The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby
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Book Reviews of The Digital Photography Book
Book Review: Wow! I learned a lot!!
Summary: 5 Stars
_The Digital Photography Book_ is NOT the be-all end-all knows-all book of digital photography or even digital SLRs. But it is a really great book if you are like me and want to get one or two steps beyond "letting autofocus do its thing, pushing the button, and hoping for the best" but DON'T want to take a month-long course on how the f-stop mathematically relates to this or that and the difference between convex and concave lenses and so on and so on.
I love taking pictures, but I am by no means an expert. Especially when it comes to SLRs and the thousand different settings you can make -- and potentially screw up. I just recently got my first digital SLR camera (a Pentax K10D) and was looking for a book to help me get beyond taking it out of the box, putting the lens on it, and taking a couple test shots of my parents' living room.
I found that book in _The Digital Photography Book_ by Scott Kelby. It has a very nice easy-to-read conversational tone, and it doesn't get bogged down on technical detail. Yet, it had ENOUGH technical detail that I got a much better idea of how f-stops and focal lengths affect my pictures, and how that in turn is influenced by what type of lens I use.
The book has details about lenses, f-stops, aperture speeds, macro shooting, landscape shooting, portraiture, some brief notes about sports shooting, recommendations about what camera setting work best in which picture settings, discussions of tripods and tripod mounting schemes, the uses of the monopod, and all kinds of other useful information.
I can also say that _The Digital Photography Book_ has whetted my interest for more detail and made me a more adventurous photographer, so I probably WILL one day sit down for a month with a book about the more technical aspects of SLR and DSLR shooting. When I do, it will be in part because of Kelby's message that great pictures ARE achievable without a doctorate in lens and camera mechanics, you just need to get out and shoot and here's how. Thanks, Scott.
I do feel obliged to add a couple of side notes: Scott focuses mainly on Canon and Nikon cameras, as they are the most popular DSLRs out there. Still, most of his information was also directly applicable to my Pentax, and likely to any other brand of DSLR as well. Also, the book does not have a whole lot of information on flashes and flash ratings and flash types.
Book Review: Great book
Summary: 5 Stars
Using my hubby's Amazon account (sorry dear) I have to voice the following:
I am in agreement about the TACK SHARP - that REALLY annoyed me. I like Kelby's humorous conversational writing style, but there were two major "GOTCHA" attempts within the first two chapters of the book.
Keep up with the humor Scott, but, please stop patting yourself on the back over fooling the reader. This type of stuff makes your reader lose faith in you, and also makes your reader feel like an utter moron and not want to believe anything you write. It's almost like we're gun-shy, waiting for you, at any moment to say "HA! JUST KIDDING!" from that point on.
You are an amazing talent, and a WONDERFUL teacher. Please don't degrade your skills and gifts with these misleading and semi-insulting attempts at humor. Thrill us with your cornball puns and silliness, but dump the out-and-out false leads.
OK, off my soapbox. I didn't see the need for this book. Waiting for a kid to finish Karate practice, I went to the local B&N and got a coffee. I picked up this book, and began reading. I bought it so I could continue reading, and purchased book 2 as well.
Ya done good Mr. Kelby. There was many things here I didn't know, and some were embarrassingly simple - I felt ashamed that I did NOT know them. Lo and behold, I read the steps to sharp images. Tripod - check, cable release - check. Mirror lockup - yeah, uh, it's a custom function I've never used... uh ok, someday.
Last night, we had a lunar eclipse. I raced home 1/2 through, grabbed my camera, 500mm f/4, tripod, shutter release, and off I went to a PERFECT viewing spot (nice and DARK). Setting up, I remembered "Oh yeah... Kelby's mirror lockup... hmmm, yeah, lemme try that". OMGOSH!
I was thrilled with some of my exposures - the moon was beautifully sharp (admittedly I did shoot a few before I remembered his advice...)
OK Scott, I am officially un-mad at you for your poor choice of humor (but don't start it up again!). Here's a sample of an image using mirror lockup:
http://westernimagphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4378171_ekuFx#257186474
YES, this was worth every penny - so much so that I've recommended it to six different photographers in the two weeks I've owned it, and they've found it very useful as well.
