Complete Guide to Photography: Project Overview

John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide to Photography is essentially a workbook. The first section is a general overview of the camera, light and exposure... but only enough to get you started. The bulk of the book is made up of 71 projects, each one taking two pages with a fairly short overview of the subject and several photographs with descriptions and comparisons.

Oddly, and probably because of space reasons in the two-page layout, the author never really gives an explicit assignment in the form of, "Create an image using texture as the dominant theme." It's just assumed that, if you're reading the project on texture, the point is to take photos that use texture as the dominant theme. I'd rather have something a little more straight-forward, but I'll work with what I've got.

The 71 projects of are divided into six chapters.

• The essential elements (19 projects)
• People (14 projects)
• Places (21 projects)
• Still life (6 projects)
• The natural world (7 projects)
• Action (4 projects)

The essential elements

• Project 1: The power of shape
• Project 2: Form that gives substance
• Project 3: Texture in photographs
• Project 4: Seeing and isolating pattern
• Project 5: Bright color and contrast
• Project 6: Color for impact
• Project 7: A touch of color
• Project 8: Restrained color usage
• Project 9: Diffused color
• Project 10: Tone as a picture element
• Project 11: Black and white or color
• Project 12: The tonal range
• Project 13: Using light tones
• Project 14: Using dark tones
• Project 15: Perspective in photographs
• Project 16: Fore-, middle and background
• Project 17: Using frames in photographs
• Project 18: Using unusual viewpoints
• Project 19: Emphasizing elements

People

• Project 20: Portraits in natural light
• Project 21: The figure in available light
• Project 22: Composing group shots
• Project 23: Enhancing the image
• Project 24: Using screens and reflectors
• Project 25: Position and associations
• Project 26: Character and expression
• Project 27: Informal street portraits
• Project 28: Portraits in black and white
• Project 29: Taking children's portraits
• Project 30: Children at play
• Project 31: A day at the coast
• Project 32: Photographing a wedding
• Project 33: Photographing a public event

Places

• Project 34: Improving the image
• Project 35: The time of day
• Project 36: Shooting a facade
• Project 37: A sense of place
• Project 38: Landscape in monochrome
• Project 39: The black and white landscape
• Project 40: The changing light
• Project 41: Shooting into the sun
• Project 42: Difficult weather conditions
• Project 43: Featuring dominant skies
• Project 44: Dusk and night photography
• Project 45: An industrial landscape
• Project 46: Beauty in strange places
• Project 47: Shooting a cityscape
• Project 48: Architectural viewpoint
• Project 49: Architectural detail
• Project 50: Knobs and knockers
• Project 51: Simple interiors
• Project 52: Complex interiors
• Project 53: Large-scale interiors
• Project 54: People and interiors

Still life

• Project 55: Using found still-lifes
• Project 56: Shooting around a subject
• Project 57: Themes in still-lifes
• Project 58: Variations on a theme
• Project 59: Difficult materials
• Project 60: Food as still-life

The natural world

• Project 61: Animals around the home
• Project 62: A day at the farm
• Project 63: Flowers and flower gardens
• Project 64: Zoos and wildlife parks
• Project 65: Domestic animals
• Project 66: Birds in flight
• Project 67: Using specialist equipment

Action

• Project 68: Technique for action
• Project 69: Capturing action with flash
• Project 70: Creating a sense of action
• Project 71: Sporting events and activities