The Bookshelf #20 - Working the Light - Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite, David Ward
Working the Light
Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite, David Ward and Eddie Ephraums
Argentum
Available on Amazon from £3.91
I definitely got a bit lucky when I bought my copy of Working the Light: A Landscape Photography Masterclass, as it’s in really good condition, and it only cost me £3.91. At the moment on Amazon, there only seems to be one copy of it, and the price has gone up to £59! My message here is: don’t run out and buy this copy, maybe wait until some more become available and grab a bargain!
Yes, this is a good book. But I wouldn’t encourage you to go and pay this much money for what is described as a “mass market paperback”. It’s way more than that description gives it credit for, and I think it’s a really useful, interesting book.
You won’t find a lot of imagery from the photographers named on the front cover. What you will find is a lot of photographs from serious hobbyists and other professional photographers who have submitted their work to be critiqued by Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite and David Ward (Ephraums is credited as being the editor).
The book is divided into three sections: Wilderness Landscapes (Joe Cornish), Inhabited Landscapes (Charlie Waite), and Inner Landscapes (David Ward). In each section, you will find a short foreword by the critiquing photographer, alongside some of their images with a bit of text outlining their thoughts and intentions for each shot. There are some tips thrown in here for good measure too.
There then follows a “Gallery Workshop” section, which is where we find the readers’ submissions, with some short but helpful information alongside each image, using the photos as references or talking points.
Finally, each section has a critique where the photos we have just seen in a larger format are now presented to us much smaller in four columns on the page, with a critique from whichever pro has written that section, alongside a response from the photographer/reader who took the image. Helpfully, at the bottom of each image is a location guide, EXIF information and some other information about inspiration, style and aspiration.
I really like this format, as it’s definitely more conversational than we would normally see in something like this, and it’s nice to see the responses to the feedback, as we often don’t get this. Even if you watch critique videos on YouTube, there is rarely any interactivity with the original photographer, so to see a response, albeit brief, for each photo is a great touch!
I like this book as something to dip in and out of, and as a source of inspiration. It’s not just UK-based, there are images from around the world, but the principles of photography remain the same and I think it’s a good idea to constantly be scanning things that aren’t right on your doorstep!
A fun book, with some great images. You should get one.
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Check out some of the books in the bookshelf series by clicking the links below:
