Reviews

A Deeper Frame: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

A Deeper Frame 1 A Deeper Frame: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

“For those of us to whom our audience is important, what we’re trying to accomplish stongly involves the experience of the reader.” – David duChemin, A Deeper Frame, 2011

I’m of the mind that at some point in our walks with the camera at our eyes, we start to develop a desire to move beyond just the how-to and work toward combining it with the intention of creating images that fulfill a more storytelling role. However, it’s hard to find resource beyond our own efforts that provide information related to actually seeing images that achieve this status. In Craft & Vision’s newest release, A Deeper Frame: Creating Deeper Photographs & More Engaging Experiences, David duChemin combines technical instruction, taken-for-granted camera wisdom, and vision in a volume that speaks to the significance of telling a story and involving and engaging the photographic consumer (something we value highly here at the JFP camp).

A Deeper Frame 2 A Deeper Frame: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

A Deeper Frame begs the reader to approach making images on a higher plane than technical achievement, yet, it does not negate the presence (and necessity) of the camera, as well as our knowledge of how it works in conjunction with what we hope to produce as shooters. As always, duChemin puts the ball in the reader’s court, encouraging a move toward creating images that enhance emotional connection and experience on the part of the viewer. Discussions related to lens perspective, color, light contrast, focus, and many more technical aspects of photography are centered around this one goal: to connect with the viewing audience through images that bring them in to the photographed environment. The author’s choice to highlight this goal with a book about creating depth in an image addresses, as duChemin states and I’ve experienced as a teacher, the lack of moving past the numbers and rules, and the need for advanced instruction in developing images that really do say something.

One component of the book that I especially appreciate is duChemin’s discussion regarding the role the image’s viewer has in the big picture (don’t mind the pun, I didn’t really mean to make it anyways). I’ve spent a good bit of time lately writing about the perceptions of content viewers, and I believe this addition to the vision-oriented writing helps readers understand that while our own vision as photographers is a very large part of our work, knowing that stories are told to others, and why and how they are attracted to those stories (in this case, depth in our photography), is one more means of being able to create attractive art and messages.

A Deeper Frame 3 A Deeper Frame: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

At 22 pages, A Deeper Frame is packed full of information that begs the reader to consider how he/she is using their own technique to create compelling images that stress depth in both meaning and visual appeal. This book is meant for both those starting out and for those shooters that have had a camera to their eyes for a while. I enjoy the revisit of some of the more basic rules of photography, such as the heralded Rule of Thirds, as well as the refreshening discussion on why just holding to such rules may or may not hinder both the creative process and one’s ability to weave a narrative visually through their images.

As always on C&F book releases, A Deeper Frame is available for only $4.00 until midnight July 2 if you use the code, DEEP4. Use offer code DEEP20 if you buy five or more eBooks in the Craft & Vision library to receive 20% off your total purchase. Even if you wait until after July 2, you can buy A Deeper Frame, or any other eBook, for only $5.00.

Wait! For this release, Craft & Vision is making another special offer. If you use offer code DEEPER12, you can purchase 12 eBooks from their catalog for only $40.00. This is a significant 34% discount off the total purchase!

A Deeper Frame is another great contribution from David duChemin. Keep up with his writing, photography, and travels via Twitter: @pixelatedimage. Also, be sure to follow Craft & Vision (@CraftandVision) for photography insight and updates to their own lineup in the future!

The Evocative Image: New eBook from Andrew S. Gibson and Craft & Vision

Evocative Image Header The Evocative Image: New eBook from Andrew S. Gibson and Craft & Vision

Andrew S. Gibson is not a new figure to Craft & Vision’s lineup of extremely resourceful eBooks. His previous writings include Parts One through Three of The Magic of Black & White, each widely popular among the Craft & Vision readers. His most recent addition, The Evocative Image: A Photographer’s Guide to Capturing Mood, is a deviation from the field of black and white and a venture in to the world of color. By doing so, Gibson puts together a vibrant eBook chock full of useful information regarding technical use of the camera and having control over the images that you envision as a photographer. More importantly, the author does a great job in encouraging the reader/photographer to carefully consider what each technical choice delivers in regard to mood (something that’s increasingly important the more and more we spend shooting).

