Craft & Vision provides exceptional photography education at irresistible prices.
Chasing The Look
10 Ways to Improve The Aesthetics of Your Photographs
CHASING THE LOOK is about making intentional choices about the use of our gear and the settings on our cameras based on their aesthetic effect. It begins to answer the question we all ask at some point while looking at the images of others – “How come my photographs don’t look like that?” While part of that question is answered simply, that we all have different vision and therefore different images, part of it must also be that we are not paying enough attention to the look each decision brings to the final image. Chasing The Look walks you through those elements and encourages you to begin thinking aesthetically and not merely technically.
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Reviews and Comments
A true recommendation! Read my husbands copy and found my approach to photography confirmed. Found it comfortable to read even if my English is not so good. Guess i need to think about the topics further on. Anyway im feeeling very comfortable being not alone with my thoughts! Best regards from bymahlemiuts.
A bargain at $5! This is an incredibly insightful book, which makes you think about what and why you’re doing it when it comes to photography. Well written, with gorgeous photographs accompanying it. One of those books where you truly want to savor every word!
Another helpful book which left me with pages of notes to go back over.
THE BEST book!!! Just about every line contained something truly magical! Ok, inspirational then. I couldn’t wait to pass on this book, so posted on FB and message boards how everyone needed to come get this book. Especially, if caught up in the gear makes the photo trap. Maybe, that’s just what it meant to me, I can’t wait to read it again, at another time, to see what pops out as significant then, as compared to how I read it this time.
It’s hard to find a balance between being a gearhead and being an artist. Afterall, it takes a lot of both to consistently produce remarkable work. This ebook finds a great balance by focusing your attention on both, but in a very structured way. It switches between concepts and settings and exercises with ease. I also love how DuChemin uses photos and drawings to help explain what he’s talking about. This ebook certainly isn’t a technical reference, but I think it’s a wonderful creative reference that you should read time and again to remind yourself of the importance of just a few things before going out and shooting. Even if you’re not a travel photographer, this is something everyone can benefit from in their everyday photography.
This is another great ebook from David. Although some of the tips/techniques are already covered in his previous works.
I hesitated before buying a short PDF ebook, even though the price was very little, because I didn’t think an experienced photographer could get much new information from a short ebook. Plus, I worried that the author had just slapped something together, knowing that a lot of people would buy a cheap ebook. I was wrong on both counts. This, and all the others that came after, is an exceptionally well written ebook with exceptional photographs. It’s not about technique or gear or settings. It’s about feeling the vision, and this will definitely inspire you. It’s worth it for much more than the price, and I highly recommend his “real” books, too.
Insightful and succinct information that is easy to read. The photographs are well matched to the subject and inspirational for any photographer. My first ebook purchase from Craft and Vision and certainly not my last.
A beautiful edition to the C&V collection. I had always thought that technical was the supreme importance, that it would get me where I wanted to go, and until I started reading, first Within the Frame and then your other publications (e books included)I have started to work on making deliberate choices and playing. Your work, I believe, has a way of touching the reader and allowing them to embrace the fact that following our dreams is hard work yet attainable. No Voodoo necessary.
Every new photographer needs to read this – Even if its only the first 6 pages.
A beautiful book on making beautiful images. Excellent advise.
