EXPOSED
Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer
by Michael Clark
Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer can be purchased on PeachPit, Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles.
This book, written with PeachPit Press for the New Riders "Voices that Matter" Collection, is really three books in one. Exposed includes chapters with anecdotes about the trials and tribulations professional photographers deal with, detailed analysis of sixteen of my best images and finally chapters that tell the complete story behind some of my biggest assignments.
The idea behind this book is to strip some of the glamour off this profession and share a wide range of stories and experiences to give the reader a very clear view of what it is like to be a working professional photographer—and what it takes to create top-notch images. I also discuss sixteen images in detail and tell how they were created, the story behind the images, how they were shot and also how they were worked up so that everyone can see the entire process—and what it took to get the shot. Along the way I make sure not to leave out the embarrassing parts or any of the gory details so you the reader can learn from my experiences.
This book also includes a DVD with a primer on Lightroom and Photoshop where you can watch me work up those sixteen images—and see exactly what I do and how I work (at least in the post-processing stages). I consider this book to be an advanced companion to my Adventure Photography and my Digital Workflow books because it takes the theoretical and puts it into practice. Hence, if you have read my other two books this one should be a natural progression from those—with a lot more detail on how I produce my work.
It is an honor to have a new book in this collection that also includes such illustrious photographers as Joe McNally, Vincent Laforet, David DuChemin and many others.
Description from New Riders "Voices that Matter":
Photographer Michael Clark provides an inside look at the reality of working in extreme conditions to capture and process his breath-taking images. He offers start-to-finish details of some of his most demanding assignments—rock climbing, big wave surfing, sky diving, and mountain biking—sharing his personal shooting expertise, on-the-fly problem solving skills, and post-processing techniques in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.
This gorgeous guide for intermediate to advanced DSLR shooters is packed with practical tips, detailed lighting setups, and behind-the-scenes stories from a variety of Clark's most adventurous assignments. With an engaging writing style and cliff-hanging details, the author allows you to tag along with him to improve your skills and find inspiration to create images instead of just taking them.
A DVD-ROM with 149-minutes of video shows the author's post-processing workflow using Lightroom and Photoshop for 16 of the images featured in the book. He also includes a how-to primer on these software programs.
Clark’s valuable insights and tips will guide professional and aspiring photographers interested in turning their passion into a profession as well as amateur photographers looking to improve their skills.
Reader Reviews of Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photograher:
"I wasn't prepared for how good this book would be. It is, IMHO, a whole lot stronger than "Digital Masters: Adventure Photography: Capturing the World of Outdoor Sports (A Lark Photography Book)" which was the previous book by Michael Clark that I had read and liked (and reviewed here on Amazon).
Exposed is really three books in one. It is a book about the reality and business of becoming and working as a professional photographer with an emphasis on adventure photography. It is also a book on the techniques of adventure photography and lastly it is a book about post-processing. In addition, there is about 2.5 hours of video included on the accompanying DVD that shows you how Michael processed many of the images in the book in Lightroom and Photoshop. Exposed is strong in all of these areas (or as good as a book of only 288 pages could be). It is also well written in a very engaging style.
There are many photographers who write books aimed at other photographers. Some of these produce books that are good enough to inspire readers of their previous books to place pre-order's for their newest one even without seeing it first (as long as the topic of their newest book interests them). The current photographer/author that best comes to mind that fits this category is Joe McNally. Many people such as myself will enthusiastically pre-order a new book by him as long as the topic interests them. With Exposed, Michael Clark has entered this category for me. If the topic of his next book interests me then I will probably pre-order it based upon my experience with Exposed.
Lastly, an aspect of this book that particularly appealed to me was that it seemed to have been written for intermediate and/or advanced level photographers. It seemed to assume that you understand most of the basics of photography. IMO there is a distinct dearth of books written for intermediate and/or advanced level photographers (and there are many written for beginner level photographers). That said, a beginner would probably find much of value in this book but will probably not get all of its benefits (or understand all of it) until they have gotten past the beginner level." -- Michael Brochstein
“I recently had the pleasure of reading this book. It was very unique in that it wasn’t just a How-To photography techniques book. In fact the photo tips were really a side line to the positively fascinating stories of Michael’s adventures as an action sports photographer. Have you ever looked at ridiculous adrenaline sports action shots and wondered how on earth they were photographed? Well, this book explains just that. If you have an interest in both photography and adventure sports, you will love this book. In fact, my husband (who is not a photographer) insisted that I read most of the book out loud because he was so interested in the adventure sports stories. These stories weren’t just what equipment was used and how the lights were set up (although all of this information is also included at the end of each story) but Michael takes the time to really set the scene. And some of the scenes were nothing short of amazing.
Take for instance his coverage of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. This just happens to be the toughest race in the world, with only the most elite athletes participating. You can’t even imagine what the photographers go through! As if getting the perfect shots isn’t enough work, the amount of physical hardship that Michael had to endure was just unreal.
Each story explains the extreme conditions and how he managed to work within those conditions. From catching the monster waves during surfing competitions and creatively shooting Red Bull’s base jumping, to only being given 2 minutes and 10 total shots to shoot a pro golfer, Michael explains what it’s like to work under the extreme pressure of high paying and high profile clients.
All of this extreme sport photography may seem glamourous, but when Michael explains the amount of stress that this job causes it made me realize how few people in the world could do it. As much as I love adventure sports, I realized that I could never do this job. What I did take away from this book was the necessity of stoking your creative spark and creating your own body of work on self-assignments. No matter if it’s in sports photography or any other niche, he explains the importance of going out and shooting what you enjoy in order to build your portfolio. Most of the paid assignments that Michael got came as a direct result of his self-assigment work. Perhaps everyone should place as much importance on their self-assignments as they do on their paid assignments.
One of the most valuable parts of the book was the fact that Micheal showed his work as it came straight out of the camera. Then he covered (in detail) any and all adjustments that he made to the photos in both Lightroom and Photohop, until he finally showed the final picture. One of the photos that I found the most interesting was one of his surfing shots that didn’t look like much straight out of the camera. But after the post production edits, that once-dull photo scored him an account with Apple. And of course, this was a self-assignment shoot. Just proves his case even further. In addition to the technical details that he shares, he also outlined the exact equipment and used for each shoot (including an explanation of why he choose the equipment he did) and in most cases there was even a diagram illustrating the lighting setup.
In a nutshell it was a great combination of photographic inspiration, technical details, and pure reading enjoyment. I know a picture alone is worth a thousand words, but the chance to hear the stories behind those pictures was a pure treat.” — Paula Apro, via Weekly Photo Tips
"Can you imagine traveling all over the World, doing what you love the most, and getting paid for it? Michael Clark is an adventure sports pro photographer, and he does just that. As you can guess, not all is pleasant. I exaggerate. This kind of photography presents many challenges and, at times, real physical danger.
'Exposed: Inside the Life and Images of a Pro Photographer' is the complete title of Michael Clark's book.
He guides us on several photo assignments, from concept, to preparation, to the shoot, and ending in post production. He details many aspects of all the phases involved in getting the shot, and the amount you will learn is incredible. The post production sections alone are worth the price of the book.
Filled with curious anecdotes, you get pulled in into the author's style of writing and adventures. Among other assignments, you get to travel to Patagonia, follow along the Red Bull BASE jumpers, and jump in with surfers in Hawaii.
This is a book I will read again, and that rarely happens." -- Pedro Mendes