Book recomendations

Milhouse · Nov 3, 2007

I want to pick up the book Understanding Exposure. Unfortunately Chapters is selling it for 31$ when I can get it online at Amazon.com for 17USD. If I pick it up online I was thinking of getting another book to get free shipping (I'm such a sucker). I'm looking for recommendations for another book, keeping in mind that I am a noob and I am not shooting anything in particular. Thanks

JerryPH · Nov 3, 2007

Are you planning on getting good with your strobe? If yes, I recommend:

Light Science and Magic:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/02...TF8&coliid=I256E0M8XQ2XYR&colid=39VWSI6QPLH2C

The Digital Field Guide people also make a lot of good books for the basics for many brands. I have the Digital Field Guides for my D200 and SB-800. They are very good to get, especially for beginers.

Milhouse · Nov 4, 2007

Sounds like a cool book, but I don't see myself using lighting equipment at this point, rather using avail light. I think that it is definitely a future read though. After flipping around on Amazon.com, I think that I may look for one geared towards Landscape and wildlife. There are a couple to choose from, I'm just reading through the reviews now.

mtyler24 · Nov 7, 2007

This is coming from a beginner and I've been reading several books from my local library. I liked Rick Sammon's Complete guide to Digital Photography http://www.amazon.com/Sammons-Compl...1436019?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194448618&sr=1-4

It's a well rounded beginners book with emphasis on using Photoshop as well. If you don't plan on using the software, you may not like this book as much. I can't wait to read Understanding Exposure.

Big Mike · Nov 7, 2007

Look for books by John Hedgecoe

petey · Nov 27, 2007

Big Mike said:
Look for books by John Hedgecoe

My favorite of his is his New Book of Photography. It's one of those you can read over and over and still get so much out of it.

JerryPH · Nov 28, 2007

Also look for books from Scott Kelby. He has a weak sense of humor and usualy overdoes it in his books, but the technical aspects are targeted perfectly for the beginner and intermediate users in general.

Antithesis · Nov 28, 2007

The book that finally convinced me to get a dSLR and get into photography was lonely planet's travel photography guide. I don't know why, it's really basic. It was just sitting on my roomates bookshelf so I picked it up and bought my first camera in the following week or two. My next book was Nat'l geographic's field guide to photography. It has good, understandable technical info and it talks about what to do with certain subjects in certain scenarios. It's also got interviews with nat'l geographic photographers, and those guys are awesome.

bellavita64 · Nov 28, 2007

Back to your original thought of buying Understanding Exposure. Awesome book, I have read it a couple of times since I bought it about 2 months ago. I got mine at overstock.com for about $13. They have a ton of photo book choices. Since you don't know what you want to take shots of (landscape, portrait, macro, etc.) I would choose something that covers photography basics (composition, lighting, etc.). I agree with Big Mike, Hedgecoe is a good place to start because he does cover the basics. Another recommendation would be to see if there is a field guide for your camera. I have a D80, and the manual was confusing at best. I bought the digital field guide for it and learned more than I would have EVER figured out on my own just muddling thru that tiny print B&W manual.

aphelion · Nov 28, 2007

bellavita64 said:
Back to your original thought of buying Understanding Exposure. Awesome book, I have read it a couple of times since I bought it about 2 months ago. I got mine at overstock.com for about $13. They have a ton of photo book choices. Since you don't know what you want to take shots of (landscape, portrait, macro, etc.) I would choose something that covers photography basics (composition, lighting, etc.). I agree with Big Mike, Hedgecoe is a good place to start because he does cover the basics. Another recommendation would be to see if there is a field guide for your camera. I have a D80, and the manual was confusing at best. I bought the digital field guide for it and learned more than I would have EVER figured out on my own just muddling thru that tiny print B&W manual.

I agree with this post. Understanding Exposure is an excellent book. Amazon has it for about $15 right now. And, the suggestion for the field guide to your camera is also a great recommendation. You can't go wrong with picking up these two at the same time.

Trish1977 · Dec 3, 2007

I have started reading UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE and I think it's going to change my life! Just after the first section, and the "water faucet" explaination I'm WAY less confused. I'm feeling a lot more confidant that I can learn this stuff and less worried that I'll never be a serious photographer. I'm more motivated now to experiment with my cameras, get out of auto mode, and take some great photos!

Bryan Peterson is my hero right now (along with all of you on here who offer such great advice, suggestions, and support)!

I have also ordered Learning to See Creatively by Peterson and look forward to reading it as well.

Milhouse · Dec 4, 2007

That one is on my Christmas list (Understanding Exposure). There were just too many recommendations in other posts to ignore. I am also looking for another one to thumb through. Something more geared towards nature photography.