John Shaw's Closeups in Nature

This hard bound book was $27.50 when new in 1987. For $10 to $12 it is probably a good deal today but not much more than that do to its partial obsolescence. It was a great book in its day; not too technical yet it does include enough of information and math to make it a guide for field and studio close-up techniques. Even though it is pre-digital the photographic examples and theoretical and esthetic concepts are still valid today. Of course the film and specific lenses discussed are more of historical value than practical unless you use older lenses and close-up equipment or still shoot film. But the photographic examples are still good to show you what might be accomplished today. One bone I do have to pick with the author is I am not sure his sense of composition is right on at all times. So may of the images are great at showing what a specific tool may be used for but are not always great photographs themselves. Yet others are fantastic images. Perhaps composition can be an opinion or I am just getting too picky.

I was in the Texas hill country this past weekend hiking in Government Canyon state nature area. I tried to photograph a nice quarter-sized spider that had built its web across a trail. Try as I might, I could not get a crisp shot of the spider in its web. That night I opened Shaw's book and read about working distances and focal length. I realized my trouble was thinking I had to use my 100mm "macro" lens. The spider web was too far away for decent use of the 100mm lens's working distance. But my 70-300mm lens would have worked fine IF I had used a smaller aperture at the 300mm end of the range. The next day I got a great shot of a similar spider because of what I learned from Shaw. I feel as though my skill improved greatly in just one day from having read the book. I also knew nothing about diopter magnification filters -- but after reading Shaw's comments I've gone ahead and ordered an inexpensive set here on Amazon to learn with. I just didn't know you could increase magnification with these kinds of filters. So again, I'm grateful to Shaw for his sharing his wisdom -- am very glad I have this book!

If other reviewers consider this book by Shaw to be out-of-date, one can only wonder what they think of Ansel Adams' works.It's true - at least for most photographers - that film is no longer the image capture medium of choice and that Shaw's pages on film and reciprocity failure are of concern only to those who continue to shoot "real raw". The rest of the book, however, is as relevant today as it was on its publication date.What it lacks is specific information and recommendations on matters that are unique to digital or to modern lens technology: crop vs. full-frame sensors; advantages / disadvantages of high ISO; image stabilization.But this is a fine book written by a master of the craft. Not his best work. But still very good. It discusses the techniques needed for dealing with the unique challenges and artistry of close-up / macro photography.It's a particularly "good deal" given the price one pays for a "used" copy.

Some aspects of the information in this book are becoming slightly dated, but it offers many practical solutions to equipment and field technique. It would be easy to leave equipment in the commercial relm or cater to the big brands, but instead it offers many low cost, home spun and used equipment solutions. It also discusses what to take into the field and what not to. The exposure control techniques are based on film, where with digital and modern TTL metering, some of the exposure compensation techniques are less important than in the past.If you want a basic how-to book, if you want to know how to do closeup and macro photograhy without spending big bucks, this one is for you. For more on the creative and compositional side I would suggest Bryan Petersons 'understanding closeup photography'.

This book is from 1987, I briefly read the reviews saying that it wasn't in the digital era, OK I figured that's fine, how out of date could it be? However, I didn't expect that so much of the book would be dedicated to functionality that's now fully automatic, such as TTL Flash, and TTL exposure metering.It's certainly a very interesting technical read, that provided me with an understanding of all the different macro options, lenses, filters, extensions, TC's, reversing rings, bellows, reverse mount adapters, lens stacking, etc. However, it wasn't for me.I was after something that would show technique, or provide advice on how/where to find the shots he was taking, but the book doesn't cover that at all, to my dismay the book starts with the author writing "it always surprises me that folks find it hard to find subjects" but then provides no advice. After having bought a 60mm Micro lens I was hopeful this would provide direction, but other than "I probably should have bought the 105mm lens" I didn't get any direction from it.

In spite of the fact that this book was written back in the film days it is still the best book on the subject. Aside from the many beautiful photos it is filled with very practical information. And in my opinion the information about equipment is not really outdated. You are just substituting a dslr for a film camera but that doesn't really make any difference. I have several newer books on the subject but I don't think they are nearly as good. Lots of used copies are available at a very reasonable price so you get quite a bargain.

I gained a lot from this book. This book explains in great detail the techniques on one side while providing great inspiration from photos on the other hand.Though the book was written in the Film Era the techniques elucidated are still very relevant for the Digital Era.Whether the technique uses teleconverters, stacking lenses, reversing lenses, using diopters, extension tubes or simply different types of lenses, John Shaw has covered it all in this book.A MUST BUY for a serious student of Close-Up and Moderately High magnification photography.Very highly recommended.

I have several books on macro-photography and this is the one I always turn to first. It is not the biggest or the glossiest or the most technical but it is certainly the best. John Shaw is able to de-mystify the subject in a way that others cannot. He does not baffle you with science but has a very accessible and common sense way of explaining things. He is a hands on photographer who certainly knows his stuff and I feel I have learnt a huge amount from this book. Although the book pre-dates the digital revolution the basic principles remain the same and if you want an introduction to macro-photography this is the one I would recommend.

The book is by a photographer who really knows his stuff.Due to the age of this publication there is much about the film era.If you are a really keen photographer this book cannot disappoint.All the theory, all the practices are sound, film or digital is irrelevant in the context of this subject.A subject very well covered.

Gives a lot of information about using different equipment to take macro pictures ,I haven't found this information in any other book yet as most just talk about using "proper" macro lenses .This book covers many other options many of which may be of interest for occasional use rather than purchasing an expensive specialist lens

Note that this book talks exclusively about the world of 35mm film photography as it was written before the hobby went digital. Its advice can easily be adapted to the new world of digital. As someone who shoots both film and digital I found it to be a very useful guide to the world of Macro photography.

Although clearly written for film a lot of the principles apply and it is of benefit to the digital photographer. It is being practically given away at the 32p I paid for it!