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Full Title: Mastering Filters for Photography: The Complete Guide to Digital and Optical Techniques for High-Impact Photos

Author: Chris Weston

We receive books covering every aspect of photography, whether film based or strictly digital, and whether or not it covers the camera/lens end of photography or the computer/software end. We love receiving the titles, and for the most part there are terrific bits of information in the books we receive. And sometimes, like this title, we receive a book that qualifies as a “vital” part of a serious photographers library.

‘Mastering Filters for Photography’ by Chris Weston, covers both optical and digital filters and before I go on with this review let me touch on this a bit.

Weston could have easily written two books instead of one on this important topic, one for optical filters and one for digital filters. So, because Weston did the right and proper thing by combining both into a single volume we give him props for giving his readers a break with investing in a single title.

Optical and Digital – If you’ve been a shooter for several years you already have a working knowledge, however slight or heavy, with the optical filter. This is the glass that fits over the lens and directly affects the image taken by the camera and cannot be eliminated later. The Optical Filter can be as vital as using a Polarizer on a bright day (a must even in digital photography), or simply creative with a soft focus filter screwed onto the ends of a good portrait lens.

How the Optical Filter affects exposure, composition, and naturally the effect the filter itself on the image, is information you must know as a serious shooter. Despite the fact that many filter “effects” can now be applied in postproduction via the computer and Photoshop, sometimes being able to make the best decision in the field about using a filter or not, and if you do which filter would do the best job to accomplish “X, Y, or Z” is knowledge you simply must know if you are to move forward with a career in photography.

Digital Filters, of which there are many, include such terrific options from NIK Software, AlienSkin, and others, and can be used much like optical filters in the field or as filters that change the very nature of the image. There are an unlimited number of effects that can be applied digitally and gives tremendous freedom of expression to the image-maker. Used properly the digital filter is of great benefit to the shooter, used improperly and you sometimes get unexpected but creatively terrific results, or you ruin an otherwise good image.

Knowing how the digital filter works and what to expect when you use them are every bit as important as understanding the optical filter.

With more than 300 awesome photographs in the book, an easy to read and understand delivery by Weston, step by step tutorials, before and after shots, and much more, this book is a definite must have for those shooters that care about using filters correctly and who want to move forward as serious shooters.

If I were browsing photography books in my local Borders and discovered this new title (this book was published in early November 2009) I would have picked it up and thumbed through it. After seeing how Weston lays out the information with step-by-step instructions and before and after shots I would have purchased this book, and I’ve been shooting professionally for more than 10 years. ‘Mastering Filters for Photography’ is a concise, easy to reference, book that you can pick up and use instantly. Once you read it you’ll know where and when to make investments in both optical and digital filters and you’ll never again waste money on filters you don’t need and digital filters that don’t work as advertised.

You can pick up Mastering Filters for Photography from Amazon for $17.15. Right now I can’t think of a better way to spend under $20 on photography.

Julia Barnes

Mastering Filters for Photography: The Complete Guide to Digital and Optical Techniques for High-Impact Photos:

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Amphoto Books (November 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0817424512
ISBN-13: 978-0817424510
Product Dimensions: 9.6 × 7.4 × 0.6 inches