Many of my readers know that aside from working as an editorial and natural history photographer, I teach photography courses at Texas Tech University. If I were to recommend a book that compliments the lectures based on technically operating the camera, it would be The Evocative Image. Gibson puts together an eBook that addresses the most basic of camera mechanisms–shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and focus–in a way that introduces the beginning photographer to the next step in a never-ending set of steps that culminate ultimately in creating compelling, meaningful, evocative images. For the more experienced photographer, the book is certainly a refresher, aiding in the re-alignment of why we’re behind the camera in the first place. I’m a fan of reading books like this, and even though you might be a fairly advanced, seasoned shooter, it never hurts to be reminded about how to capture our vision with what we have. You’ll always discover something new, no matter how much you think you know about all that is photography.

Inside Pages 1 The Evocative Image: New eBook from Andrew S. Gibson and Craft & Vision

Gibson also combines thinking conceptually about using the camera as a tool to achieve a vision with working in an environment naturally engineered for creating the evocative image. Coupled with reinforcing imagery (if you simply just like viewing really well-made images, this book will hit the spot), he discusses shooting during the right times of the day to add strength and mood to your images, including pre-sunrise/post-sunset and what has affectionately become known as the Golden and Blue Hours. As a teacher, I certainly appreciate the emphasis and time Gibson spends on discussing light, especially in regard to how it achieves emotional attraction and vision fulfillment.

The Evocative Image also includes several well-placed sidebars outlining exercises related to the very concepts Gibson addresses in his writing. These exercises encourage the reader to move beyond the thinking and in to the doing. The overall mission is to create images that are felt, by the photographer and the viewer. The exercises outlined help the reader do just that! Again, these exercises, just like the book, are applicable to shooters holding a wide range of experience and technical proficiency.

Overall, this is an attractive eBook! Craft & Vision offers yet again a valuable resource at the price of a cup of hand-pressed Brazilian coffee. The Evocative Image: A Photographer’s Guide to Capturing Mood is available for $5.00 even regularly, but from now until midnight February 28, you can purchase it for $4.00 using the code: EVOCATIVE4. If you purchase five or more books at Craft & Vision, use the code EVOCATIVE20 to receive 20% off your entire purchase.

Thanks goes out to Andrew S. Gibson for producing this useful and aesthetically beautiful resource, and to Craft & Vision for making possible the creation and distribution of such resources. Great job everyone!

Close to Home: New eBook from Stuart Sipahigil and Craft & Vision

Close to Home Cover Close to Home: New eBook from Stuart Sipahigil and Craft & Vision

“The combination of your photographic vision and your connection to the soul of a place is a powerful combination that can result in exceptional images.”Stuart Sipahigil

One of the lines from Stuart Sipahigil’s newest contribution to Craft & Vision’s lineup pretty much says it all! Close to Home: Finding Great Photographs in Your Backyard serves as a testament to how important our own surroundings can often be to us photographically. Stuart challenges the photographer that is complacent with his or her home environment to see through a different lens (don’t mind the pun), and yet, focus visually on those elements of one’s home place that truly are extraordinary.

I’ve followed Stuart’s work online for several months now, and I’m glad to see his images accompanying such a resourceful eBook. I always appreciate the photographer who, in essence, appreciates where he or she is from. I’ve written on the subject often, particularly in a cultural sense, and Stuart nails why viewing our own environments with the same visionary fervor as we view those locales that seem foreign to us is a substantial component to our abilities as visual storytellers. And he does so with a fantastic selection of his work as a natural history and landscape shooter. The book alone is visually compelling, which supplies the visuals to the story Sipahigil paints with his own experiences living in the American Midwest. Each photograph provides the visual example for the points he makes about creating compelling images in what we might often see as the mundane: the day-in and day-out places we encounter regularly.

Inside Content Close to Home: New eBook from Stuart Sipahigil and Craft & Vision

We’re all guilty of it, that’s no lie. Sometimes, we really can’t get past our own thoughts of how ordinary home is, yet we desire to go elsewhere, another country perhaps, because we perceive this as an opportunity for the exquisite chance at “better” images. But what’s wrong with home? Sipahigil handles this answer in full, and in a way that should resonate with anyone with similar feelings. I’m often telling students to dig deeper when I hear complaints about the settings they often shoot. The same advice is found here, but in rich detail. He even supplies a few thought and photographic exercises to stretch out those creative muscles when before they refused to awaken.

For anyone needing this jolt of creative energies and photographic vision in to their own “ordinary” world, then I strongly recommend Close to Home. From the theoretical addressing of the problem itself, to potential ways to overcome the creative slump, to the technical detail laid out for each image on the electronic pages, Sipahigil outlines in detail thoughts and practices of the well-trodden visual storyteller. To use another quote from the eBook:

“Great photographs are about life, and life happens everywhere.”