A great stimulus for one’s creativity. Unlike many other photography textbooks this one is less focused on giving you specific rules on how to and how not to shoot, but rather tries to show you how much you can bend the rules you already know. I will help you challenge many of the customs you might have developed in your photography; it will help you look at your work and work of others from a new, fresh perspective; and lastly – it will help you understand that for each place/situation/light combination, there’s a zillion ways of capturing it in a inspiring, engaging or ‘simply’ beautiful way. It has certainly helped me bring down some boundaries in my creativity and I definitely recommend everyone to go through it: read what David writes, take the exercises he suggests and hey – you really might see yourself AND your work in a whole new light :)
Somebody would say that there are two types of photographers one of those who can adjust the propriate settings for taking the moment and one of those who can better compose the image. “Chasing the Look” is bridge between those two types photographers, with strong intention to sharp the feeling of intuitive approach adjusting the camera settings and giving accent on finding their own style in “chasing the moments”. I really like the way of motivating us, giving inspiration to surpass the rules and freely experiment with different settings, aiming to feel the breathing of the camera and aesthetically express our vision. If we don’t try we’ll never know what is behind. The biggest thing that impressed me and kept me in reading this book was that it doesn’t teach techniques, but it lights up the path of our style and helps our vision to reach the top thru the camera lenses. It’s not about knowledge it’s about sense and instinct, yes, the gear can give quality picture but can not impress as much as the stories that our eye can tell! However I like David duChemin’s style of writing it’s really friendly and unselfish in sharing his tips and wisdom in the way approaching to photography and taking amazing pictures…Invaluable pile of tips that can really change the way of shooting!
Beautifully done! I’m a newbie photographer and the content in this book is easy to digest, yet challenging.
Structures all the fluff of the artistic word into digestible chunks for those of us who weren’t born with an eye for art and need this type of “training.”
A true storyteller, leads you from the gate to the backdoor… and along the way you learn that he is not teaching you about photography but he is awakening the artist in you.
thank you….
Been reading this book, beautiful design, great content. I like how he talks about the technique and not the gear.
Excellent approach, especially the idea of gesture, as mentioned by some others here. with the help of this book, I’ve started to look at putting gesture into my mind as I hunt through a scene. This book is a fresh break from the technical instruction that most books seem to offer. I can’t get enough of these ebooks. Each of these books are like mini seminars, and his deeply personal approach makes me feel I have a mentor. Thanks David…
I really enjoy David, who is the whole package — very smart, very skilled, very creative. This book is full of the expression of who David is and what he knows — a great ebook to linger with and learn from.
The images in this book will make you wonder ” how do I get my photographs to look like that?”, and Dave gives you his response to that question inside this book. It would be a great manual for a photography class. There is no technique here that can’t be understood by a beginner. What draws the reader of any level into the writing is solid reasoning with great, no, beautiful examples. Several ideas I have decided to intentionally remember before each Photograph I take, namely, ” be sure your photograph has a great foreground and background” When you study the images in this book, you will see that in every one. Another idea he expressed was finding “gesture” in the image. I could ramble on. Just a great read.
Another ebook by David duChemin? Not that I’m complaining because for $5 he’s divulging his secrets and pointing out many common sense ideas and practices to all photographers wanting to better their images. This ebook follows ‘Drawing The Eye‘ (read my review) which discussed the idea behind visual mass, ‘Chasing The Look’ continues in the same vein which is to search for your personal vision of how you want to express the world you live in.
At 48 pages, ‘Chasing The Look’ is another easy read from duChemin as he likes trimming the fat and getting to the point. Also, like his other books, he plants a healthy seed of vision and hopes you’ll use your initiative, brain and creativity to do the rest.
I found this ebook much simpler in content than ‘Drawing The Eye’ as it is geared a little more towards beginners before they spend all their money on overpriced, unneeded equipment. In ‘Chasing The Look’, duChemin gives us his insight on light, shutter speed, depth of field, lenses, composition, anticipation, colour balance and filters. He talks about them not in the traditional sense but just a different way of utilizing them before wrapping it all up in his conclusion.
Although he talks about these fundamentals of photography, he speaks to you more like a knowledgeable mate at the bar than a teacher. It’s nothing like “…a wide angle is for this, this filter is only for that and you must use this aperture for…”. He wants you to change the way you think, to think outside of the lens, to understand the rules and then break them which is integral to finding your own style.
With each section, ‘Chasing The Look’ has a Creative Exercise to help get you out of any creative ruts or at least change the way you are seeing the world through your camera. Overall it’s a no brainer purchase as reading duChemin’s advice is cheap but his wisdom is invaluable.
