Book Review: 53

Book reviews: How I photograph Wilife and Nature

	Title
	How I photograph Wilife and Nature
	Author
	Leonard Lee Rue III
	ISBN
	0393313700
	Edition
	Paperback 1996 (1984)
	Publisher
	Norton & Company
	Pages
	288
	Order this book from Amazon

This is a book that brought very mixed feelings to my mind. I had seen it mentioned several times on other websites, but had never had the opportunity to browse through it. So I ordered the book from Amazon and was immediately disappointed to find out that most of the images in the book are in black and white. It's a soft cover version, but I think it has been published before as hard cover.

book53b.jpg (38116 bytes) I guess the images in this book will be much better on the original slides, but I do find the printed pictures not that good at all. There are many photographers around (both professionals and amateurs) that can do the same or better. Specifically many images taken in direct sunlight are very harsh and show way too much contrast.

Much of the information given in this book is sound, but some of it a bit outdated and this shows that the book has been written quite a while ago. Although wildlife photography is "timeless" the book somehow gives a feeling of the past.

I don't know whether it is because of the publisher or the photographer himself, but this book is sometimes a bit too much focussed on the author. Mister Rue will indeed be a good and very experienced photographer and it may be typically american to be proud of that. And in the US he may even be some kind of cult figure to some. But sometimes it is just a bit too much for my taste. Maybe it is also because he is selling some of the equipment he is writing about, but for me there are a bit too many pictures of the author in camouflage clothing in the book.

Conclusion: Although this book does contain some good information on the subject, it is very much outdated. And it clearly shows that, not just by the average black and white photographs. I would not recommend it. There are far better books available.

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