You can purchase Close to Home: Finding Great Photographs in Your Backyard at Craft & Vision until the close of the first of November for only $4.00, versus its original $5.00 tag, by using the code: HOME4. As always, you can also get 20% off of any purchase of five or more eBooks from Craft & Vision until the deadline by using the code: HOME20. If you’re interested in viewing more of Stuart Sipahigil’s work and keeping up him during his shooting and teaching, visit his blog, The Light Without.

Iceland, A Monograph: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

Cover Iceland, A Monograph: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

David duChemin comes crashing in again with another visually compelling and inspirational eBook chronicling his most recent excursion to Iceland. Like all of Craft & Vision’s The Print & The Process series, the book offers a variety of images in portfolio fashion that capture the photographer’s vision and then reviews each image in a fashion that explains that vision. I’m always encouraged to see one of the books in this series come out, because it reminds me of the conversations I had and still have with mentors and other photographers about the genesis behind their own images. For working photographers, I don’t think there’s much else you’d like more to hear from others who are part of the same industry!

Two things in particular make this eBook stand out from duChemin’s previous additions to the series lineup. The first is the apparent transformation in photographic style for many of the images compared to what we’ve seen come as a result of duChemin aiming his lens at a particular subject. This tool-belt addition to the images provides a rather open look at how a creative communicator/artist experiments, adapts, evolves, and ultimately strives to tell the story in a more unique and potentially effective way than previous successes. This change is part photographic maturation (not in the sense that the images are better or more intellectual, but rather part of a photographer’s progressive vision) and part learning tool (in so far as the author mentions this leap of style as a departure from his own norm).

Inside Matter Iceland, A Monograph: New eBook from David duChemin and Craft & Vision

The second aspect of note is the extensive inclusion of information related to how the trip and shoots were actually pulled off, both from a technical point of view and from a logistical perspective. A good deal of the process portion of the book actually relays information about the type of gear used and how the trip to Iceland was ultimately scheduled and thought through from a working photographer’s mind. However, this is not to negate duChemin’s mantra of “gear is good, vision is better.” Probably the single most important part of the book is the thorough explanation of how the gear is USED in order to fulfill the vision. Not to spoil too much of the reading, but you can apparently see this in duChemin’s explanation of how he uses multiple filters to achieve a certain image of a tundra landscape or waterfall, and even his reasoning behind using a tilt-shift lens to embark upon photographic styles akin to what we’ve come to enjoy from the likes of Vincent LaForet’s Olympic sports images. This adoption of the gear and technology to achieve a certain “look” further stresses how the creative process is bore out in a series of images selected from a 10-day travel shoot.

An emerging travel photographer would eagerly eat up the information in this eBook, if not from the images alone, but from the extensive professional and creative information provided in the second section! This is another reason I recommend my own students the books from Craft & Vision and will keep doing so: there’s a little bit of giving back to the industry each time one is put out. As a bonus, there’s even a link to download one of duChemin’s Adobe Lightroom 3 presets used in the final process for some of the images.

As always, from the time of this review, you can purchase Iceland: A Monograph for $5.00 US – basically less than you used to (or may still do) spend on developing a role of Fujichrome Velvia. However, until September 12, you can purchase the eBook for $4.00 US by entering the code ICE4 upon checkout. You can also save 20% on five or more eBook purchases during this time by entering the code ICE20.

Look for a quickly upcoming review of another David duChemin text from his Vision and Voice series!

Chasing Reflections: New eBook from Eli Reinholdtsen and Craft & Vision

Chasing Reflections Chasing Reflections: New eBook from Eli Reinholdtsen and Craft & Vision

It’s been a bit since my last review, and I have a few to share this week and early next week. My first review is the latest eBook release from Craft & Vision titled, Chasing Reflections, by Eli Reinholdtsen. This release is an addition to the popular The Print & The Process Series the e-publishing group instated as a resource for answering the “why” behind the capture of certain images.

In this case, the eBook is all about reflections, and this is a fun book to read and view. In fact, I actually looked through all the images twice before I even started reading the text. The reflections Eli exhibits in this book harken back to the days of creating double exposures and seeing them develop in the darkroom. Colorful and active, the images stretch the conceptual vision of the creator and the interpretive focus of the viewer in such a way that you want to completely decipher each image before moving on to the next.

