Just in case you missed it, I wanted to share some of the amazing reviews that my book Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer has been getting. I have to say it is humbling to hear such praise, especially since this book really puts my career and images out there for the whole world to read about. Without further ado, here are a few of the reviews the book has garnered:
“I wasn’t prepared for how good this book would be. It is, IMHO, a whole lot stronger than “Digital Masters: Adventure Photography: Capturing the World of Outdoor Sports (A Lark Photography Book)” which was the previous book by Michael Clark that I had read and liked (and reviewed here on Amazon).
Exposed is really three books in one. It is a book about the reality and business of becoming and working as a professional photographer with an emphasis on adventure photography. It is also a book on the techniques of adventure photography and lastly it is a book about post-processing. In addition, there is about 2.5 hours of video included on the accompanying DVD that shows you how Michael processed many of the images in the book in Lightroom and Photoshop. Exposed is strong in all of these areas (or as good as a book of only 288 pages could be). It is also well written in a very engaging style.
There are many photographers who write books aimed at other photographers. Some of these produce books that are good enough to inspire readers of their previous books to place pre-order’s for their newest one even without seeing it first (as long as the topic of their newest book interests them). The current photographer/author that best comes to mind that fits this category is Joe McNally. Many people such as myself will enthusiastically pre-order a new book by him as long as the topic interests them. With Exposed, Michael Clark has entered this category for me. If the topic of his next book interests me then I will probably pre-order it based upon my experience with Exposed.
Lastly, an aspect of this book that particularly appealed to me was that it seemed to have been written for intermediate and/or advanced level photographers. It seemed to assume that you understand most of the basics of photography. IMO there is a distinct dearth of books written for intermediate and/or advanced level photographers (and there are many written for beginner level photographers). That said, a beginner would probably find much of value in this book but will probably not get all of its benefits (or understand all of it) until they have gotten past the beginner level.” — Michael Brochstein
“I recently had the pleasure of reading this book. It was very unique in that it wasn’t just a How-To photography techniques book. In fact the photo tips were really a side line to the positively fascinating stories of Michael’s adventures as an action sports photographer. Have you ever looked at ridiculous adrenaline sports action shots and wondered how on earth they were photographed? Well, this book explains just that. If you have an interest in both photography and adventure sports, you will love this book. In fact, my husband (who is not a photographer) insisted that I read most of the book out loud because he was so interested in the adventure sports stories. These stories weren’t just what equipment was used and how the lights were set up (although all of this information is also included at the end of each story) but Michael takes the time to really set the scene. And some of the scenes were nothing short of amazing.
Take for instance his coverage of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. This just happens to be the toughest race in the world, with only the most elite athletes participating. You can’t even imagine what the photographers go through! As if getting the perfect shots isn’t enough work, the amount of physical hardship that Michael had to endure was just unreal.
Each story explains the extreme conditions and how he managed to work within those conditions. From catching the monster waves during surfing competitions and creatively shooting Red Bull’s base jumping, to only being given 2 minutes and 10 total shots to shoot a pro golfer, Michael explains what it’s like to work under the extreme pressure of high paying and high profile clients.
All of this extreme sport photography may seem glamourous, but when Michael explains the amount of stress that this job causes it made me realize how few people in the world could do it. As much as I love adventure sports, I realized that I could never do this job. What I did take away from this book was the necessity of stoking your creative spark and creating your own body of work on self-assignments. No matter if it’s in sports photography or any other niche, he explains the importance of going out and shooting what you enjoy in order to build your portfolio. Most of the paid assignments that Michael got came as a direct result of his self-assigment work. Perhaps everyone should place as much importance on their self-assignments as they do on their paid assignments.
One of the most valuable parts of the book was the fact that Micheal showed his work as it came straight out of the camera. Then he covered (in detail) any and all adjustments that he made to the photos in both Lightroom and Photohop, until he finally showed the final picture. One of the photos that I found the most interesting was one of his surfing shots that didn’t look like much straight out of the camera. But after the post production edits, that once-dull photo scored him an account with Apple. And of course, this was a self-assignment shoot. Just proves his case even further. In addition to the technical details that he shares, he also outlined the exact equipment and used for each shoot (including an explanation of why he choose the equipment he did) and in most cases there was even a diagram illustrating the lighting setup.
In a nutshell it was a great combination of photographic inspiration, technical details, and pure reading enjoyment. I know a picture alone is worth a thousand words, but the chance to hear the stories behind those pictures was a pure treat.” — Paula Apro, via Weekly Photo Tips
My thanks to the reviewers for their incredible comments on the new book. If you haven’t checked out the book it is available via PeachPit, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.
