 Terrific guide to photographing San Francisco |
| Review Date: March 7, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Joseph Boone, Irvine, CA United States |
| This is a great book but you must understand that it is neither an instruction manual on photography nor a real tour guidebook for San Francisco. It is written to help give you a chance to get great shots of northern California landmarks. It not only points out the best locations from which to take pictures but also provides other info such as which time of day proviides the best lighting. On a recent trip to SF I got some amazing shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from places I would never have known even existed without this book. It shows you perspectives from several different locations for each landmark so you can choose your favorite. This allows you to head straight for the spot you've picked out and know what time of day you need to be there to get them. This kind of plan of attack will greatly increase your chances of getting great pictures. |
An excellent guide for places to photograph in the bay area
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| Review Date: March 17, 1999 |
| Reviewer: , |
| I am a 24 year resident of San Francisco but a beginning photographer. I wanted to find places to photograph and this book did an excellent job. Plenty of color photographs to help inspire you. It gives in good details how to get to the specific area to take the best photographs and the same one as shown in the book. This book guided me to places I have never been and even made brief suggestions as to things to do in the area. An excellent guide for the tourist and the residents of the bay area. |
Great Guidebook.
|
| Review Date: November 12, 2002 |
| Reviewer: Steven Sprachman, Hicksville, New York United States |
| My travel companion and I took a recent trip to California. We started in the Napa Valley and drove down the coast to San Francisco, Monterey, and Hearst Castle. This the first time either of us had been to this area. We both enjoy photography and when I read about this book I knew I had to get it for the trip. I brought two other guide books-the AAA book and "The Eyewitness Guide to California (The Eyewitness Guides are a worldwide series of guide books which I highly recommend for the info they provide and the photographs). "PhotoSecrets" was the book of choice. It gave great suggestions of where to go and what to photograph. I can't say that we got the exact photos as suggested but I got hundreds of great shots based on suggestions from the book. My favorite shots were taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all using the suggestions in this book. The book gives suggestions about the best times to take photos and I used this as a guide to planning each days itinerary. My biggest regret is not having enough time to visit all the great places suggested. This book has a unique prospective and I hope that someday there will be a whole series of "PhotoSecret" books. |
Double Value--a Tour Guide & Photo Guide in One
|
| Review Date: November 24, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Farmgal699, San Francisco, CA USA |
Filled with fabulous full color photos, and covering Northern California, from Big Sur to the Oregon border to the Nevada border, and, of course, San FRancisco, this book is both a tour guide and photography guide in one. The book is organized by region, and the San FRancisco section of the book is divided into the various neighborhoods. The book features its share of postcard shots, but goes beyond the "pretty picture in a tour book" to tell the reader HOW to acheve the same photograph.
Listed alongside each featured neighborhood or attraction is a lighting guide, with suggestions on angles, f-stops, shutter speeds and the best time of day to take the photographs. Also listed are admission prices (which may have changed, as the book was published in 1997) and phone numbers.
The book goes beyond San Francisco to cover areas such as Monterey, Silicon Valley, Wine COuntry, the coastline to the Oregon border and the Gold country. There is also a section on Yosemite, although Yosemite is discussed in its own book in the same series.
The one drawback is that the author does not spend much time discussing topics more advanced photographers might be interested in, such as using filters, backlighting or composition, but this is not enough to detract from the overall quality iof the book. The photographs found inside are inspiring and the tips to help recreate these photos take the photographer far beyond the standard vacation photos.
Overall, I highly reecommend this book for the travel photographer. I just wish the series could be expanded to include areas other than the United STates. |
A superb guide!
|
| Review Date: April 21, 2005 |
| Reviewer: J. Chambers, Georgia, United States |
My wife and I just returned from our first sightseeing trip to northern California. We used PhotoSecrets as both a general guidebook and a photographic guide. It was awesomely on the money! The section that gave detailed driving instructions to reach the Marin Headlands for a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco was worth the price of the book.
We also would never have known about other little-known (to us) gems such as the huge wind power array in Altamont Pass (near Livermore).
From now on, if there's a PhotoSecrets book for one of our travel destinations, I'll definitely buy it.
|
Awesome Photo Guide Book
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| Review Date: March 9, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jo Burnette, Houston, TX, USA |
| While planning an upcoming trip to San Francisco I started looking at photos of the areas we planned to visit. I commented to my husband that I wished I knew where they were when they took those photos since taking photographs is such a big part of our trips. I ran across this book on Amazon.com and immediately purchased it. It is such an awesome book. Full of color and information on where you need to be to take a certain photos, what time of day and many other helpful tips and information. Best purchase I've made in a long time. |
Great!
|
| Review Date: August 19, 2001 |
| Reviewer: Marion, Antioch, CA USA |
| I am a resident of the Bay area. I am always having friends and family come visit. I send them this book with a few suggestions in it for them to pick out what they want to do. This book gives them a good desription of the tourist things to do. It also gives them a good picture so they know what they are choosing! |
Maximize your trip to Northern California
|
| Review Date: January 11, 2002 |
| Reviewer: Howard, Akron, OH USA |
| I went to a conference in San Jose but wanted to go on some day trips to do the most scenic nature photography possible in a short amount of time. This book took me to fabulous spots everytime I took off. Yosemite NP is too big and sprawling to sort out in a few hours unless you use the photosecrets of this book. Also, I never would have found Muir Beach (not Muir Woods), the lighthouse at Monteray, and the elephant seals on the beach at Ano Nuevo State Reserve - 20 feet away from the 3 ton bulls and 5 day old pups! The book gives you the time of day for the best photography at each site and this helped immensely figure out when to go where and how to maximize my short amount of time at each location. The list of photosecrets in the back and the several tips on various pages are great little tips. The only thing you will need in addition is a detailed map to be sure you find your way on the small maps in the book itself. |
Must Have for Photographers!
