Travel Photography: A Guide to Taking Better Pictures: Lonely Planet Guide

One of the smarter photo guides around, and commendable for its handy guide-sized format, this travel guide packs more useful information per page than any of its competitors. What's more, the author (photographer Richard I'Anson, who is not credited on the front cover) steers clear of the obvious, and provides endless tips that can make an amateur's work move toward the professional level.

Most of the book is set up in two-page spreads devoted to very specific topics, such as children; buildings; lakes and reflections; environmental portraits; sacred places; life on the streets; and so on. Each spread contains just enough text, accompanied by multiple photos, each with their own explanatory captions.

And good for I'Anson, who does not make a big deal about equipment choices. He shoots, happily and productively, with an Olympus system-- lightweight, but of sufficiently high quality to produce the beautiful images in this book. (And there are hundreds of them.) He presents each image with lens info, and with other tech notes.

Additional chapters are devoted to selection of film, what to when you return home, etc.

Last positive comment: the book is also a "good read." I know because I was stuck on a three-hour train trip with nothing else. And I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the time had passed quickly.

And finally, a negative: I love the small format, but the book itself probably should have been 10 or 20 percent larger. Some of the images are too darned hard to see.

At $17US, a solid investment.

I purchased this book in London in May 2001, and it followed me on every trip through Europe. At the time of this critic, this book is with a collegue of mine in the DR Congo who's on a shoot in a refugee camp. So, it's title is well earned.

The book is divided in two parts, the first of which explains theory of photography for beginners or amateur photographers wanting to learn out of one book. To enumerate a few subjects discussed: equipment in general, even compact although the author doesn't recommend it, lighting, filters, composition, film etc. To honour the reason of existence of the book, he explains the preparation methods to photo travelling. There are no great secrets in this part of the book, just things you forget to remember or that are really essential for beginners. Personnaly, this brought back a lot of the tips from school that I had forgotten in the years I was casual photographer.

The second part takes photo opportunities case by case. For example, if you are to prepare a walk in the jungle, what is the best time of the day and what kind of light should you hope for to maximize the quality of your photos? Every situation is illustrated by one or two photos. Needless to say the examples are motivating and make this book a guide after all.

There is in fact a third part, a sort of conclusion, which explains what to expect once your back from the road. Very important to finilize your trip.

Finally, this book has motivated me to push myself and see impressive results relatively quickly. It is a great read not only because of the anecdotes I'Anson has as a travel photographer, but because it serves well as a guide. Not many teachers can travel with you in any case, and I'Anson fits not quite in your pocket, but at least in your camera bag.

There's one questions that remained: did I'Anson ever cropped photos used in the book?

Kim Gjerstad

12/04/2002