InsideMatter Chasing Reflections: New eBook from Eli Reinholdtsen and Craft & Vision

Although visually akin to the afore mentioned double or multiple exposures, the technique she describes in the book is far from pushing the shutter twice on one frame. Eli describes the process by which she creates these images as fairly methodical, and she encourages planning out shots sometimes days in advance (a great piece of advice for any photographer envisioning images for the future). Eli’s procedural descriptions afford the reader and photographer a theoretical instruction manual for adapting their own style to those techniques shown. This is what I enjoy about the Craft & Vision publications, particularly The Print & The Process Series. In saying this, the images in the book are intriguing to look at, and it’s finally nice to see the explanation for the images in the second half of the pages, if only to compare to your own interpretation. I only wish there was more said about each image, just to delve more in to the “why” that Eli generously provides!

The most important aspect of Chasing Reflections is the fact that it lets readers know these photographs are always around, and after reading the book, I’m now more aware of this evidently not-so-small world of images. I’m taking the information supplied here to heart the next time I’m in a larger city. Overall, it’s a fantastic addition to the Craft and Vision library!

I do have one question for Eli (if she happens upon this review). I wonder if she has ever heard of Michel de Certeau, because I really enjoy how she describes the actions of life and activity as being an inspiration for her photography. De Certeau philosophically acknowledges the beauty in this as well…

Chasing Reflections is available at Craft and Vision for $5.00 (that’s not even a pay-per-view movie rental), but until midnight PST, August 1, it’s available for $4.00 if you use the code REFLECT4. If you use the code REFLECT20, you can purchase five or more Craft and Vision titles for 20% off.

For more information about Eli Reinholdtsen and her photography, visit her website and blog, and you can follow her on Twitter: @elireinholdtsen.

Vision in Motion: New eBook from Trevor Meier and Craft & Vision

motion product Vision in Motion: New eBook from Trevor Meier and Craft & Vision

Today sees the release of Vision in Motion: A Photographers Introduction to Digital Video, by Trevor Meier. This is the latest release made by Craft & Vision eBooks, and while I have not had much time to devote a formal review to the reading, it looks very intuitive, informative, and all-around accessible for those looking to get in to video in more depth with these emerging technologies in our world of photography.

motion comp Vision in Motion: New eBook from Trevor Meier and Craft & Vision

The eBook offers a great primer and introduction to the craft of capturing digital video, and the layout of the text and imagery aids the learner. I was pleased to see the segmentation of the book in terms of how a semester-long introductory course would be at an institute or university. I was especially happy to see the section on sound, and I hope Craft & Vision publishes more on this part of the video/multimedia world.

Craft & Vision summarizes the text:

Vision In Motion is an introduction to digital video for stills photographers. Written by Trevor Meier, both a professional stills photographer and film-maker, this eBook discusses the core issues of motion storytelling.

No doubt about it, video is an entirely different medium than stills photography. It’s a different language spoken with different technology and created with different processes. For digital still photographers there is often a great deal of cross-over, but without some help things can easily get lost in translation. Join Trevor as he takes you through the core issues and sets you on the right path to beginning to put your vision in motion.

I completely agree with the first sentence of the second paragraph in this summary. Although we are still dealing with similar issues as photographers, lighting, composition, focus, exposure, etc., the “difference” is in conceptualization. Still photographers have proven that their vision can be transferred to motion, just look at the work Vincent LaForet did not too long ago with the emergence of the Canon EOS 5D Mk II, but it is those still photographers that take the craft of video just as serious as their stills work that engage with the medium at a totally different and higher-quality level than others!

As always, for a limited time, the Vision in Motion is being offered for $4.00 (as opposed to the original $5.00) until 11:59 p.m. PST if you use the code: MOTION4. You can also receive 20% off when you purchase five or more books when you use the code: MOTION20.

I hope you enjoy the new release! I look forward to delving in more, as I have a few ideas in the hopper for videos!

eBook Review – VENICE, A Monograph, by David duChemin

VENICE product eBook Review – VENICE, A Monograph, by David duChemin

If you’ve visited my site recently, you’ve probably noticed the Craft and Vision links on the side and bottom of my blog posts. Over the past half year, I’ve ran across a great deal of photography-related resources that have benefited me as a professional AND as a teacher, and one of the better resources I have come across is the Craft & Vision eBook library. The brainchild of David duChemin, Craft & Vision offers a series of highly affordable, content-loaded eBooks centered around the mission that spending and worrying less about gear and concentrating more on photographic and story-telling vision is most of the battle in photographic success. I tend to think along the same lines. Simply put, I don’t think there’s another set of resources that continually grows that compares for the price, content, and the overall quality of these eBooks. For this reason, I decided to become an affiliate, hoping to at least provide a channel to this wonderful resource!