David duChemin’s approach to photography is awesome! It’s not the picture, it’s you expressing yourself. From depth of field, shutter speed and compression, it’s good information. What I like is the exercises and that the pictures list the camera settings. Good work David! Watch his podcasts “Within the Frame” really good stuff! Thanks for sharing your perspective!
from page 28, “lenses aren’t application-specific, they are behaviour-specific” Just one of many instances that you will learn from David in this book, CHASING THE LOOK.
I’m not sure what David does best, shoot or
write. Both are exuberant but while his
images do move me, his voice affects me in
a very personal way by helping me find my own
voice.
In all other photography books I’ve read
(and I own them all!), the message is to
pursue perfection. It gradually becomes
what you seek. David leaves you with a
whole new way of viewing your own
photographic journey. You cannot help but
change your whole way of thinking after
reading his constant stream of ideas.
I first discovered this after reading
‘Within the Frame’. It kept me up all
night. It leaves you with that feeling that
somewhere deep inside you knew these things
but it took him to bring it out.
That book sent me online to find out more
about him and that’s when I found these
little five dollar gems on this site!
I’ve bought 3 so far and this one “Chasing
the Look” is omg so amazing to me. I’m
going to read it every day for the rest of
my life! If you also want to be encouraged,
read it. It’s $5.00 hello! If you do the
exercises in it you will grow, period.
It’s hard to believe that so much info
could be in one e-book, and that it all
comes across as making so much sense!
to David: I want to thank you so much for
making my life richer. I just recieved my
new book this afternoon from amazon “Within
the Frame” and plan on losing another
nights sleep. lol
~ Kit
“Chasing the Look” is a great book for a novice photographer. While insightful, I think that many advanced amateurs will already have knowledge of the topics covered (Light, Depth of Field, Shutter Speed, Color, Lens choice etc.) On the other hand, if some of the more basic photographic techniques still confuse you, this ebook does a great job at explaining the basics.
The book starts off with some inspiration for creating your own images instead of copying someone’s pictures/technique. It then moves into some basics about exposure and how iso/shutter speed/fstop decisions affect the look of your photos. For me the creative exercises are the best part.
Although I knew some of David duChemin work I was not aware of the Craft & Vision books until recently and this was my first reading. I’m hooked. Simple explanations that go to the heart of the subject and… to your heart. This is obligatory reading and is just the tip of a fantastic iceberg that will keep you busy dreaming new images.
Brilliant book by David. Although, at this point, isn’t that just a given? Reading his words is almost as fun as looking at his images. Keep up the great work!
David has a great way of teaching in a simple way. After reading draw the eye. This book completed my focus on really showing what kind of look I was going for
Another good book with simple, yet eye-opening exercises. I like the Move the Frame, Move the Context section best. However, there are a few others that you should keep in mind while shooting to keep your photos interesting and varied. Read through the book and memorize the key points for your next photo walk and you will see an improvement in your images.
I purchased several ebooks here recently and have been very pleased with both the fine content and the wonderful design. It is not often that a book can have both useful information and an inspirational presentation.
the book that rules them all : i began my addiction to your tiny ebooks with this one … it’s so well written and the approach is refreshing (no gear talk)… keep up doing such an amazing work
Outstanding book….David I have learned so much from your books it has taken my photography to new level….I call u my guru and share your visions with all I know thanks so much! !!!
As an “amateur” I’m trying to learn as much as possible without breaking the bank. This beautiful ebook was well worth the price and helped me think about some new ways of framing my shots. It has even inspired me with layout/design, added bonus. I loved the PDF format so I could sneak a photography break at work ; )
Do you want to give your photographs a special look? David explains how to use things like aperture, shutter speed, colour balance and gesture to have more compelling aesthetics. Great to understand how you can use your camera settings to “chase that look”.
Highly recommended.