Of Light

An Invitation to Photographic Storytelling

By Harvey Schipper

If you are serious about photography there are two main branches of learning to consider. One is the craft side; the technical jargon and how it’s applied to enhance one’s image making.  F stops, shutter speeds and ISO, and how to use them to obtain both correct exposure and creative control are core. At a more advanced level,  focal lengths selection and depth of field come into play, as does the concept of ETTR. These are things that can be learned on one’s own as well as from the web and basic books on photography.

But then many photographers hit a wall. Mastery of craft is important, but many get stuck at this phase and then either become dissatisfied with photography because it seems all about tools and technique, or alternately, they become obsessed with technical minutia and spend their time fretting more over lens resolution and pixel pitch than actual image making.

After reaching a certain level of technical competence, those that have become dissatisfied as well as those that become obsessed lose the plot. Some don’t understand that while technical mastery of craft is important, it isn’t an end in itself. Then there are the others who find end-game satisfaction in resolution charts and DxO sensor ratings.

There is a third group; those who love imaging making and who want to learn how to see photographically. The want to understand how to translate what appears in front of their lens into a meaningful image. For these folks, and you are likely among them since you are reading this, Of Light – An Invitation to Photographic Storytelling, by Harvey Schipper is one possible key to your progression as a photographer.

About The Author

Harvey is a passionate photographer. He is a medical doctor as well as an engineer. He combines both left brain and right brain in his professions, just as we all do as photographers. The linear technical side and the intuitive / creative self, coming together. This is what Harvey brings to his new book Of Light.

In 330 pages of text and images, broken into some 15 chapters, we are lead on a deceptively simple journey. We see through the eyes of a talented photographer who also is able to understand the creative process and explain that most difficult subject of all… how to see.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTERS
PREFACE  11
IT’S ALL ABOUT YOUR VISION 19 VISUALIZING THE STORY 27 NOTICE THE LIGHT  49
LINE   75
COLOUR  101
FORM  129
PERSPECTIVE 169
MOOD  191
MYSTERY AND REVELATION 213 RESONANCE  237STORIES IN AN INSTANT 255 STORIES OVER TIME 277 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 301 POST-PRODUCTION 317
GEAR  325

TECHNICAL EXPLANATIONS

BOKEH   24
BASIC CAMERA SETTINGS 42 METERING  70
COLOUR SENSITIVITY 104
THE HISTOGRAM 133 DEPTH OF FIELD 164
EXPOSING TO THE RIGHT 187 APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED 

Sample Chapter

Of Light – Colour

The link above is to a PDF of one of the chapters in Of Light. It is kindly made though LuLa by the book’s author Harvey Schipper.

Disclosure

Harvey Schipper, the author of “Of Light” is a personal friend. This means that I have a bias toward this book, but then again, I have a bias one way or another toward most things. I therefore believe that when one has a bias based on something other than opinion it is a duty to let the reader know this.

So – with that out of the way, I’ll simply add that even if Harvey were a stranger I would still review “Of Light“, and would still give it a thumbs-up review. It’s that good!

Michael Reichmann
August, 2015

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