The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos 1st Edition

This is a really important book. Most photography books are solely concerned with cameras and lenses, but this book focuses (pun intended) on the psychology of the way images are interpreted and understood by people, which I think is far more important than equipment. The book is beautifully written and filled with gorgeous photographs illustrating the photographic and artistic concepts explained within. Photography has become bigger than ever before, and with the affordability of high-quality DSLRs and the image-sharing world of social media, everyone is a photographer today. In and of itself that is not a bad thing since Photography as a medium of documenting life as well as a medium for creative self-expression should be available to everyone. The problem, I feel, is that we've become too obsessed with technology, and we've forgotten that understanding the psychology and philosophy involved in all visual art is of paramount importance in creating images. Most books and YouTube videos are dedicated to catering to the consumer mentality. Everyone wants the newest, most expensive cameras with the most bells and whistles and highest megapixel counts, not realizing that you can take a great photograph with ANY camera, even point and shoot cameras and mobile phones. But the way to do that is to understand the elements of a good photograph and to think deeply about your compositions. That's where a book like this comes in. The author also wrote another book entitled The Photographer's Eye, which is equally a great book and also deals with the psychology of image making. Both books should be on the bookshelf of any serious photographer or artist.

I am not sure that I can add much to what has already been said in the other reviews about this book. It is the best book about photography that I have read in a long time. It is more thought provoking and jam-packed with ideas, information and analytical information about images than any other book I can recall. Photographers of all levels are likely to benefit from reading it although I would probably more likely recommend it to intermediate or advanced level photographers than beginners. While it is very different than "Photographing the World Around You: A Visual Design Workshop" by Freeman Patterson, this book reminded me of Patterson's classic and I think it is just as seminal and worthwhile.There is, IMHO, so many ideas and so much information in this book that I hope one day I find the discipline to read it again as (through no fault of the author) I am not sure I retained as much as I would've liked from my first reading of it.If one is looking for a book on improving one's images then this book short be on your short list. It is not a book about the technical aspects of photography (although some are touched on), it is about what makes images more compelling.

Having recently purchased and read both The Photographer's Eye and The Photographer's Mind by Michael Freeman, I will review both. Eye is easily the most helpful book I've read on photographic composition, discussing in clear terms framing, design basics, graphics, light and color, intent, and process. What I found especially helpful was the section on gestalt theory. While I have read about gestalt theory before, I have not found it quite so clearly discussed as here. Eye is a book to return to again and again.Mind, though it falters slightly near the end, for the most part maintains the same high level of quality as Eye in discussing "intent" and "style." Especially interesting is the section on beauty and the sublime ("Dead Monsters"), which dips into classical aesthetic theory going back to Burke, Kant, and Addison. In a book geared for the practitioner, such theorizing can easily go too far, but that is not the case here. In fact I could have done with a bit more classical theory. Even if one chooses to eschew classical principles, I believe it is better to do so knowledgeably than ignorantly. The cataloguing of styles is helpful. I found that I already use a number of styles in my photography, but I can now do so with greater awareness and confidence. I appreciated the web links throughout the book and the references to various photographers whose styles are discussed.I can highly recommend both books to amateur and advanced amateur photographers.

Books on photography sometimes become almost cliche. Michael Freeman is one of the very few authors who consistently break out of the box and create a book which will add to your photographic understanding and ability, regardless of your current skill level.The Photographers Mind is chock full of challenging questions. Such as suggesting to take a moment to categorize your personal photography and realize how many cliches you photograph. Or how about analyzing the distribution of your personal photography, are you into lighthouses or portraits, or maybe backlight palm trees.?The author breaks down photographic moments, and in great clarity reviews how these evolved, and how the moment can be managed.I am not going to bore you to death with a index of this book, but simply say I have photographed for a living for over 20 years and this is positively a book you should have in your collection, and if you must have only one.. This is a very good candidate for the single most useful book on photography you will ever find.

Non troppo facile da digerire, ma davvero un bel libro che se non fosse che serve tempo perapprendere bene i concettisi leggerebbe in un pomeriggio!

Todo correcto, el libro usado pero en estado tal y como indican, la entrega perfecta y en plazos indicados

Great book which gets into the finer points of composition. Makes you think about every picture you take which in tun, makes you a better photographer.

Well put, covers things which Artists go through and fills in an important missing link.

As all kinds of cameras becoming ubiquitous, sheer volume of pictures explode, there is more and more democracy in the appreciation of good photography. What makes a good photography? Is there really any standard nowadays? And, if yes, how to achieve the quality? Mr. Michael Freeman has tried to answer these questions in a series of books.In the first book of the series "The Photographer's Eye", he addressed some aspects of a solid composition: gestalt theory, right choices of tools for different purposes, necessary skills for capturing one's idea, etc. The Photographer's Mind is the second book in this series. It starts right from where the first book ends: the psychological study of what makes a good composition. After all, once you've learnt your tools, got your hands swift enough and known the gestalt rules, you'll need to know more about what makes a good photography in order to advance. This enters the realm of psychology. However elusive this topic is, in "Chapter 1: Intent" of this book, the author analyses the psychology of photo appreciation in seven selected aspects, largely focusing on the choice of arrangement of the image contents."Chapter 2: Style" is more on available options of graphical styles to go for rendering your intent. This chapter goes further in the field of gestalt philosophy of composition."Chapter 3: Process" talks about practice. Concrete methods for building a sophisticated compositional mind are discussed here. The author is a good guide.Like Mr. Freeman's other books, this book is again elaborated in stylish and non-pretentious text. A real pleasure to read as essays. Points are also explained or presented with content-rich and beautiful photographs, as well as informative illustrations. Each section in chapter 1 and 2 provides an "extended reading" subsection. The materials suggested in extended readings surely widen the horizon of your photographic mind.I strongly recommend this book to people having ambition of advancing the quality of their photographs, or sheerly enjoying intellectual contemplation from reading good English.