Nasrul Eam’s book on close-up photography

Nasrul Eam is an avid photographer. An award winning web designer, Nasrul worked as an art director for many years, but then he decided to change his track and pursue a career in photography. Currently, he is a photographer, photography writer, and instructor. An avid traveler and adventurer, Nasrul traveled in many countries and went to trek in Nepal a few times. While traveling, he takes pictures of peoples, places, and objects that attract him.

Prior to this book, Nasrul wrote another book, The Quintessence of Photography: Understanding Composition. In this new book, A GUIDE TO CAPTURING THE SPLENDOR OF THE UNSEEN WORLD: THE ESSENCE OF CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY, he talks about close-up photography. Interestingly, I find close-up photography similar to blogging. A newspaper tries to give the reader a glimpse of everything but a blogger, who writes on one subject, gets into the details and reveals something new. In the same way, close-up photography shows one object from close proximity and tries to show what has never been seen before.

Nature is not static; it’s dynamic. Any natural object is subject to change. In this age of science and technology, we might live inside concrete buildings where air condition is running all the time to keep us comfortable, but that does not mean we are isolated from nature. Nature still affects our day to day lives. Photography is a great way to enjoy the beauty of nature. It captures an object at a particular time of its transformation and conveys a message.

Close up photography, which is also known as macro photography, refers to the method of taking pictures of an object closely. Imagine a small wild flower from a distance. You may not get excited looking at it, but a photographer, with proper manipulation of light and lens, shows you something very unique in that flower. “Everything is not what it seems to be.” These words truly describe close up photography. The photographer goes as close as possible to his subject and fills up his frame to capture the “vibrant texture of life.” The book is targeted to photographers who are interested in hand-held photography using “minimum but correct equipment” and natural light.

Interestingly, there are not many books on close-up photography which motivated Nasrul Eam to explore the subject, though his main reason for exploring the field is developing an artistic eye for the better of humanity. Nasrul went to Annapurna in central Nepal for trekking, where he had the opportunity to observe the beauty of nature in abundance. The trail of Annapurna offers different types of landscapes at various altitudes. A nature lover at heart, Nasrul captured that beauty with his camera. All the pictures in this book were taken in Annapurna. Looking at the pictures will refresh you in a moment and reveal the passion of Nasrul. Another person who helped Nasrul write this book is Felice Breitkreutz. An artist and adventurer, Felice Breitkerutz and Nasrul share similar passions for nature, adventure, and photography.

The book is divided into two chapters. The first chapter contains eighteen subsections (including summary and key terms). The second chapter has five sections which are further divided into many subsections. The first chapter mainly deals with the technical side of close up photography. The second part deals with the aesthetic side, the power of visualization, imagination, and creating an eye for beauty. Nasrul believes that in order to become a great photographer, it is imperative that the photographer have a better understanding of the technical aspects of photography.

One of the important aspects of close up photography is magnification rate, which means how different lenses work and the different sizes of images and how they should be captured. Another important point to understand is camera metering. If the photographer is taking a picture in auto mode, then he would not be able to create great photographs because the camera does not understand the true aesthetic value of a subject but the photographer does. So, he must take control of his camera.

The book then talks about, in detail, how the photographer should capture various images on his camera and the best ways to capture images.

Another important factor in close-up photography is the working distance. It is very important that while working closely, the photographer should not move around often to disturb the subject. The size of the subject is another important issue. The book then talks about various lenses, angles, and focal lengths, other important aspects that are very important in close up photography.

The second chapter deals with the artistic side of close up photography. Just pointing the camera at the object and shooting would not reveal the artistic side of the photography. The photographer should have a vision. They should know when would be the right time to capture the image. They need to have an imaginative side. They should also have some idea of which way the photo would best reveal the beauty of the object - how the rest of the photo should be in order to bring out the natural beauty of the photo.

Nasrul’s beautiful images and evocative, informative text help to make his new book, The Essence of Close-up Photography, a worthy buy. To preview this and other books of his, including The Quintessence of Photography, visit the Image of the Centuries website at http://www.imageofthecenturies.com Here, you can purchase online books, get background information on Nasrul, the company, and projects he is working on, and other useful information, all in a user-friendly, very attractive website.