A couple months ago I asked the photographers who write for Craft & Vision, if they’d help me put together a free eBook. I asked them to help me make something that we could just give away (as in FREE, no catches) to the photography community, especially to the students and enthusiastic amateurs among us. They responded really excitedly. The only guidance I gave them was this: it had to about something that could improve the craft of beginners or even advanced amateurs, it had to be something they cared about, and it couldn’t be recycled stuff from something they’d already written. In the end we put together 11 great essays that together will help photographers improve what they do.

This is practical stuff, not just 11 versions of “Improve your vision” or “Practice A Lot.” Eli Reinholdtsen wrote about the power of moments. Nicole S. Young wrote about more intentional compositions. Andrew S. Gibson wrote about personal projects and collaboration while Alexandre Buisse discussed sharing our work as a means to growth. Piet Van den Eynde, in his usual style, gave me two articles—one about giving your images a greater sense of energy, the other about seeing beyond the usual stereotypes about lenses. Landscape photographer Michael Frye talks about learning to direct the eyes of the readers of our photographs. Stuart Sipahigil wrote about slowing down and learning to see. An upcoming C&V author, Martin Bailey, sheds some light on printing. And I’ve chimed in with an article about taming digital exposures and creating stronger portraits.

Together we’ve tried to create something that is, and will always be, free. But more than that, we wanted it to be helpful. What we got was more than just amazing content – it’s almost 70 gorgeous pages and I’m really proud of the Craft & Vision family for creating it together. We welcome you to download it, to learn from it, and to tell others about it. It wasn’t specifically meant to be released around the holidays, because I think generosity should be a 12-month-a-year thing, but since it’s December 1st, let me also take this chance, on behalf of the whole Craft & Vision team, to wish you happy holidays and peace and beauty as the new year comes. If you download this and love it, would you help us spread the love and tell others? We’ll pay for the bandwidth if you’ll tweet about it, blog it up, and Facebook the heck out of it.

This past year a number of beautiful books have rolled across my desk, none more beautiful than my friend Bruce Percy’s The Art of Adventure, 40 Photographic Examples. Bruce first caught my attention with his incredible podcasts – all of which he photographs, scripts, and records himself, including music he writes and records himself. His photographs are stunning and inspire me not only to photograph differently, but to travel farther, and get out into the light.

The Art of Adventure is gorgeous. It’s 88 pages, hardbound, and beautifully printed. The first edition is limited to 1,000 copies, and there are editions that come with limited edition prints as well.

I don’t know that I’ve ever recommended a book like this, but Bruce has done a beautiful thing here. If you love stunning photography or are doing some gift shopping for a photographer you love, you can  find Bruce’s book HERE. Sample images of the book are HERE. Finally, you can read the Preface, written by another photographer whose work has a strong place in my imagination, Michael Kenna, HERE.

Composition is about how we build our photographs. It’s not a subject peripheral to photography: it’s dead central. Or sitting slightly off-centre on one of the thirds. Unless you talk to Andrew S. Gibson about it, then the conventional rule of thirds gets a bit of a much-needed overhaul.

When Andrew sent me the proposal for his latest eBook, I sat on it for a while. I was in the middle of my own book about composition, and wasn’t at all ready to consider publishing someone else’s. But I’ve long believed that complimentary voices are stronger than competitive ones, so when I finally surfaced and read Andrew’s book, I was happy to see we were both writing about similar things, but in different ways and from different directions.

BEYOND THIRDS is an eBook about taking composition past the so-called rules. It’s a thoughtful, practical book about the way we build our photographs within the constraint of the frame. When I first started studying composition I was frustrated by all the disconnected discussion about leading lines and balance, conversations I felt I was dropping into the middle of, never quite knowing what the authors meant. Andrew’s book is free from that pretense, and what I like about it most is his intentional decision to move past the so-called rule of thirds, and to treat that rule with some suspicion. Anarchy has a place in art, and if there’s one thing we’d do well to question, it’s WHY we keep using these so-called rules. BEYOND THIRDS does that.

If you’re looking to probe into questions of composition a little deeper, BEYOND THIRDS is a great place to do that. It’s not encyclopedic, but like all the C&V titles, it’s meaty without being pedantic or academic, and I think that makes learning, and making this kind of teaching our own, much easier.

Special Offer on PDFs: Use the promotional code BT4 and you can have the PDF version of Beyond Thirds for only $4 OR use the code BT20 to get 20% off when they buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST November 19th, 2011.