Book Review: A Great book for improving you Photography skills
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book for the average photo enthusiast. The goal of the book is to teach an average photographer to take great photos. Its relatively short and each point only takes a page to explain. Also the explanations are short and to the point. Kelby doesn't prattle on about optic theory or other mundane issues, instead he tells you that pros generally do this or that. As Kelby says in his intro, he giving you tips as if you were a buddy out shooting photos with him. Kinda like a photography mentor that is giving you pointers to improve you photos.
The book is arranged by the type of photography being pursued. Flowers, Weddings, Landscapes, People, Sports, and Travel. Kelby is considered a Photoshop authority, so he covers some of that and and also what to focus on to prevent problems in photos that can't be fixed with Photoshop. He also does something that few authors are willing to do; he makes suggestions about equipment and vendors. While this type of information gets dated quickly in a book, its interesting to hear what he thinks is a good product.
His writing style is casual and humorous, which I appreciate. The topic can be rather dry, but Kelby's style of writing and the quick pace of the book kept me awake and engaged. I have read many books on digital photography and most assume that you recently had your brain erased and therefore you know nothing about photography. Consequently, those books start at the most basic of information and don't seem to teach you how to get great shots. They also put me to sleep. This is the only book I have seen that is different.
Is some of the advice oversimplifying it to a degree? Sure it is. Not everything can be improved using the photo recipes that Kelby gives you, but for the average photographer, the general rules will help produce better photos and thats what its all about.
Book Review: Practically Mandatory Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
I love photography, but I'm certainly nothing more than an amateur with a DSLR. Like many others, I found that after switching from a point and shoot camera, I knew even less than I thought, and all those "extra" settings and feature actually meant something. Plagued with "How Do I..." questions, I first turned to the camera's manual and then to "replacement" manuals written by people "in the know". That just solidified the realization that I need to take a class. But until I get around to that, I still have a camera, a desire to take better photographs, and a lot of questions.
Enter this title. By the time I was done with just the first chapter, I already had answers to not only existing questions, but quite a few I didn't realize I had. The subsequent 10 chapters were no less informative and vital to beginners. Don't let the compact, picture-intensive, 200+ page size of the book fool you - the information is spot on, in layman terms, and demonstrating real-world methods and practices that are simple to understand and duplicate. The writing style is casual and humorous, but not clogged with unnecessary fluff. Throughout the book the author makes equipment recommendations, and although I typically resent books that have any product endorsements, the author presents only "generic" recommendations at various price ranges; equipment that you'll want to seriously consider once your discover that the results you want are accomplished using that equipment.
I'll still take a class, but with this title under my belt, I feel confident putting it off a little longer, and perhaps skipping the "intro" courses. This book has found a spot in my camera gear and already proved invaluable on more than a few occasions.
Book Review: A phenomenal book
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently made the jump from point-and-shoot to prosumer and I wanted to find out more about the business of taking photographs. I therefore (i) spent a lot of time reading DP sites on the web, and, (ii) bought three books: this book, Miotke's Betterphoto book, and Tom Ang's DK book.
This is the only book of the three which I'd rate as excellent in all respects (on Amazon, Miotke's book has a higher rating than this book; I have no idea why).
If you buy one book about digital photography, make it this one. There are eleven chapters:
(1) Getting sharp photos, (2) Shooting flowers, (3) Shooting weddings, (4) Shooting landscapes, (5) Shooting sports, (6) Shooting people, (7) Avoiding problems, (8) Taking advantage of digital, (9) Travel & city life shots, (10) Printing, (11) Photo recipes.
Each chapter consists of a number of (usually one page) topics which are easy to read and quite addictive (I read the whole book cover to cover,
excluding the last two chapters, in one sitting). Some examples include:
Turn off vibration reduction, Don't wait for rain --- fake it!, Formals: Who to shoot first, Become married to your tripod, Shooting on cloudy days, Pre-focus to get the shot, Which aperture to use, Cold weather shooting means extra batteries, Change your ISO on the fly, Showing movement in the city, and so on.
This book contains nearly 200 tips. It's fun to read. The advice is clear and very, very specific (down to tips on which pieces of equipment to buy). I'm going on holiday to Australia in a few days and this and the camera manual will be the only two camera books I take with me. Please believe me: this book really is that good! Buy it!