The Enthusiast's Guide to Multi-Shot Techniques: 49 Photographic Principles You Need to Know Paperback – October 24, 2016

I shoot mostly film but lately wanted to learn more about digital work in general and multi shot techniques in particular. I've barely begun to use the book and there is a lot packed into it. This is not a fluff publication with huge blank spaces to make it big enough to be called a book. One thing I want to mention is that my book was damaged after I got it and a couple of important pages were lost. I contacted the author about it and he provided me the lost information almost immediately. A big thank you for that! Very much appreciated.

easy to understand and follow

One of my few problems with this guide is that the title does not do it justice. The book covers HDR, Stacking approaches, Panoramas and Time Lapse in addition to the multiple exposure concept that one might have expected it to focus on.The material on double/multiple exposure is useful - and offers many ways of skinning this particular cat - you are bound to find one that will work for your particular project and preferred approach (in camera or post-processing approaches) - Probably nothing really novel here but very well put together with clear images showing outcomes and before/after buildsThe HDR section is (to me) more complete and I found that it included some explanations of the underlying processes that clarified some points that had previously been mysterious to me (e.g. what really goes on with tone mapping) - it also nicely deals with the issue of "is HDR evil" and explains clearly that it is a tool that can provide different outputs to portray whatever the photographer has in his/her mind. Although I have read a fair bit on this there was definitely some novelty here for meI have not yet read the panoramas section in detail - that is not on my current project list but I am sure I will inhale this chapter up when I do decide to do a panoramaThe image stacking area was really interesting. The macro focus stacking section is very light indeed and this book will not provide too much help if you want to dig deep on either the equipment of practical sides but I found the other section in this chapter to be very well put together and found some really novel ideas (e.g. stacking to reduce noise)The time-lapse area is maybe not the best in the book but there was a fair bit of material I have never seen in magazine articles on the tops - so still a useful read.The style is readable and the length is short - if you want a book you will have to pore over for hours then this is not for you but if you want to get a quick overview of these techniques with practical advice and clear examples then it is good value.If only they gave it a better title....

This book is especially useful because it covers not just one or two, but five kinds of multishot techniques: double exposure, high dynamic range photography, panoramas, focus stacking, and time lapse photography. Way more than I expected.For double exposure, he covers both portraits and action photos. I’m happy that he didn’t cover just how to do multiple exposures in Photoshop or other software programs, but begins with what I’m most interested in: making double exposures in camera with a DSLR.As the good photography books do, this one gives sample photos with significant tips and compares techniques where appropriate. He takes the reader step by step in composing a multi exposure shot and that’s just great-leaves no room for guesswork so that my first double exposure following his recipe was almost perfect by my standards. I appreciate the detailed instructions. The basics are that he overexposes the first photo so that the background is pure wait and shoots the second exposure in normal settings.The author next gives an equally understandable recipe for creating multiple exposures in Photoshop. The advantage to using Photoshop, of course, is that you can play more with how to layer the images were is if you do in multiple sat in camera there is little you can do to change it.The HDR, high dynamic range, is easily as useful as the multiple exposure section of the book. He recommends a minimum of three shots with two stops between each image-again, and easy and simple recipe to follow for a beginner.Tip I had never seen before regarding HDR is to use spot metering and then bracket around it. I have found the Enthusiast’s Guides to be quite helpful on topics I’ve read a lot about already. Helpfully Hess goes through three or four software applications that will finish your HDR shots post production.Next up the author talks about shooting panoramas. In this section he even discusses HDR panoramas! He reminds us to mark the beginning in the end of the panoramic shoot by taking a picture of your finger, for example. Points out that they can be shot either in horizontal or vertical panoramas, and included a very helpful section and how many exposures to take for a given panorama.Toward the end the author describes best practices in focus stacking which is something I’m especially interested in. I enjoyed macro photography and that’s where focus stacking is especially useful. Although I have done some focus stacking handheld, he’s right that it’s much more effective to use a tripod. What I like about his writing is that he doesn’t spend too much time philosophizing but gives loads of tips you can actually go home and use.The final chapter is on time-lapse photography — something I have not done but will try now thanks to his efficient instructions. He discusses equipment necessary for such shooting as well as the mathematical structure of figuring out how many frames per second.All in all, a great book! I have read most of the enthusiast’s guides now and find them especially useful for photographers like me.

I picked this up directly from Rocky Nook, I did pay for it. I found this to be a very interesting and well written book. All different types and styles of multi shot techniques are discussed. HDR and how to determine how many shots you need to capture the dynamic range. It also covered some lightly discussed techniques like multi-exposure and how to process them after capture. There is also some discussion of how and what works for multi-exposure shots. Focus stacking is also covered, which is not always a well documented technique. I found the book to be a good discussion of techniques that will work for most modern digital cameras. A good basic reference and will certainly give you the tools to go out and experiment and learn to create some creative images. Worth getting if you think you know some of the techniques it will help fill in any gaps in your knowledge.