Drawing on twenty years’ experience, Joe Cornish, one of Britain’s most distinguished landscape photographers, has distilled the key elements of his craft into a collection of thought-provoking essays accompanied by a stunning selection of his photographs. The subjects range from his beloved North Yorkshire, where he now makes his home, to the rocky canyons of the Colorado Plateau and from the rugged Cornish coast to the rainforests of New Zealand’s Fjordland. They have been chosen to reflect the enormous range of his work and to illustrate how he puts his working philosophy into practice. The text accompanying each photograph describes how the picture came to be taken and the considerations – light, weather, timing, composition – which dictated the choice of viewpoint, the selection of film and filters, etc. Smaller images illustrate alternative shots, or other, less successful treatments, of the same subject or theme.
Although full technical data for each photograph is given, the real fascination of the book lies in Joe Cornish’s explanations of the thought process that went into creating each of these wonderful photographs, many of which were captured after careful planning, while others were created by taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity or a moment of sudden inspiration. These fluent and very personal accounts are full of practical advice on subjects ranging from anticipating changes in the weather to the use of filters in order to capture colour as the eye sees it when, unfiltered, the film might show something very different. Above all, Joe Cornish succeeds in conveying his infectious love of landscape and in giving his readers a fascinating insight into the way in which he approaches his work. For all, amateur or professional who aspire to follow in the author’s footsteps, First, Light will be both a source of inspiration and an invaluable manual of practice.
With an introduction by renowned landscape photographer Charlie Waite, First Light will also appeal to anyone who appreciates natural beauty and loves landscape for its own sake.
Author:
Joe Cornish
Number of Pages:
160
RRP:
£24.99
Published Date:
24-10-02
ISBN:
1902538242
Author
eeyore Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire
Registered: February 2006 Location: i'm right here Posts: 11154
Review Date: Thu 9, November, 2006
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £20.00| Rating: 10
Strengths:
fantastic pictures
Weaknesses:
This is a wonderful book for landscape photographers providing a great degree of inspiration and helpful hints and tips. It is also attractive and welllaid out which increases its appeal to the non hotographer who just appreciates the beauty of the countryside.
------------------------------ Some people are like slinkies, good for nowt, but they make you smile when pushed down stairs
Corso New Member
Registered: March 2007 Location: London Posts: 16
Review Date: Sat 21, July, 2007
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 10
Strengths:
Great pictures, photo index
Weaknesses:
The photos are lovely, the essays convey his enthusiasm and the index of details for camera used/film/exposure etc. at the back are helpful for aspiring photographers such as myself.
Matthew Jellings New Member
Registered: June 2009 Posts: 1
Review Date: Thu 17, September, 2009
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £25.00| Rating: 10
Strengths:
High quality book filled with even higher quality photographs.
Weaknesses:
Nothing
If you are looking for a book to inspire you to get out and take photographs, this is it.
Joe Cornish captures wild landscapes with a love and passion that shines through in all his work. His use of timing and light, combined with masterful compositions and perfect exposures is second to none. The main photographs are displayed on there own, being large enough for you to admire finer details. Several paragraphs of interesting writing explain the camera and filtration technique's involved, personal inspiration and provide a bit of information about the location (although you won't spend long reading this - you'll be too distracted looking at the amazing images!)
This is one book you never tire looking at, and is probably one of the best from it’s genre around.
