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Are you looking for something to spark your imagination? Want new ways to look at things? What about a theme around which
to arrange a series or portfolio of images? If so, run out and buy, beg, or borrow a copy of Jim Krause’s Photo Idea
Index.
Small in stature (approximately 4 1/2” by 8 1/4”), Photo Idea Index is nevertheless jam-packed with 351 pages
of ideas and illustrative photos. Comprised of three major sections—You; Light, Camera; and Digital Effects—Krause’s
book is intended to be fun, inspirational, and informational. It is “primarily a ‘what if’ book, as opposed
to a ‘how to’ book.” Though the author’s slant is toward digital photography, Photo Idea Index is
equally motivating for film photographers and can be used to prompt artistic ideas extending beyond the photographic medium.
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The first and largest section, “Section 1: You … focuses on creative, compositional and conceptual skills that
can be applied to all kinds of photo opportunities.” The section has six chapters. “Point of View” helps
us to explore different ways of seeing. “Establishing Environment” helps us to pay attention to—and explore—different
settings, backdrops, and backgrounds for our subjects. “Capturing Composition,” a familiar subject to all of us,
explores matters such as symmetry, asymmetry, different ways of cropping, framing, visual hierarchy, and shapes, to name a
few.
“Attracting Attention” shows us different uses for color and black and white, repetition, texture, and depth perception.
“Picturing People” brings up a variety of topics and situations. For example, it helps us to connect subjects
with their environment, as well as consider props, different positions, emotional expression, context, movement, alternatives
to human subjects, and self-portraits. Finally, the chapter, “Thinking Creatively,” encourages us to take our
skills out of the box in order to create dynamic, powerful, and creative images.
The introduction to “Section 2: Light, Camera” has an equation displayed prominently on its title page: “Creativity
and Resourcefulness + Camera Competency + A Basic Understanding of Light and Shadow = Great Pictures.” Perhaps that’s
enough said. To help photographers increase skill levels on the left side of the equation (and the left side of the brain),
this section delves into technical skills such as lighting, use of the camera, focus, depth of field, exposure, blurring or
capturing motion, etc.
The primary difference between Photo Idea Index and more technical skill-based photography books is that this book emphasizes
learning through experimentation and play. In addition, all lighting and camera techniques are applicable to low and medium-level
equipment, as well as for more expensive gear, making the techniques accessible to all.
The smallest section, “Section 3: Digital Effects” uses Photoshop to examine different effects that can be achieved
by the use of curves controls, hue and saturation, contrast, colorization, alternatives to grayscale (remember, this was written
before Photoshop CS3 and its new Black and White filter), tinting, clipping paths, and image layering.
Just think: if you took a week to play with each of the 176 ideas presented in Photo Idea Index (one for each 2-page spread),
it would take you approximately three and a half years navigate the book. More ambitious? One each day would take nearly six
months. And then, there’s the endless play of combining ideas.
In summary, Krause’s Photo Idea Index is comprehensive, inspiring, and a must-have for every student of photography—a
category that includes the most experienced as well as the most neophyte of photographers.
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