That being said, periodically on this site, you might find an eBook review, and my first is the latest one available, titled Venice, A Monograph, by David duChemin. The book culminates a collection of images shot over a five-day span in Venice, supporting the theme: loneliness. The presentation is akin to few coffee-table books from photographers that want to exhibit a bit more about their images, such as how the shots came about, the process of thinking through an idea and seeing it created in their images, and staying cognizant of their surroundings and interpreting its meaning. The book opens with a short introduction, followed by several pages of just images. This section, referred to as The Print, contains no text, no commentary to interrupt the viewer, just meaningful imagery. True to monographic form, they follow suit with the theme, and several necessitate the viewer to dig deep for the correlation.

VENICE comp1 eBook Review – VENICE, A Monograph, by David duChemin

duChemin really capitalizes on The Process section, which revisits the images with short, insightful explanations of the reasoning behind each one. This section should hit home for those photographers interested in the thought process behind certain images, and it allows that photographer reinforcement of how they can conceptually develop photographic ideas. In an online world that is wrapped up in what gear it took to get certain shots, this book is a refreshing break into the thinking process and the visual and interpretive mind, which arguably is the most important tool a photographer can have! However, to satisfy the gear geek in all of us, duChemin did provide technical aspects for each of the shots, knowing that understanding how your equipment can aid you in accomplishing your vision is unavoidably significant.

From a photographers perspective, I love hearing the “why” in every shot, particularly if it comes from the photographer that created the image. I have spent a lot of time with many of my own mentors, conversing about various shots, immersing myself in their experiences, knowing that theirs will to some extent edify my own. From a teacher’s point of view, this is a strongly recommended read for new, upcoming, and established photography students and practitioners. We often get wrapped up in the technical side of the craft, or the business, giving too little time to consuming information that provides us interpretive insight in to the art and aesthetics of what we do for a living or as a hobby.

At 47 pages, Venice, A Monograph, by David duChemin, is well worth the $5.00 you’ll spend on it! Wait…$5.00? Yes, another point worth mentioning about the Craft & Vision eBook library is that each book is only $5.00. For the quality of information and packaging, this is a steal! The PDF format makes it easily viewable on the iPhone and iPad as well. Save yourself a few coffees, and check out their offerings!

On that note, Craft & Vision is also running a SPECIAL DEAL on Venice, A Monograph: starting June 10, for three days, use the offer code VENICE4 to purchase the book for $4.00 instead of the original $5.00. During that time, you can also use the offer code VENICE20 to get 20% off of your purchase of five (5) or more books from Craft & Vision. The coupon offers expire June 12, at 11:59 p.m. PST.

This finishes up my first Craft & Vision review, and I do encourage you to click here (or the side banner) to visit their site and browse their selection of eBooks. It’s continually growing (just check out the Author page). As I stated earlier (under full-disclosure, of course), I am an affiliate of Craft & Vision, but I value the content that is being generated over there, and hope to pass on a good thing!

Check in periodically for more reviews of other books and eBooks in the future! My goal is to provide usable content and resources, and hopefully I’m picky enough to do just that!

Gear Review: Zoom H4n

Foster Jerod 2947 Gear Review: Zoom H4n

After doing a little looking around for an audio recording device to compliment my photography kit, I decided to go with the Zoom H4n. After holding a few peer products and visiting Best Buy and Guitar Center enough times that they know who I am, I chose to go with the one product that I had not put a finger on. I just couldn’t resist testing out the audio recorder that many online folks that I read quite a bit were justifiably applauding. If there’s anything the Internet is good for, it’s reading other people’s opinions, and photography and electronic equipment is not the least bit absent of users’ attitudes toward and perspectives on gear. This is a good thing, of course. If there’s enough users screaming adoration for a particular product, it might be worth checking out! Then again, we know the other side to this as well.

That being said, there are plenty of great reviews about the Zoom H4n out there, and if you’re in the market for a higher-end audio recorder, then more than likely, you’ve heard about it as well. This review notes those features that I really enjoy (that I’ve experienced since I received it three weeks ago) and find extremely useful for my work.

Foster Jerod 2936 Gear Review: Zoom H4n

First off, I’ve used the H4n’s little brother, the H2, in a few situations in the past, and the first thing you notice when holding the H4n is how much more solid the casing feels. The aluminum body surrounded by a nice rubberized enclosure feels like it could take a drop or two, and that’s at minimum some comfort when doing a lot of work in the field versus the studio. The H4n is also quite a bit heavier than its predecessors. However much larger it is, it still fits nicely with all the other gear.

