This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You d say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."
This isn't a book of theory—it isn't full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.
Here's another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There's never been a book like it, and if you're tired of taking shots that look "OK," and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.
Price: $16.49
User Reviews about The Digital Photography Book
This book can be quite useful as a learning tool for budding photographers. It is frustrating to read, however, mainly due to the countless time-wasting "gotchas". I was immediately annoyed to learn that he lied about the term "tack sharp" in the opening chapter. He said: "TACK stands for Technically Accurate Cibachrome Kelvin, and SHARP stands for Shutter Hyperfocal At Refracted Polarization". Now this may seem like technical terms, but it was actually all made up. There are countless, plainly stupid gotchas like this all over the book. Half the time you spend reading this book will be wasted on these not-so-funny, lame, jokes.
I also do not like the tone of the book. For example, the author simply tells you to shoot landscape only in around sunrise and sunset. (He then proceed to tell a lame joke about Joe McNally killing a person who dared to break this rule with a tripod). This may be the norm in professional circle, but I think a beginning photographer may want to at least explore during day time. In other books, the author generally patiently explains the different results from different lighting condition. While they tend to urge the reader to shoot during twilight, they also give helpful tips on what to do should you want to shoot in broad daylight.
This book is a time waster, go buy Understanding Exposure and The Photographer's Eye. Both books are awesome and they do not waste your time with senseless jokes. -- Decent info, horrible sense of humor
Kelby makes it clear from the get-go.... he's not interested in lecturing... he'll just tell you how to do something just like he'd tell a friend out on a shoot with him. After reading the book, I'd love to go out on a shoot with him. I learned a lot, I still go back to the book frequently and he is very easy to read. Great book for digital photography and especially if you own a digital slr. -- Easy learning...
I first grabbed this book as a complete amateur who only knew that taking a picture required me to click a button. Kelby's writing style and easy going nature made it easy for me to understand what he was talking about and enjoy reading his instructions. I'm not very technical when it comes to photography so I was thankful that he made it possible for me to understand and execute his tips. I believe every starter should grab his books, I loved this one so much I ended up purchasing the other books in this series as well. If I could give more than five stars I definitely would. -- Every Beginner Should Own This
I highly recommend this book if you are just starting out or have not been a serious photographer. It's most useful as a reference that you can refer to quickly about particular topics or situations but it also stands up to continuous reading if you want to go through it from cover to cover. If you have just purchased a new digital camera and want to improve the quality of the pictures you take - and fast - this book is hard to beatThis is a terrific beginner's book on Photography. It doesn't teach much about photographic theory but the author makes it clear from the beginning that is not his goal. I already understood the basics of exposure, focal lengths, etc. and still found it very enlightening. It offers over a hundred tips and techniques covering topics from shooting sharper pictures to photographing weddings in an easy-to-read format. -- Nice book for starting out
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