The book might be a little boring for a casual picture taker. Also, I imagine that the book might be too basic for a professional who has been doing photography for a great number of years. But for a serious photographer getting started, it is an excellent book. And who better to read than the master Ansel Adams.


You'll use this book even for buying your camera   May 7, 2000
 17 out of 24 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book for any person interested in photography, any level. Here you'll find advice from how to place a tripod to how to get aesthetical results with stereographic pictures of the moon.

Merits and demerits and other features of equipment (cameras, lenses, filters, ...) and techniques (focusing, shuttering, panning, ...) are also pointed out.

I've just finished reading the whole book, but take for sure I'll read it many times from now as a pretty helpful manual.


Good Book for any Camera user   November 2, 1998
 78 out of 80 found this review helpful

This is a book which is filled with both photographs and descriptions of the technique to create photographs. I took a hard-cover copy on a week long trip to photograph parts of Ireland, and was very glad to carry the book with me and read it. Ansel did use a view camera for many of his most famous photos; I use medium and small format, myself. Even though Ansel used a view camera, with its associated movements, the book makes an effort to describe technique as it applies to small and medium format cameras. This effort reached its goal for me. I got a lot of enjoyment out of reading this book, and practical information, too. The basic, straight-forward clarity of the writing in this book would make it a good read for anyone with an interest in photographic technique, from rank beginner to seasoned pro.

One technique I enhanced from this book was the use of a high camera position. Ansel took many of his photos from a tripod which was mounted on the roof of his station wagon. One of the benefits of such a location is the "semi-helicopter" look to the photos. The foliage is more interesting from this height, and the viewer can see more than he would be able to from ground level.


The ultimate book for purist photographers!   July 30, 1998
 30 out of 34 found this review helpful

The Camera, book 1 of 3 in the Ansel Adams Photography Series, is well written with many illustrations of the subjects in each chapter. It also includes many of Ansel's own photo's as examples. The chapters are written for the the novice as well as for the journeyman who want to refresh one's memory on the basics. The latter chapters get more involved with technical information. Book 2 and 3, "The Negative" and " The Print" are eqully well written with an introduction to Ansel's own Zone system. A must read for serious photographers or the novice interested in advanced techniques and/ or terminology. Ansel will go down in history not only as a great photographer but teacher and writer as well. I highly recommend this series to anyone interested in taking better pictures.