Creative Photography Lab: 52 Fun Exercises for Developing Self-Expression with your Camera. Includes 6 Mixed-Media Projects (Lab Series)

In some ways I really like this book and the exercises. Yet, in other ways I'm not sure. My approach is to read a 'how to' book through once to get the general goal of the book and then try out the exercises. I'm not quite through the initial read and found some of the exercises to be silly or too easy. I believe, however, once I actually perform the exercises, I'll see the point of the exercise more clearly and come to appreciate it. What I do like about the book is that I feel as though I am in a conversation with the author and that he genuinely wants me to be a better photographer for my own purposes. I don't want to be a hired photographer and I don't want to have an exhibition of my work, I just want to be comfortable with my work. In the end I believe this book will help me on my way. The upshot: it's simplicity is fooling. The exercises in this book will be useful to reinvigorate your work.

I ordered this book based on Carla Sonheim's other books. I'm not much of a photographer, and -- despite the fancy cameras collecting dust in my home studio -- I haven't a clue what I'm doing when I take pictures.This book is changing all of that. I'm learning about cameras, how to use them for best effect, and what to look for when I'm taking a photo or evaluating it, later."Creative Photography Lab" is ideal for people who use their mobile phones as cameras, too. Few photography books explore that kind of camera as well as they should.The exercises in this book are superb, and clearly explained for people like me, who start out "camera illiterate."However, for those with more camera experience, I think this book will open new doors to new ways to explore photography.If you're buying just one book to learn to take photos, this is probably the one to get.

I loved every aspect of this book. It is great for all ages and not just the young. I used it for ideas when teaching cellphone photography to my online Middle School classes. It has a wealth of ideas. You will totally enjoy having for ideas and to inspire.

I was looking for a book with project ideas and this one really delivers. There is not a lot of technical information, but the writer's goal is to teach "how to take pictures like you." I haven't tried any of the projects yet, but I am excited to do so. Each of the 52 projects addresses any type of photography be it smartphone, point-and-shoot, or DSLR. I have all three so I can try the same project using three different instruments. I know I will improve my photography by trying these projects. It has plenty of example photos and clear explanations. It also has 6 multimedia projects which will bring out one's creativity.

Great photography book with tips, ideas and projects. I go back to this book often.

This is good for brainstorming some project ideas, but if you already work with photography some of them might be redundant. For beginners this would be a better fit.

Great labs to do when you get stuck in creative rut

Really looking forward to getting out and doing some of the activities in this book! I love the way everything is set up and I love that this is inclusive to cell phone photography.

Easy to read, great projects suit many levels and all types of digital camera. Bought it for my son who is doing GCSE Photography and he loves it. My husband who has enjoyed photography for many years has also found some interesting and useful information in it too. A very good buy.

Great

I ordered this book a while ago, when I was feeling quite low in terms of photographic creativity and motivation. I was hooked by the "discover your own personal style" and "explore a new way of seeing". I was definitely interested in "turning my camera into a powerful tool of self expression. For the first time ever I pre-ordered a book instead of waiting to see reviews from others first. And that may have been a mistake.Let me first qualify this review by stating that I have not yet done any of the exercises in the book - I just received it yesterday and I won't have time to give it a go for a few days yet. I scanned through the book first and then went back and reread it, cover to cover.Pros:- It's an easy read - even a kid just starting out in photography would have no problem following this.- It's colourful and pleasant to look at.- It doesn't drone on and on about the "rules" of photography like some other books do. Yes, the rules have a purpose, but I also believe that too many new photographers get hung up on them and it stunts their creativity before they even get started.- I applaud the authors for mentioning that on-board flashes are absolute crap and should only be used when absolutely necessary.Cons:- Contrary to the book description on Amazon, you will definitely not "learn the technical stuff", at least not in any real way. I didn't buy this book for that purpose, but I do feel it's important to mention that because any newbie who feels like they're going to learn all about their cameras by reading this book are being seriously misled. I know, I know, the book doesn't claim to teach you everything about the technicalities of photography, but the problem with down-playing that stuff (and this book does that) is that it is extremely difficult to find your creativity and your own personal style when you still don't know how to get consistent results from your camera. Always working in Auto, and not really understanding why your camera makes the choices it does, will not give you that consistency, it's a crap-shoot at best.- This book seriously talks down to readers and that's a huge turn off for me in any book.- This book is really not for serious DSLR users. Yes, anyone can do the exercises, but I have yet to come across a DSLR user who just wants to learn how to become creative and not actually use settings on their cameras other than Auto and Aperture Priority. I would encourage any serious photographer to instead look for books that focus on vision and honing their craft. This is not that book.- The exercises are nothing new. I've read a lot of photography books, blogs, articles, magazines, and tutorials. If you've got the time to do a few web searches you'll find most of these exercises and much, much more - for free. On top of that, some of the exercises are a bit too... gimmicky. Too simple, and too silly - maybe I'll feel differently after I've done them, but I doubt it.I'm sure there is an audience for this book, even if it's not my cup of tea. I was hoping for much more and perhaps the problem isn't just the book content, but the fact that Amazon's description just doesn't match what you actually get. I don't know if that's Amazon's fault, the publisher, the author, or... whoever. I hate to give a bad review and I don't think I need to. This book will be great for some people, just not for me, and not at this stage in my photographic journey.

No lo recomiendo. Lo compré en base a las opiniones que aparecen en Amazon.com y no es en absoluto un libro que te ayude a hacer ejercicios de fotografía para mejorar tu técnica sino que presenta ideas a muy alto nivel que realmente no aportan nada al que quiere practicar y mejorar su técnica. Cuando he podido ver el contenido lo he devuelto

je connais déjà Carla Sondheim l'épouse par ses cours créatives sur internet (en Anglais) que je recommende fortement. Son mari, Steve, est photograph. Pour un amateur débutant, il y plein de l' information, des exercises originales et très amusantes et au même temps, on apprend beaucoup. Je recommende.