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Product Reviews:
Not So Sweet, April 14, 2004
Reviewer: Conrad J. Obregon
This is not a review of the photographs of Tony Sweet. I've reviewed his
book of photographs "Fine Art Nature Photography: Advanced Techniques and
the Creative Process" elsewhere and I found it full of top-draw
photographs. This is not a review of Sweet's skills as a photography
instructor. While I've never taken a class from him, the comments in his
book (and in some of the scenes in this DVD) make it clear that he has a
lot to say to photographers about how to take artistic photographs. This
is a review of a DVD that purports to instruct in both the art and the
business of nature photography. And the DVD is not up to the quality of
Sweet?s book. It is inarticulate, disjointed and, with a few notable
exceptions, not much help as a source of photographic instruction.
The DVD is divided into five sections. The first is an interview with
Sweet in which he tells how he got into photography and where he draws his
inspiration from. It's interesting to know this man's background, but not
of much help to us to take better photographs. Moreover, the recorded
interviews include several photographs of Sweet, repeated several times,
and then some stills of Sweet with students. Still photographs may work
for Ken Burns, but these photos are just something to fill the screen
while we listen to Sweet.
The next section of the DVD was apparently taken during organized
discussions between Sweet and students. Sweet talks about the business of
photography but most of the comments are elementary, simplistic and
repetitious. For example, with regard to promotional pieces, he says they
have to be high quality, they have to look good, and they have to be
better than average. I would have liked his ideas on what qualities should
go into the design of a promotional piece, perhaps supported by some
examples. People interested in nature photography as a career would be
better off with John Shaw's "Business of Nature Photography." On a
technical note the production values in these discussions are quite low,
with distracting settings.
The third section follows Tony in the field, and it is perhaps here that
one may learn the most about improving his or her photography. In several
settings, Sweet analyzes a part of the landscape for his students and
tells them how to discover the pictures within it. Unfortunately the
camera stays aimed at Sweet rather than the landscape he is looking at, so
often the comments make no sense, until we see the final picture taken by
the student, after the discussion has occurred. As an aside, I found many
of these scenes in the field to be badly overexposed. However, I will
admit that I did glean a few ideas from these scenes that I am anxious to
try.
In the fourth section, we are shown a number of Sweet's pictures with his
commentary on them. However, these pictures deserved more than a few
seconds on the screen with a one or two sentence highlight. Each of these
pictures could have provided a course in itself, even if Sweet said
nothing and just let us explore the picture with our own eyes.
Finally, the same pictures were presented with a musical background, with
too short a time for each on the screen.
In summary, if you want to learn to take pictures something like Tony
Sweet, buy his book "Fine Art Nature Photography" rather than spending the
price of this DVD. What's more, you'll still have enough money left over
to buy John Shaw's book and a couple of good cups of coffee.
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Cannot recommend, June 21, 2005
Reviewer: Tony T. Sweet
Unfortunately, I cannot endorse this DVD any longer. As this was a chance
for TonalVision to produce their first DVD and served as a learning
experience for them, the production is indeed shoddy, the quality is
mediocre, and does not reflect the high quality of work to which I
constantly aspire.
Also, the information divulged is out-dated at this time, which is the
nature of digital technology.
Please keep an eye out for "Visual LIteracy" to be released in fall 2006.
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Awesome photography and instruction, August 2, 2003
Reviewer: Sandy G
Tony Sweet is a phenomenal photographer. He narrates the still photography
by telling why he took the picture the way he did (composition), what
filters he used, etc. There are also a lot of videos with Tony on field
assignments with his students. A lot of information on this DVD. Well
worth the money. You will view this many, many times. Awesome!
Back to Visual Rhythm: The Art and Business of
Nature Photography by Tony Sweet
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