Foster Jerod 2951 Gear Review: Zoom H4n

The device itself is a little smaller than an extended Canon 580EX speedlite, and it comes along with a usable, plastic protective case. The case makes it nice to just slide in a slot in my camera backpack (Lowepro Photo Trekker AW II). I haven’t had to switch to my shoulder bag yet, but I anticipate it fitting in just as well.

Foster Jerod 2935 Gear Review: Zoom H4n

The layout of the buttons is simple and super easy to navigate. I value usability, and if it’s just straight recording you want to do with this thing, then you won’t have any problem with it right out of the box. Scrolling the menus is intuitive, and all of the input and output controls on the surface are obvious from the get go. The amber backlit LCD isn’t too harsh on the eyes as well.

In terms of audio, I’m very pleased! I spent the better part of the past three weeks just recording the sounds of nature, and clarity is what I got! The onboard stereo microphones are pretty outstanding, and being able to control the input volume on the fly is a nice feature. The upgraded preamp in the H4n does its job, and recordings sound substantially better on laptops, desktops, and satellite speakers than the H2 and H4. When recording in stereo, switching from the onboard microphones to the XLR and 1/4″ jacks located at the bottom of the device is done with a touch of a button. I ran phantom power from the device to an Azden shotgun mic plugged in to one channel, and although it increased the battery usage, you cannot hear the effect in the recordings.

For a straight out of the device example, the following clip exhibits the quality of the onboard microphones (I record everything in WAV, 48kHz/24-bit format, although it does record in MP3 as well, and higher and lower frequencies and bit-rates):

You can also check out other stereo examples in the video photo essay I posted a few days ago. The diesel engine at the beginning is a great example of the clarity I mentioned earlier.

I haven’t had a great deal of time to play with the multi-track functionality of the H4n, but in what little time I have, I was very impressed. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in a recording studio, and you expect a little device like this to pale extremely in light of huge mixer boards, pro-grade preamps, Pro-Tools, and other proprietary studio recording gear. That wasn’t the case with the H4n, and Zoom, being a company focused quite a bit on the music industry, didn’t skimp on capabilities for the money. I sat down with an acoustic guitar yesterday to test this feature out, and easily recorded a couple quick clips. Although the multi-track function isn’t as intuitive as the default stereo recording (which if you’re a photographer or videographer, you’ll use more anyways), a little manual reading will set you straight.

Here is the first clip I recorded, and besides a little levels and EQ tweaking in the included Cubase software, it’s just the recorder, guitar, and rusty fingers:

Below is the second clip, and for what it’s worth, this was the first time I had used the Cubase software, and its layout is fairly simple as well. Exporting in the format you want requires a bit of work, but other than that, I’ll probably continue to use it on at least the multi-track work:

I can’t go without mentioning that all the recordings I’ve created have also been with the addition of a Redhead windscreen. The H4n comes with a standard windscreen, but it’s thin, and just can’t cut it, especially in the strong winds of the southern plains. This is possibly the best video example of how good the Redhead works: http://www.redheadwindscreens.com/. This is a necessary addition to the H4n in my opinion, so if you’re getting ready to purchase the recorder, just throw down for a screen as well. They’re not especially cheap, but they do what they’re made for. Period.

Foster Jerod 2958 Gear Review: Zoom H4n

A useful review can’t go without noting any weaknesses of the product. For what I’m using the H4n mostly for (photo-essay recording, ambient sounds, interviews), I can’t fault it too much. I’m really precarious about the whereabouts of the onboard microphones, though. They are placed at the top of the device, external of any protective chassis. If you were to drop this recorder, you’ll just need to pray that it falls on any side but the top. It looks like Zoom has figured this out for the H1, which is the newer, very little brother to the H4n and H2. I’m being fairly picky with this next one, but I wish the battery door was hinged to the device instead of separable. It’ll be my luck that while I’m changing batteries, I’ll drop it in a field of Johnson grass, never to be seen again. But again, that’s being awfully picky. However, if this is all I have to complain about for my use of the H4n, I think I’m settled alright.

All in all, the Zoom H4n is a solid working, impressively quite, functional, and flexible recording device. I barely scratched the surface of what it can do in terms of recording, but I don’t have a big need for some of the recording capabilities (like the computed guitar effects and metronome). What I wanted was a recorder that was easily portable yet with audio that was simply put: professional. That’s what I got, and for $300.00, you’re pressed to find another that is this capable.