|
| Review Date: February 24, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Brian L. James, Dayton, OH USA |
| The only complaint I have about this series of books is that there is not enough of them. They are invaluable when visiting a city for any duration. Save tons of time by pointing out all the good photo shots. It provides more than the touristy locations and the advice for time of day and facility hours is worth the book price alone. If you are vising San Fran and want to take some pics, this is a no-brainer! |
Northern California photo secrets
|
| Review Date: March 8, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Donald Chambers, Nashville, Tennessee |
| A must have for photographers unfamiliar with the areas around Northern California. Good detailed information on places, times of day, and times of year to photograph. Easy instructions on how to get to the areas and plenty of tips on exposure , filters and gear. The chapter on Yosemite is not quite as good as "The Photographers Guide to Yosemite" but still has plenty of information on when, where and how to shoot. Highly Recommended. |
A really useful book for me.
|
| Review Date: January 2, 2006 |
| Reviewer: X. Li, |
| I live in San Fancisco Bay Area. I went to many great sights with the help of this little book. I enjoy this book as much as I enjoy some beautiful scenery. Not all photos in this books are great,but this book definitely provides many information that are really useful not only for photographers but also for general tourists. To me it is half as tour guidance half as photo guidance. I use it to find places I want to go, the information about places, and use it for planning my trips. "when", "where" tips and other photo advises are also very helpful. |
Wonderful For The Aspiring Amateur Photographer
|
| Review Date: May 10, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Porsche, San Jose, CA |
Even flipping through this book is exciting, let alone going out to the sites described in it.
The photos are beautiful.
My only precaution for anyone considering this book is that the author literally tells you how to take the exact photo he took.
On the other hand, it teaches you, in taking these shots, that certain angles, times of day, etc. make drastic differences. |
Super work on outdoor photography !
|
| Review Date: February 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Leonard Eng, |
Living in San Francisco and shooting with my new Canon XSi I have found that this book is EXCELLENT in both format and content. It may be a few years old but it is spot on in what to look for, how to shoot, when to shoot. I am half way though reading and now want to burn up some gas just trying out all the spots to go.
5 Stars and great information ! A MUST Have ! |
Perfect for Amateur Photographers
|
| Review Date: December 1, 1999 |
| Reviewer: David Martinez, |
| This was the perfect book for me as I began to learn how to take pictures. It allowed me to create great shots to put on my walls, and it has helped spur my own ideas for good photographs. |
Tells you where to go!
|
| Review Date: April 15, 2007 |
| Reviewer: dyota, California |
| I was surprised how helpful the locations given were for great shots! |
I live in SF and I love this book
|
| Review Date: June 29, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Alberto Vargas, San Francisco, CA USA |
What this book does:
Shows you maps of various points of interest in San Francisco and Northern California (even Yosemite is briefly covered!), with schematics for where to stand and which direction to face for the best views, plus best time of day for each location. There are plenty of sample shots to illustrate what you may get - true postcard shots!
I moved to San Francisco more than a year ago and I had a hard time finding the good vantage points for photographing the city landmarks. Thanks to this book, I have taken some amazing photos! Although I have spent plenty of time exploring the Bay Area, the book actually helped me discover new places like the Carnelian Room. I also learned about locations outside the city, such as Altamont Pass, Bodie ghost town, and the stunning Mono Lake, which I visited.
Note that the book is old, before digital, so it talks a lot about film, 35mm lenses, etc, but the locations and directions remain valid, and you can use any latest-model camera to get even better results.
If you are a tourist who is also a serious photographer, get this - it will save you time and lead you to better photos. |
One of my favs
|
| Review Date: December 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: therightamt, bay area, ca |
| I love love love this book. I was in a couple photography classes and I loved using this book to go out and get great location ideas for some of my work. It literally tells you where to shoot from to get key shots. Some fellow students and I have all used it and none of our pictures look the same even though we were all led to the same spots. Highly recommend! Now if only they made one of these for Vegas! |
Awesome book!! A Must buy!
|
| Review Date: October 25, 1999 |
| Reviewer: LJ, Boston |
| I was able to take some of my best pictures in my first trip to San Fran & Yosemite. This is a great book! I wish all the travel guides were like this. |
GET THIS BOOK!
|
| Review Date: March 29, 1999 |
| Reviewer: , |
| If you enjoy photography and are planning a trip to Northern California (and Yosemite!) GET THIS BOOK! It is a MUST! I give it ten stars. |
Let me explain what the intention of this book is
|
| Review Date: September 30, 2000 |
| Reviewer: joeflies, San Francisco, CA USA |
| This is not a book for pro photographers looking for insight or technical secrets. The pictures in this book have interesting composition, but they are not world-class photos. In fact there are some which are plain poor (... there are several out of focus pictures and some with poor exposure). This book isn't for the pros though, it is for the amateurs. But what the book DOES have are outstanding tips for helping amateur photographers understand why to do certain things in certain locations, such as what lens selection does to the shot composition, and how to pick intersting angles. Is it a travel book? Not really. It lists locations in a given area but it won't help you plan your day in a city. Now with that said ... this book is truly a photo location list. Most travelers are not pro photographers, but they love to get a tip or two on how to take good photos. Having this book alongside a travel guide goes a long way to help finding and composing interesting pictures. Travelers want to find places where they can take memorable photographs, but travel books don't help with that much. So this book definitely fills a specifc need. I find this book enjoyable in this aspect, ... It is extremely well illustrated with pictures, examples, maps and beginner photo tips. Don't buy it for travel tips, don't buy it for photography lessons, but buy it to find out how you can make the most of finding the truly memorable locations, and buy it for seeing a photo composition process by working backwards from the final product. |
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