The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby
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Book Reviews of The Digital Photography Book
Book Review: Easy to read reference
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is easy to read and is plastered with the author's dry but witty humor. The author's humor coupled with the light-hearted down-to-earth approach make this book very amusing and easy to read.
The book does not cover the technical aspects of photography, such as aperture, ISO and shutter speed setting in grand detail - which the author pointed out is not the goal of this book.
Think of this book as a personal companion or a quick reference guide filled with scene-specific techniques on how, what, where and when to shoot in different situations. Not only does the book answer the previous sets of what/where/when/how questions, but also the why. For example, why shoot a photograph of a flower on your knees instead of standing up? Why diffused lighting works best for floral shots and why you should include a foreground, a middleground and a background in landscape photography. Kelby makes seemingly general techniques that once seem mundane to the average photographer/photo-viewer now an indespenable tool of the trade.
The author's chapter on photo gear recommendation near the beginning of the book is also a plus for beginning photographers. Although this book is geared toward D-SLR users, the techniques employed can also be used for point-and-shoot compact users as well. Remember, this book's main objective lies in the techniques of digital photography and its compositions, not the techinical configuration of a camera.
All in all, this book is one of the few photography books that deserve a spot in my photography library collection.
Book Review: Learn to be a PRO PHOTOGRAPHER in a COOL way
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a must buy book. I am not a book reader fan, but when it comes to Scott Kelby way of arranging the book flow it becomes interesting.
Personally I don't like to read but this book was pulling me to read every chapter and wanted to complete it in order to know what is hidden in the next topic.
The book goes straight to the point, it's like going to a photo-shoot spot with a professional photographer. When you have a question of how to take a particular photo, what lens to use, what accessories you need to use, what is the camera setting that your camera must be, etc. and need a pro to answer it, then you can simply take out this book, check the index for the title you need, go to that page and wala you will get your answer.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is that this is a practical and not theoretical book, i.e. this book will not give you what is ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, Exposure, etc. in details and what are the difference between them and shows you the result between each ISO setting and so on, rather it will provide you how to use all this in order to get the desired phot result.
In conclusion, my advice if you are new to photography and want to know the basics in order to be a pro, first buy a book that explains the basics of photography (such as: The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography by Jim Miotke, which I have and it's a very useful book), and then buy this book because as I stated above this is a practical and not a theoretical book.
Book Review: How you can get professional results with your equipment.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have enjoyed photography as a hobby for 50+years. I own a Canon 20D and am a Scott Kelby fan. He is a great photoshop expert, yet emphasizes the importance of getting the best possible shot when taking the picture, to make your time in photoshop more enjoyable. You don't have to work as hard if you make the correct exposure to begin with.
Scott approaches each chapter with some humor, and really understands what you really need is a clear bottom line on how to approach the person or subject you want to photograph.
I received my book Sept 4th, read it and used some of his tips shooting 500+ volleyball pictures Sept 5th. I think I can see some improvement in my pictures already.
He has equipment recommendations and shooting tips for the person that has just bought a digital camera to the person that uses it to make a living.
He has worked alongside of professionals learning tips on how to process the digital photographs and how to best print them. Scott believes photography can be more fun if you get results you like by using some of the basic principles used by professional photographers.
I have unhesitatingly recommended this book to several of my friends.
This is one of the least expensive camera related purchases that I have made to bring my excitement of photography to a new level.
I am quite certain you won't be disappointed, especially if you own a Nikon or Canon digital SLR.
I expect my copy to become dog eared from use.
Book Review: Might "Lighten Up" be a photographic term?
Summary: 5 Stars
C'mon folks, have some fun! Sure, Scott's humor is incessant and sometimes over the top, but his advice and writing is, as he would say, "tack sharp." I have several of his books and find them all terrific, allowing for the fact that they would be much shorter without all the humor.
For the Digital Photography Book, about half the ideas are things that I have already thought about or are parts of my routine, so the validation value is good. Most of the rest of the ideas and pieces of advice are really valuable to me. He says that the premise of this book is that he and the reader are on a photo shoot together, and he is providing advice on-the-spot. I found this a very useful approach. He acknowledges that with this book, he is not providing theory, just practice. It works for me.
There were a few things that I probably will not follow, but I found it worthwhile to think things through to figure out why something won't work for me, so additional value added.
If you read the reviews of his books on the Amazon site, you will find a lot of discussion going back and forth about his humor, and, somehow, I suspect that he enjoys this controversy. One of the great reviewers of Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, etc., Conrad Obregon, has some great reviews focusing on the content.
If you are not adverse to being entertained in an albeit flaky manner while you learn, I think you'll find this a valuable and fun read. Good luck and keep shooting!
Book Review: Great Books for the pragmatic beginner.
Summary: 5 Stars
Dear fellow amazon.com shoppers,
I bought volume 1 and volume 2 of Scott Kelby's books together with my Pentax K200D. As a photo-enthusiast and DSLR starter I really enjoyed reading this two books. Both read very easy and takes you in a fast pace through the basic and intermediate know-abouts of professional digital photography. Volume two picks up right where volume 1 stopped, so both books actualy make 1 big total package. The author doesn't bother you with too technical explanations but takes you with him on a shoot as a friend would do. Every chapter he describes how to best do this and that. Starts with landscape shooting, all the way to sports, macro, weddings, nighttime shooting etc. Every chapter is dedicated to a certain discipline and gives you more usefull information than you'll be able to remember the next time you go out on a shoot. So the book grows with you as your experience grows. You read the chapter again, ie. Landscapes, and hey: i forgot about this and that, let me try that the next time when I'm in the mountains. When you control every discipline described in these books, then and only then you can move on to more technical and specific books. The chapters read very fluently with a great deal of humor and pragmatic 'aah, so that's how they do it' moments.
For the price, get both at once as you really need both to get going!
Good luck improving your photografic skills!