundamental part of exposure and since it's one of only two camera settings (OK, three if you include ISO speed) that control exposure, the more you know about it the more your pictures will resemble the ideas that you see in your mind's eye.Here's the bottom line about buying photo books (or any other books for that matter) if you're serious about improving your craft. If you spend $20 or so on a book and you take away a few solid ideas that improve your technique then your money was well invested. If you get a lot of ideas, you're way ahead of the game. And if you get inspired in the bargain, then you can't ask for more.By the way, Doeffinger happens to be one of the best waterfall photographers around, so read about his waterfall monographs on Amazon.

Given the quality of the pictures in this book the author is very professional. This book is easy to read, and backed up by pictures that make you want togo out and try his advice. What's useful is that a lot of this advice is the distillation of years of experience so you will be saving lots of time by readinga book like this.One subject where this author shines is the art of long exposure blur: what's the best speed to give the viewer a feeling for the motion in the scene.Like for example how do you take pictures from a moving car? I'm telling you from my personal experience this takes a lot of experimenting to learn this on one's own.Seasoned photographers can pick up a few ideas here and there.One reviewer wrote that only the first chapter is about shutter speed. How wrong can you be. If this were true then why should chapter four be called Tools and controls to exploit shutter speed? Why should chapter five be called Stopping the Action? And the next chapter is "Shake Rattle and Roll your camera". This last chapter is intimately related to shutter speed.Do yourself a favor and save a few years of fumbling and experiments, with this book.

An informative read that starts with the various uses for each of the usual shutter speeds found on cameras which everyone will find of interest (did you know there's an optimal shutter speed for landscapes?). Next, learn how to tweak ISO and aperture to take advantage of the particular shutter speed you've chosen for your photo. There's a good chapter on filters and other accessories to enhance your photo-taking skills.Overall, it's aimed for serious amateurs who are unafraid to experiment with the more advanced settings on their new DSLR. I've used DSLRs for years, but I still found the book interesting and thought-provoking. The writer comes across as friendly and professional, not vain or irritating as can often be the case with these kind of books.My favourite chapter was the one on creative shutter speed use (panning, zooming, even throwing the camera into the air during an exposure). It has sparked a lot of ideas in my head and after being obsessed with sharpness and proper white balance, I now have lots more fun with abstraction, light trails and blur.

Excellent book! Extremely useful for those interested in the subject and very well written, with many interesting, clear examples.

Just great