Manfrotto School of Xcellence, Monday Oct. 24, 2011. 2pm – 3pm PDT
More information on the Manfrotto site HERE

On Tuesday morning I jump in the Jeep and drive down to Syracuse, NY to join Jeffrey Chapman for some spectacular Cambodian/Thai food before we jump an early morning flight on Wednesday to Oaxaco, Mexico for our Oaxaca Within The Frame, Day of the Dead Adventure. Very excited.

Tomorrow (Monday ,Oct 24, 2011), I’ll be on the air at 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT for the Manfrotto School of Xcellence (don’t get me started on alternate spellings. Just plain goofy.) giving a free one-hour webinar presentation about Building Better Photographs. The presentation is largely based on the principles of the newest book, Photographically Speaking, though in a much distilled form. I’d love you to join us. These presentations are always fun (read: fraught with tech issues) and I’ll be glad to have some friends in the audience. Join us! (Follow the link at the top to the Manfrotto site)

Manfrotto School of Xcellence, Monday Nov. 21, 2011. 2pm – 3pm PDT
More information on the Manfrotto site HERE

Next month, same time, I’ll be doing another one called Confessions of a So-Called Pro. Here’s the blurb: When professional photographer and best-selling author David duChemin left a 12-year career in comedy to pursue his first creative love, photography, he tried very hard to be the “professional” he thought he was meant to be. What he discovered along the way was that being a productive photographer that loved his craft had nothing to do with getting paid. More than that, he learned many lessons about the craft of photography that apply to everyone, from so-called amateur to so-called pro. Join David in a candid discussion about the journey of photography.

I’d love you to join us for that too. Between now and then I’ll be in Oaxaca shooting the Day of the Dead, and on Roatan, Honduras, doing nothing at all. The last trip I went really light, this time I’m taking a Nikon D3s, Sigma 20/1.8, Nikon 24mm PC-E, and Sigma 85/1.4. 4 batteries, no charger. 2 x 64 GB SanDisk cards. Gitzo Ocean Traveler tripod, and a couple Singh Ray filters. It’s a fraction of what I once carried but already it feels like I’m packing for an expedition! I’ll carry it all on my back in a Think Thank Photo Airport Acceleration, until I get there, when I’ll pop my working gear into a Think Tank Retro 30. Wow, that was a lot of gear talk in one paragraph. Let’s move on.

Lastly, Photographically Speaking is now shipping and I’m getting really beautiful early comments and reactions. Thank you again for the support! I think this one is the strongest of the so-called vision trilogy. If you haven’t got one yet, you can do so on Amazon.com HERE or Barnes & Nobles HERE. If you’ve already got yours and don’t mind leaving a quick review on Amazon, I’d be grateful.

Will try to check in from Oaxaca and Roatan and send postcards! See you when I get back!

When I asked Piet to write ebooks for Craft & Vision, I had no idea what I was doing. The man just doesn’t know how to write a short ebook. Fortunately he does know how to write a great one. It’s just always so freaking long I have to pay everyone involved with it twice as much to create it. It was that way with his Masterclass Series The Power of Black & White. It was like that with his first book on off-camera flash, Making Light. I begged him to shorten them up. He agreed, then made them longer. He’s Belgian, so there might be some bizarre cultural thing at play here. Whatever it is, his readers benefit because his books are as full as they are long.

Piet Van den Eynde’s latest, Making Light 2 is yet another gigantic ebook. It picks up where Making Light left off and just keeps on going, talking about going beyond sync speed, working with multiple flashes, using different modifiers, even going beyond the use of small flashes. And then he includes 4 case-studies, all loaded with helpful stuff. And like his other books, it’s big. Did I mention that?

We pride ourselves at Craft&Vision on giving our readers way more than $5 worth of value in our eBooks. We want to lead the way in excellent but affordable photographic education. Piet outdoes us each time, raises the bar, and makes us proud. If you have any interest in small flash and getting it off the camera to create beautiful light, both Making Light and Making Light 2 should be a must for you. And with this release we’re not only offering Making Light 2 available at the usual on-release discounts, but we’re also offering a bundle discount for purchases of both of them if you didn’t grab Making Light the first time around.

Special Offer on PDFs: Use the promotional code MAKINGLIGHT4 and you can have the PDF version of Making Light II for only $4 OR use the code MAKINGLIGHT20 to get 20% off when they buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST October 24th, 2011.

Making Light Bundle: Get both volumes for just $8. There’s no product page for this package on the C&V website but you can make your purchase by simply clicking the direct shopping cart buttons below.

