I own many of Jim Krause books. I've always enjoyed how he gives you examples on how to make a project better. This book was great. He gives lots of examples of photography, and how you can make a picture better. He doesn't say how you should do each photo but rather he shows how you might do it. As the photographer you need to figure a scene out and what work best. Krause shows you what might work best with this book. He also gives lots of tips on how to use photo editing programs(such as photoshop) to make your photos better or stand out. If you're a learning photographer this book will help to jump start your mind.

This book is very inspiring, and has a lot of great Ideas. I was kind of in a slump and this book helped get me out of it. Many excellent shots. Even people w/o SLR's could really get inspired from it.

This book doesn't try to teach you everything there is to know on photography. But then again, do you really need to know everything? That's the real power of this book -- Inspiring and motivating you to get off your butt and start doing stuff. Any stuff, your way. You don't need fancy equipment. You don't need to be a technical guru. Just read this book and start exploring and enjoying photography.

I love the practicality of it -- from the physical feel of the book in your hands, to the readily-usable information inside. It's nice to keep around -- browse through it and kick-start your creativity.

It pushed my photos to the next level -- I grew accustomed getting appreciation for them from various people. It's a book you can still enjoy even after many reads. One of my most prized books.

Great book for inspiring ideas. Love the "field guide" layout. Makes for quick reference. A must for every amateur photographer's library.

Great book for inspiring ideas. Love the "field guide" layout. Makes for quick reference. A must for every amateur photographer's library.

When you have reached, or think that you have reached what you feel is the zenith of your photographic skills, read this book and discover a whole new world of seeing and painting with light.

This is such a FUN book! While it is not specifically geared to the scrapbooker (more to designers), I still found it highly inspirational. I have been scrapping for about five years now with my main subject having always been my daughter. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (she will always be my 'main' focus, I'm sure), I have found myself wanting to scrap more of the 'everyday' as a way to record our lives for future generations to (hoepfully) enjoy. With that comes photographing our environment and the items/objects within it. This book offers some great ideas and inspiration and I LOVE the fact that the author is careful to include that most of the pictures in the book can be (and were) taken with a non-SLR camera...this is important to me because I don't have one and probably won't be able to afford one anytime soon. It's nice to see examples of great pictures taken by a point-and-shoot.

New to digital photography? Returning to photography after a long hiatus? This book offers both tips and wonderful ideas for taking pictures and improving your skills. Digital cameras offer the opportunity for the photographer to experiment without having to get prints/slides developed. Because of this, you have to learn that you are allowed to take hundreds of shots just to play and experiment.

Mr. Krause's book shows you simple ways to find subjects that you never knew existed. Since buying his book, less that 2 months ago, I have used it to take over 2,000 photos. I now understand some things about shots that can only be learned by doing and Mr. Krause really encourages you to do!

I've only given this book 4 stars because I haven't yet finished it (got it in the mail yesterday, already half way trough) so I'll leave room for a final star.

I can't stress enough the fact that this book is fuel for creativity on almost any level. I've been a photographer for quite a long time now and while most things said in the book are things you can pick up after a while, the way ideas are presented is very inspiring.

Gorgeous edition, I have Idea Index and this edition is better by far (early editions to crack cus they were glued). Plastic cover with a window to interior pictures.

A must have!

There's a quote on the back cover that states that this book "is intended to super-charge creative passion..." and it totally lives up to that goal. Though not presented in a workbook format, this full-color book can be used as such because it is constantly encouraging the reader to "experiment with this" and "try this but vary the amount of that" and "consider doing this while incorporating that" and "be on the lookout for this because of how it affects that."

This book is not a text that dives ten feet deep into any one particular subject. Rather, it calls on you to get off the couch and experiment with your camera (digital or film, SLR or non-SLR...any camera will do). It makes suggestions that will inspire you to investigate the ideas on your own and learn through your own experience. It provides intelligent suggestions for setting up a scene and gets you thinking about and experimenting with backgrounds, lighting, close-ups, reflections, shadows, props, empty space, cropping and many other elements. It also introduces a few ideas that none of my other photography books even begin to address, such as visual hierarchy, involving the viewer, photographing words and keeping an eye out for bad tangents (which I'd never even HEARD of before but am certainly glad I know now).

The author obviously believes in learning through hands-on exploration and he provides the reader with hundreds of ideas and suggested starting points for their own photographic experiments. If you are like me and are trying to obtain a better understanding of all the elements that go into a photograph but are not quite inventive enough to come up with your own starting points, this book will be a fantastic companion for you. All that is required of you is a willingness to commit to experimenting. Can't think of anything to photograph? Can't think of new ways to photograph something? You will never have a shortage of ideas with this book around.

I'm a web and graphic designer, not a photographer. This book is heavy with examples (which is great for me) and some text to supplement or explain the concept. I own every other Jim Krause book so I knew this one would be fabulous too.

If you're looking for wonderful creative ideas that will help you produce better images, use this book as a sparker to get your juices going. It's full of interesting and useful concepts.

So many other books just rehash the same material over and over. This one provides a wealth of new ideas and techniques that will help you take better photographs. If you already know how to use your camera and just want some tips on what to do with that knowledge, you'll love this book.

As an aspiring photographer, I'm going to cherish this book for a long time to come. Like Krause says, this is not necessarily a how-to book with lots of detail instructions--though there are plenty--but it's moreso a book of inspiration for those who want to take aesthetically pleasing photos. Krause pushes you take risks, shoot lots of subjects, and carry a camera around with you wherever you go. I can't wait to get a pocket digital camera in addition to the SLR one I already have, just so I can stop thinking about my expensive camera more than the potential photos that I could make. Each page is filled with ideas and insight for taking photos that punch and jab, flow and smile, dance and wait. This one definitely inspires me to look more seriously at other books by Krause.

User friendly, LOTS of beautiful images and an excellent mix of information- and creativity-oriented text. And, I really dig the vinyl cover. Very different from the other (many) photo books I own. This book is... exuberant. I think that if I were to name a "theme" for this book, it would be: use whatever camera you have; whatever skills you have; and just go for it. The book conentrates on mid-level cameras and equipment (it has expanded my appreciation for pocket digital cameras-that's for sure). The hundreds of photos in this book were all taken with either a pocket digital camera or a mid-level digital SLR (looks like a Canon 20D). The book itself is very cleanly designed (I'm a professional graphic designer myself, and I can appreciate the work that's gone into this one); neatly organized into topics of creativity, camera and lighting variables; and some essential digital effects. I love how several pages take one subject-matter and explore all kinds of equally-valid ways of taking pictures of it. Great for getting the ideas flowing. My one sort-of complaint is that the digital effects section is short, but then, this is a book on photography so that's okay (maybe a digi-fx book is next...?). If you want to get jazzed and informed about picture-taking, i encourage you to consider this book.