How-to Books

The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2

Scott Kelby

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 146 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Scott Kelby, author of the groundbreaking bestseller “The Digital Photography Book, Vol. 1” is back with an entirely new book that picks up right where Vol. 1 left off. It’s more of that “Ah ha—so that’s how they do it,” straight-to-the-point, skip the techno jargon; packed with stuff you can really use today, that made Vol. 1 the world’s bestselling book on digital photography.

In Volume 2, Scott adds entirely new chapters packed with Plain English tips on using flash, shooting close up photography, travel photography, shooting people, and even how to build a studio from scratch, where he demystifies the process so anyone can start taking pro-quality portraits today! Plus, he's got full chapters on his most requested topics, including loads of tips for landscape photographers, wedding photographers, and there's an entire chapter devoted to sharing some of the pro's secrets for making your photos look more professional, no matter what you're shooting.

This book truly has a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: “If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, ‘When I use my flash, the background behind the person I’m shooting turns black. How do I fix that?’ I wouldn’t give you a lecture on flash ratios, or start a discussion on flash synchronization and rear curtain sync. I’d just say “Lower your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. That should do it” Well, that’s what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend—without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak.”

Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you’re tired of taking shots that look “okay,” 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.

This isn’t a book of theory—full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it. With nearly another 200 of the most closely guarded photographic “tricks of the trade,” this book gets you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos every time.

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

Michael Freeman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Design is the single most important factor in creating a successful photograph. The ability to see the potential for a strong picture and then organize the graphic elements into an effective, compelling composition has always been one of the key skills in making photographs.
Digital photography has brought a new, exciting aspect to design - first because the instant feedback from a digital camera allows immediate appraisal and improvement; and second because image-editing tools make it possible to alter and enhance the design after the shutter has been pressed. This has had a profound effect on the way digital photographers take pictures.
The Photographer's Eye shows how anyone can develop the ability to see and shoot great digital photographs. The book explores all the traditional approaches to composition and design, but crucially, it also addresses the new digital technique of shooting in the knowledge that a picture will later be edited, manipulated, or montaged to result in a final image that may be very different from the one seen in the viewfinder.

Features
*Covers both traditional in-camera composition and the new opportunities for picture-making made possible by digital imaging editing
*Shows how to explore situations and locations in order to find the best possible photographic possibilities
*Uses clear examples from real photographic assignments, with schematic illustrations of how and why the pictures work

Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/125 Second

Bryan Peterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Beyond beginner 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought both 'Understanding Exposure' and this book by Bryan Petersen, and have found both to be extremely helpful. 'Understanding Shutter Speed' is more advanced, and gives tips for more creative photographic effects. It is written concisely, and he provides examples of creative photography and tells us in simple terms how to achieve these effects. The only things that bugged me about this book were his constant references to his beautiful wife, and I didn't think that some of his photographic examples were creatively brilliant. However, the examples clearly showed the effect he was trying to achieve, and may have been exaggerated to do exactly that.

Editorial Review:

The first book in the Understanding Photography series, Understanding Exposure, was a runaway best-seller, with more than 250,000 copies sold. Now author Bryan Peterson brings his signature style to another important photography topic: shutter speed. With clear, jargon-free explanations of terms and techniques, plus compelling "before-and-after" photos that pair a mediocre image (created using the wrong shutter speed) with a great image (created using the right shutter speed), this is the definitive practical guide to mastering an often-confusing subject. Topics include freezing and implying motion, panning, zooming, exposure, Bogen Super Clamps, and rendering motion effects with Photoshop, all with helpful guidance for both digital and film formats. Great for beginners and serious amateurs, Understanding Shutter Speed is the definitive handy guide to mastering shutter speed for superb results.

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 95 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An amazing (and some would say magical) resource on photographic lighting that has been talked about in the community and recommended for years. This highly respected guide has been thoroughly updated and revised for content and design - it is now produced in full color! It introduces a logical theory of photographic lighting so if you are starting out in photography you will learn how to predict results before setting up lights. This is not primarily a how-to book with only set examples for you to copy. Rather, Light: Science and Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow you to use lighting to express your own creativity.

Numerous photographs and illustrations provide clear examples of the theories, while sidebars highlight special lighting questions. Expanded chapters on available light in portraiture, as well as new information on digital equipment and terminology make this a must have update!

*New four color art package with contemporary lighting examples
*Based on the behaviour of light
*Theory book for serious photographers

The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography (Amphoto Guide Series)

Jim Miotke

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 76 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great photography book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This Photo book is great for advance reader it gives us many up to date features(Tips) for shooting under various conditions, digital photography has arrived and you can learn on the spot, instead of waiting after your develops return........Thanks......NA

The better photo guide to digital photography 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is for the serious photographer using the digital equipment. I was interested in learning to take better photographs, and this book made me want to go out there and do the lessons included in there.

BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you are looking to learn the basics of digital photography, whether you just want to take better vacation photos with your family - or progress into a career in photography, this book is for you. Great pictures with information on how the pictures were taken (aperture, lens used, length, etc..). The book is very informative and Jim keeps things interesting to the point that you do not get bored. I would highly suggest this for anyone looking to take better pictures.

A photo book should not be printed 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

by the cheapest Ch***se print outfit that's around. If one is trying to explain with images what effect filters or different lighting situations have on a photo, a good print quality would help.
In regards to content and explanations, it is a good book and well conceived. It helped me quite a bit. However, the author thinks, that good pictures can only be taken with DSLR cameras. Some of his own examples don't make a good point of that.

Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book)

Ferrell McCollough

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Complete Guide to HDR Digital Photography Ferrell's new book is about the new and exciting techniques in HDR photography. Learn how to get started with HDR and progress into expert status with this excellent how to manual loaded with more pictures than pages making it an excellent coffee table book as well. Learn the latest technique in HDR that Ferrell has pioneered and calls Flash Merging. It's the hottest and latest technique made possible only through digital. High Dynamic Range Photography is the process of taking several pictures of a scene at various exposures, then merging them into one file. So the entire photo can look crisp and detailed, from highlights to midtones to shadows, and photographers needen't sacrifice any part of their image. And the best way to master this exciting technology is with this thorough, easy-to-follow, and visually spectacular guide. No other title does justice to these cutting-edge techniques, which actually take the viewer into worlds far beyond normal photography - sometimes even beyond normal human perception. Ferrell McCollough, a widely respected photographer, pushes the boundaries and inspires others to pursue their artistic vision, too. The amazing results simply can't be achieved any other way

Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers

Christopher Grey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Master Lighting Guide 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book based on the recommendation of another photographer. I have found the book to be well written with excellent illustrations and guides. The only shortcoming, if it can be called such, is the persistant reference to film based cameras and their settings and controls. The text seems to have been written more to help someone who uses, or used, film and has little experience with a digital camera. This does NOT make the information any less relevant, just a little harder to grasp on the initial reading. With study and persistant application of the lessons, I found, and continue to find, the book to be very helpful. I am quite glad I ordered it and would give it very good marks.

Editorial Review:

Time-tested lighting strategies that will improve the quality of a portrait are detailed in this book for beginning photographers. Terminology used by industry pros is explained, the equipment needed to create professional results is outlined, and the unique role that each element of the lighting setup plays in the studio is explored. Photographers learn how color, direction, form, and contrast affect the final portrait. The concise text, photo examples, and lighting diagrams enable photographers to easily achieve traditional lighting styles that have been the basis of good portraiture since the advent of the art.

Photography (9th Edition) (MyPhotographyKit Series)

Barbara London, Jim Stone, John Upton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 62 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If you are studying for the CPP test.... 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is the book! If you are studying for the CPP test this is the one. It is comprehensive to a fault. The explanations of photo concepts are complete and easy to understand. The only problem is that the book is so big that it is falling apart. Wish me luck on the test!

Worth over $100? 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've received and read the book, and enjoy the content. However, compared to many other books in the marketplace, I'm having a hard time comprehending where there is over $100 worth of value. It seems that everytime something is written by an academic and presented as a textbook, regardless of the content or quality, that the price is jacked up by 3 to 4 times what it is really worth. I'd suggest looking for a used version of this book unless you really want a pristine copy to show off to others.

Editorial Review:

This best-selling introductory photography text teaches students how to use the medium confidently and effectively by emphasizing both technique and visual awareness. Comprehensive in scope, this book features superb instructional illustrations and examples in its clear presentation of both black and white and color photography. London offers extensive coverage of digital imaging and the latest technological developments, such as Web page design and formatting photos on CD-ROMs.

Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition)

Bryan Peterson

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Total reviews: 102 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Almost everyone can "see" in the conventional sense, but developing photographic vision takes practice. Learning to See Creatively helps photographers visualize their work, and the world, in a whole new light.

Now totally rewritten, revised, and expanded, this best-selling guide takes a radical approach to creativity. It explains how it is not some gift only for the "chosen few" but actually a skill that can be learned and applied. Using inventive photos from his own stunning portfolio, author and veteran photographer Bryan Peterson deconstructs creativity for photographers. He details the basic techniques that went into not only taking a particular photo, but also provides insights on how to improve upon it—helping readers avoid the visual pitfalls and technical dead ends that can lead to dull, uninventive photographs.

This revised edition features the latest information on digital photography and digital imaging software, as well as an all-new section on color as a design element. Learning to See Creatively is the definitive reference for any photographers looking for a fresh perspective on their work.

* New edition of a best-selling title
* Updated to include digital
* All new artwork, and a totally revised and expanded text
* All-new section on color as a design element
* Written by one of Amphoto's bestselling authors

Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories

Glen Johnson

Amazon Price: $19.79 List Price: $29.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $16.39

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Capture unforgettable moments of that special day



Professional wedding photographer Glen Johnson knows there's a huge difference between being able to take good pictures and being a good wedding photographer. In this exquisite, full-color book, Glen dispenses sage advice and solutions for taking impressive digital wedding images -- posed or candid, in any weather, in any setting, at any locale. You will also learn the secrets of creating a successful digital wedding photography business, and much more. Whether you're an aspiring professional or an amateur who wants to improve your skills at digital wedding photography, this book will help you succeed.

Discover what makes wedding photography a unique specialty
* Find out how to make people feel relaxed and comfortable while you're shooting
* Explore ways to capture the emotion as well as the moment
* Understand different photographic styles and adapt to your client's wishes
* Prepare for all types of lighting situations
* Learn appropriate etiquette for shooting in dressing rooms and during the ceremony
* Know what to take when traveling abroad
* Set up the perfect digital studio to process your images
* Find out how to price your work realistically
* See why your business skills may be more important than your photographic talent


Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, each showingthe camera settings and other details used to create the image