When I met Steve Simon in Hawaii last year we became fast friends. I was already familiar with, and a fan of, his work. And I knew going into his lecture called The Passionate Photographer, that this was a man I shared a lot with. And then we met, shared some meals together and my respect for him deepened. Now I’ve got a copy of his book The Passionate Photographer, on the couch beside me, and I want to introduce you all to him. I try not to flood you with book reviews or “you gotta get this new gear” posts, Lord knows I flog my own stuff enough, but you really should consider getting Steve’s book; it’s that good.

Steve’s a veteran of 30 years in the trenches. He loves what he does with a rare zeal. And his work is excellent. He’s got the cred to write this book, and the subtitle – Ten Steps to Becoming Great – is more than just marketing hype. Steve gets down to basics, and while other books will fill yer brain to busting with information about advanced lighting or technique, it’s the fundamentals that will make the most significant difference in your work.

The table of content is deceiving, you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s not much to this book – only 10 steps? Just tell me what they are and move on, right? But it’s what Steve says about these 10 steps, in 250 pages, that contains the gold. Steve’s book is both deep and wide. It’s got it all, and I’m convinced there is no photographer out there, of any discipline, who will not benefit from reading it, if you’ll also put the time in to applying it. If I were teaching photography in a classroom, at anything more than a basic technical level, I would make The Passionate Photographer one of my standard texts.

Steve Simon’s The Passionate Photographer is published by Peachpit Press and available on Amazon.com HERE. Highly Recommended.

Last week I got a call from FedEx in Vancouver. They tried to deliver the first copies of Photographically Speaking to an address I’ve not lived in for 9 months. Sigh. Getting the first copies of a new book – I mean literally the first two copies off the press – is a thrill and I’m a little sad I’m not there to get them. But it means – and this is the point – the book is out and within days now some of you should be getting first copies!! I can’t wait for you to have it in your hands, though there’s a good chance now that some of you will see it before I do, which seems a little unfair.

If you get the book, I wonder if you’d do me a favor and share. I’ve got three ideas how you can do that.

1. Share with me.
Would you let me know you got it? I’d love to see its progress as deliveries happen. It’s a thrill to see people around the world pick up something you’ve worked so hard on.

2. Share with the World!
If you enjoy the book, would you help me out by telling the world? If you have a blog or use Facebook or Twitter would you point people to the book on Amazon? Would you consider writing an enthusiastic, but helpful and honest, review and posting it on Amazon? These reviews are so helpful and they help offset the occasional rants and weird personal attacks. No need to write a novel, or undue praise, just a short comment and honest rating would be great. Thanks in advance. While you’re at it, feel free to do that for any of the other books you’ve read, by me or any other author – it’s a small thing but it means a great deal to us.

3. Share with your Community.
If you’ve got a few extra shekels, would you consider donating a copy to your local library? There are a lot of students that would benefit from this book but library budgets get tighter and tighter every year. I’d love to know people can read my books and never pay a penny to do so.

If you don’t have a few extra shekels, but you know a student or struggling photographer that could use a copy and can’t afford one, would you please leave a comment below and tell me about them? You can use first names only, or change names to protect the innocent, I just want to pass along some love. I’m going to ask Peachpit, my publisher, to send 20 copies to photographers that simply can’t afford them. We’ll select them, and then send the copy to you to deliver in person. Cool?

Where Within The Frame was sometimes perceived as just a book about travel photography, Photographically Speaking is for everyone. It addresses the most fundamental stuff of our craft – photographs themselves. It talks about the language of photographs and how an understanding of the visual language can make our images stronger. My hope is that you find this book important enough to you to share with others.

You can find Photographically Speaking on Amazon.com HERE, and if you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a brief intro video to the book HERE. Anyways, book’s almost here. Thanks, as always for your support.

Hi folks. The more rabid among you have already noticed that this September is the first month I’ve missed a wallpaper in, well, I think it’s the first time. Sorry. So much going on, my head is swimming. But read to the end, it’ll be waiting for you.

I was released from The Rehabilitation Centre in Ottawa on Friday morning. I walked out after 4 weeks of beatings, grateful beyond words for the progress and for the support of everyone that reads this blog, or follows my social media streams. Thank you again. I’m not out of the woods just yet. My feet hurt all the time, walking takes a lot of effort, and it’s just going to be a while for my body to re-adjust. Even then I’m told I’ll never get even close to normal range of movement on my right ankle, so I’ll be looking for a way to accomodate that and not limp. Still, so grateful! You’ve been so patient with me over the past 4 months as this blog’s been co-opted by news of the accident and recovery. We probably lost a couple of you when I started writing about bed-pans and enemas. Y’all can come back now. We’re moving forward now.

