A practical and inspiring guide.

This Third Edition familiarizes readers with the traditional principles of composition and visual design. The jargon-free text provides practical techniques and innovative exercises for breaking with traditional concepts of design to enable the photographer to develop a keen awareness of subject matter and a personal direction.

Topics include:

• Barriers to seeing
• Learning to observe: rethinking the familiar
• Learning to imagine: abstracting and selecting
• Learning to express: Subject matter and the photographer
• Elements and principles of visual design and more.

This edition of Photography and the Art of Seeing is updated to include technical guidelines adapted for both digital and film photographers and includes photographs from Freeman Patterson's personal collection. Extended captions include valuable technical information and personal commentary reflective of the superb craftsmanship and stunning photography from one of the most highly acclaimed and celebrated photographers worldwide.

Customer Review: An excellent source to learn to see again

This is not a basic how-to book for beginning photographers. It doesn't teach you about f-stops, shutter speeds, or the rule of thirds. What it does do is try to teach you new ways of looking at things, and how to actually see what you're looking at.

I've been a photographer for many years, and I found my inspiration and creativity fading. I picked up this book as a reference for a seminar I was giving and fell in love with photography all over again. I feel excited again while I'm taking photos, and I feel that I'm creating art for me, not for others, and I love it.

I highly recommend this book for experienced photographers and beginners alike. Don't buy it for the photography lessons, buy it for the inspiration.

Customer Review: Obviously a master, a philosopher, and...

I expect that many people will want a book that has nice photos and a couple of dozen rules to follow to improve their photos and even to make photography easier. This is *not* such a book.

Instead, Patterson explains many, many visual relationships and perhaps surprises you by writing that by following strict rules of composition you will *not* take better photos. Regardless, he gives you many insights that, with a lot of observation and practice, will lead you in the right direction.

If you are prepared to start a significant journey toward improving your photography, this is a great book. It will help you toward achieving visual harmony in your work. If you want to hear "the rule of thirds" repeated and the merits of hyperfocal distances discussed, something else will suit you much better.

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