Andrew S. Gibson

Nov

2011

eBook: Square by Andrew S. Gibson

As my regular followers here know I often write reviews of ebooks released through the good folks at Craft & Vision. I just love ebooks! I know that is obvious. But there is something wonderful about paying $4 or $5 for a 40 to 60 to-occasionally-80 page manuscript of luscious photography writing. The advent of tablet devices like the iPad have made ebooks an economical means of distributing and consuming content, and these ebooks look wonderful!

So I was both humbled and excited when one of my favorite Craft & Vision authors contacted me and asked me to review his latest ebook: Square: the digital photographer’s guide to the square format. If you remember, Andrew is the author of the ebook on composition that was released last week as well as two of my favorite titles “The Magic of Black and White, Volumes 1 & 2”. Andrew has decided to release this ebook through his website.

Square explores the history of the square format, its challenges for digital photographers whose cameras photograph strictly in 35mm 3×2 format, and the possibilities this format encourages in composition. In addition, Andrew packs this ebook with beautiful new images all formatted square, two case studies with wonderful square format film photographers, and several tutorials for altering digital files into attractive square format photographs.

And to celebrated the launch of his book, Andrew is having a special sale for the first 7 days. Normally $5US, you can get the book for $4US by using the coupon code square20 at checkout.

This code expires on Wednesday 30th November, 2011 23:59 GMT.

Nov

2011

New Craft & Vision eBook: Beyond Thirds

The fine folks at Craft & Vision have been staying true to their mission of providing quality ebooks meant to educate photographers to increase their craft and explore their vision. Today, they released the latest publication by Andrew S. Gibson, author of “The Magic of Black and White, Part 1 & Part 2”: “Beyond Thirds: A Photographer’s Introduction to Creative Composition.”

In this ebook Gibson uses some of his beautiful imagery to explain basic guidelines of photographic composition beginning with the Rule of Thirds and moving beyond into aspects of the Golden Section, Balance, Dynamism, Contrast, Aspect Ratios, the use of Space and more.

This book is particularly useful to those photographers that are attempting to understand how positioning subjects in a photographic frame leads to stronger images. If you tend to adhere to-or have not even heard of-the “Rule of Thirds” this book is for you. Gibson is clear in his writing and explicit with his imagery and while he introduces the reader to varying compositional theories he also encourages the reader to work from feel. For $5 this ebook provides what it promises-an introduction-but can also serve as a nice reminder for those of us that think we are beyond such discussions.

Click on the link in the text above or click on the images in this post and you will be taken to the Craft & Vision store where you can purchase and download this and other wonderful ebooks.

Special Offer on PDFs: Use the promotional code BT4 and you can have the PDF version of Beyond Thirds for only $4 OR use the code BT20 to get 20% off when they buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST November 19th, 2011.

Aug

2011

New C&V eBook: Andes: Print and Process by Andrew S. Gibson

Andrew S. Gibson is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers as well as one of my favorite photography writers. I fell in love with his first 2 ebooks, The Magic of Black and White and The Magic of Black and White, Part II soon after he released them. I found they really taught me to “see” in black and white better and produce better overall images as a result, whether in color or monochrome. I return to those titles over and over reminding myself of his tips, suggestions, and direction as well as to receive inspiration from the absolutely stunning images included within.

Yesterday he released another ebook. It is a bit different from his earlier works for the Craft & Vision label in that this is not really an instructional book although the reader will get a pretty clear sense of how Gibson approaches photography philosophically. This ebook: Andes: The Print and Process Series features some of the same images in his earlier works but also delves into the journey that gave birth to those images as well as the thought process behind them.

Focused intently on several journeys to the Andes mountains in South America, Gibson recounts bus rides, exploratory wanderings, encounters with indigenous cultures, witnessing local festivals and really gives a sense of what it is like to wander and photograph the area, the land, the people, and their customs.

What struck me the most personally was the simplicity of Gibson’s gear and how it had a direct impact on the outstanding quality of the resulting images. On his first trip Gibson traveled with two simple Pentax 35mm film cameras with a 24mm wide lens on one and a 50mm lens on the other. On his second trip he traveled with a Canon EOS 350D (a Canon Digital Rebel XTi here in the U.S.) and 18-50mm kit lens. A kit lens!! Brilliant!! Just the proof I needed to be reminded that the quality of a photographer’s gear does not directly correlate with the quality of a photographer’s photographs.

So come take a tour of a gifted and skilled photographer’s images in this wonderful ebook: Andes: The Print and Process Series. If you’re anything like me you’ll be inspired to go out and make incredible images with simple gear.

Special Offer on PDFs
For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code ANDES4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of ANDES, A Print & Process Series for only $4 OR use the code ANDES20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST August 6th, 2011.