I got Jessie back from NY a week ago and I love having her back. We’ve been driving around getting some wind through the open windows and miles under the tires. I think she’s been smiling as much as I have. Sadly, I’ll be taking her off the road for about a year. She’s a great truck, but there are some issues preventing her from passing a rigorous safety certification. So it’s a good chance to bring her back to former glory and I’m hoping my Dad and I can do that over the next year: fix her little issues, give her a new carbon-grey paint-job, and then forge a new plan. Until then I plan to resume my travels, and at this point it looks like I’ll be spending much of 2012 in the American west in a sand-coloured 4-door 2011 Jeep JK named Emily. I’ll keep you posted.

The big news, and you may be reading this after the official launch announcement, is that we’re launching the Craft & Vision Community: a subscription-based way to experience Craft & Vision. We’ll be launching really soon. Might even be later today. The idea is simple – it’s a year of great photographic education and inspiration for a one-time price of $89 (that’s the launch special, regular price will be $99). For that you get 12 great new eBooks – and our line-up is getting better all the time – along with exclusive access to a monthly podcast, the C&V Blog, full-time discounts, one free eBook from the store, and you’re automatically entered for a great monthly giveaway. How great? This month it’s a $500 Gitzo carbon fibre tripod. I’m excited about this – it’s a chance to more fuly engage with the great community already building up around the Craft & Vision eBooks. And for those that don’t want to join, your experience doesn’t change. Same great eBooks, same great prices. More info to come.

I head to Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand on Wednesday. It’s my first trip since the accident and I’m going into it with a mix of sheer excitement and nervous trepidation.I’m joining Jeffrey Chapman there for Laos & Angkor Within The Frame Photographic Adventure. Psyched.

Photographically Speaking is almost at the printers, wrapping another year of work on something I’ve enjoyed making and am so proud to put my name on. It’ll easily be released, I’m told, by mid-October. Until then, as promised – and neglected – here’s a wallpaper for the month. I’m still hung up on twilight.

Glenorchy, New Zealand, 2010. Click the image to access the larger 1900×1200 file.

Photographically Speaking is nearing the final stages of being an actual honest-to-goodness book. It’s been on Amazon and other online retailers for pre-orders for a while now. But now it’s almost done layouts and then it’s off to the printers. I made a video to talk about the book itself and why I wrote it. That video is linked above. Hit the graphic above and it should open in a new browser. The video will probably see another edit before it goes to the rest of the world but as with everything I do, I try to give you as close to a sneak peak as I can.  I’m really excited about this book. I hope you’ll join me in anticipating its release in October. You can find more information on the product page at Amazon.com. If everything had gone to plan this spring the book would be in your hands in a couple weeks, now it looks like mid-October but I believe it’ll be well worth the wait. Thanks for your patience.

You can also watch the video on Vimeo HERE if you prefer. I’m working on posting to YouTube but so far it just mangles the video.

One of the most intimidating skills to wrap your head around is the use of flash, especially when you take it off the camera. Teachers like Joe McNally and David Hobby have done a lot to make this stuff more accessible. The latest Craft & Vision release is MAKING LIGHT, An Introduction to Off-Camera Flash, by Piet Van den Eynde, and it explores off-camera flash really well. Piet (pronounced Pete) is a great teacher and he covers theory in an easy-to-understand way, and so as not to leave anyone out, he covers both Canon and Nikon flashes. Piet discusses radio triggers and modifiers and all the geek stuff you’ll need to get your flash off the camera and changing the quality of your light. Once he’s discussed the practical stuff he goes on to show you 9 case studies, ways that he’s used off-camera flash in his own work as a traveling photographer who loves making photographs of people.

I’ve seen Piet at work with his flashes and he’s amazing. What I loved most about the way he works is the understated, no-nonsense, way he uses does it. No big light stands, no big fuss. His techniques are practical, real-world techniques and they produce beautiful results. If you bought Piet’s first book, The Power of Black and White, you know what a thorough teacher he is, and what amazing value his books are. I’m his publisher and it breaks my heart to sell these for only $5. This is a meaty book with lots of information in it. If you’ve got a flash or have been holding off because it intimidates you, get this book. If you’ve been playing with off-camera flash, learning from Piet will help you take the next steps.

For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code LIGHT4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Making Light for only $4 OR use the code LIGHT20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST August 21st, 2011.