Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography

We gifted this book to our favorite, up and coming, landscape photographer. He loved the inspiration!

The advanced photographer is searching for something in a photography book different from the novice's search. The advanced photographer understands exposure, focus perspective and the fundamentals and can tie them together to create a sharp, properly exposed image. What he or she wants to know is how to form a vision of the world that he sees and translate it into what Galen Rowell call's a visionary image. "Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography" is not a how-to book. There is no progressive review of the fundamentals. Instead it is a collection of Rowell's essays that have appeared in Outdoor Photographer magazine over the years, revised for the book and placed in a sort of order that ties subjects and ideas together, rather then in the random fashion that they appeared in the magazine. The book is divided into four parts. The first discusses photographic visualization; the second a few advanced techniques that the photographer can use; the third Rowell's own travels and the way he transformed his visions into photos;and the last, a collection of miscellaneous thoughts related to photography ranging from digital manipulation to what's really wrong in the Galapagos. It may be that we cannot be taught how to make the leap from snapshot to visionary image. But perhaps the teacher can open up those recesses in our own mind where our creativity lurks. I know that after reading these essays and thinking about them, I've found my own approach to photography has changed for the better. Even though the book swept me away, I have to confess to one complaint. At the top of each essay is a reference to relevant photographs contained elsewhere in the book. Several photos are referenced by more than one article. In their original magazine format, the photos conveniently appeared at the start of the essay. Here you will have to keep flipping back and forth. There probably is no economical way to provide these links, but it does break up the continuity a bit. Although I'm pretty closely aligned with Rowell's political philosopy, which creeps in throughout the essays, especially in the final section, there's still enough appropriately provocative material here from which a photographer with a different philosophy can benefit. Although you may feel driven to devour this volume as quickly as possible once you get a hint of its goals, I think you will keep it on hand, to occasionally dip into an essay or two to stir up your own photographic creativity.

I would have given it 5 stars if it had more pictures. I have enjoyed the book, the insights Galen gives are thought provoking. I wish the pictures were bigger and part of the descriptive pages - you have to refer to the pictures located elsewhere in the book while reading the commentary. I usually grab this while having lunch and read a few sections, easy read, not a novel or How To book, just a great read by a photographer I wished I had been able to meet.

Used book in great condition as described! Even the dust jacket is like new. Thanks very much!

Lovely imagery. It's amazing that he shot everything with a 35mm. But he was a climber and it would be too much weight to haul a 4X5 up a mountain. His imagery really is excellent. I can understand his energy level as I suffer from the same affliction or maybe it is just determination to get that image. He certainly was an optimist and a very determined photographer. His books really reflect that thinking and being. For me it really is about his images though as they are artful, majestic, calming and introspective. There is solace in them, which is something that this "modern society" sadly lacks and way underrates. The silly thing of it is that it does not cost anything. So even in this bad economy it costs you little, except sweat. Others talk about his quirk of running to get a shot. I don't think there is a landscape photographer who has not done that or at least waddled very quickly and even for a mile or two or more. Then at other times it is like Still Hunting deer, where walking faster than a quarter of a mile and hour is way too fast. And you are all eyeballs, analyzing, probing, seeing.

This is a classic for your library. Note this is NOT a DIY guide...if you're looking for hints and tips move on...this is about developing your emotional and critical eye for shooting outdoors. this book will separate the men from the boys when it comes to outdoor photography...

Fantastic and inspiring images. I am in awe of what Galen produced with 35mm equipment. The small articles I believe were originally written as columns for Outdoor Photography and are organized into loose sections for this book. Many of these are just interesting (to me at least), but many of these were truly inspiring and eye opening. I learned a lot from this book and will be looking at it more for years to come.

If you're a serious photographer (amateur or pro) and find your interest in shooting lagging occasionally, Rowell's enthusiasm might be contagiousness enough to provide a cure. This man was passionate about photography and went to extraordinary ends to get the shots he visualized. The majority of the book deals with his philosophy of photography and how he accomplished what he did. There's also much excellent technical advice. The book's only shortcoming, from my very personal perspective (take it for what it's worth), is the undercurrent of Rowell's ample ego. Were the personal pronoun "I" deleted from the book, its page count would be reduced considerably. Nonetheless, I still strongly recommend "Inner Game" for the highly passionate and very personal account that it is - an extraordinary photographer's testimonial to a life totally devoted to the art of photography and love of nature. It makes you want to climb a mountain and take pictures!

A good book that covers some of the thinking behind Galen Rowell's photographic style. It is not a technique book. The technique part has largely been superseded with the advent of sensor based photography, but the basic concepts on what makes a good image are still valid. The first half was the most interesting in my opinion. It's a collection of articles he published over a number of years in the 1990s.

Gut zu lesende Essays und schön anzuschauende Fotos aus der Ära vor der Digitalfotografie. Viele der Textbeiträge sind aber immer noch aktuell.

Worth buying for the chapter on how we see what we want to see.

rendre heureux et apprendre une quantité incroyable de trucs et astuces, des anecdotes, des conseils d'un vrai pro, un vrai maître de la photo en général, de l'aventure, un humain incroyable, qui vous fait voyager avec lui aux quatre coins du monde. Galen Rowell, tout le monde l'imite, personne n'arrive à ses chevilles, même encore aujourd'hui. Pour les jeunes générations, découvrez comment il fallait gérer la pellicule diapo à l'époque. Acheter ce bouquin, un nikon f-801s, un 24 mm, des filtres dégradés gris neutres, une bonne paire de chaussures et allez-y ! Je recommande évidemment.

This is a collectible piece of art. Just look at the photos and you will realize that even with the most modern equipment and travelling mediums available today, you cannot recreate the magic that galen created.