Matthew Bamberg - 101 quick and easy ideas taken from the master photographers of the twentieth century

To Brenda

Matthew Bamberg is the author of the 101 Quick and Easy Secrets photography book series, which covers everything from creating winning photographs to using your photographs and emulating the great twentieth-century photographers. Bamberg began his career in the arts as a graduate student at San Francisco State University in 1992. His work in the visual and media arts included video production and software applications. He completed his M.A. in Creative Arts in 1997. After being a public school teacher for 14 years, Bamberg became a photographer and writer. He began to photograph for the articles he was writing while working for the Desert Sun and Palm Springs Life magazine. He has traveled the world, photographing in the most remote of places from Burma to Bolivia. His photographs have appeared in international magazines, galleries, and retail stores. Bamberg is also the author of The 50 Greatest Photo Opportunities in San Francisco .

Books in the 101 Quick and Easy Secrets photography book series include:

Have you ever seen a photograph in a museum and thought, I can do that? With todays digital technology and a dSLR camera, theres quite a bit you can do to emulate those museum pieces. 101 Quick and Easy Ideas Taken from the Master Photographers of the Twentieth Century helps you to recognize some of the techniques used by the great photographers of the twentieth century.

Each chapter in the book includes a bio of the master photographer (including what life events influenced his or her work) and a description of one or several photographs the photographer shot. In the photograph descriptions, I have described the elements of photography that apply to that worklight, shadow, subject, narrative, and symbolism. Ive then re-created a similar photo with one key element that the master photographer used to produce it. Although the master photographers images are not included in the book for copyright reasons, a website link is provided for most images. From there, you can go on to take your own picture using similar techniques and subjects. In addition, Ive attempted to use similar subject matter to the master photographers photos. In some cases, Ive traveled to the exact spot where the master photographers photo was taken (such as the re-creation of William Egglestons Roys Caf scene in Amboy, California). In others, Ive re-created a similar scene in a different place (such as finding a similar scene to Lee Friedlanders barren street scenes).

Also included in the book are the steps to find, compose, and manipulate the new image. There are sidebars that detail the steps to make images black and white as well as to create sepia tones and create softness, among other post-processing techniques.

The Concept

When considering a book about the masters, one mustnt forget the common concepts that they used to photograph their subjects. The book covers many. One such concept is taking a picture from a worms-eye viewa photograph shot from below to make the subject look big. The name of this technique comes from the concept of thinking of yourself as a worm looking up.

Another concept master photographers usedframing shots where two disparate subjects appear to be communicating with each otheris detailed. Whether it is a figure in an ad communicating with a real person or a figure in one ad communicating with a figure in another, the result is the samecommon, everyday figures are brought to life in ways that people wouldnt normally think about.

Subjects seen from a worms-eye view.