Although the text was very informative and interesting, I found myself drawn in especially by the pictures in this chapter.  It contained several images that left me wondering how in the world these photographers got some of the effects they did, which got me even more interested to learn about light and shadow.  The photos on page 122 by Anna Gaskell and Gregory Crewdson especially intrigued me, as well as the photo on page 110 by Henry Peach Robinson.  All of them seemed to portray an almost otherworldly scene as the text suggests with the use of cinema-inspired lighting and compiling multiple negatives together.  I definitely want to experiment now with lighting and its effects, such as that of these photos.

I’d have to say that I found this first reading to be very helpful. I am new to the realm of photography and I have always wanted to know about how the fancy SLR cameras worked. I especially enjoyed how the book used examples of the human eye to explain the different controls on the SLR. It helped me to understand and remember them better. It was also fascinating to read about and compare digital point-and-shoot cameras with SLRs and DSLRs. I always wondered what all of the differences were and I found the information to be very helpful.