Reading for Beginners??

tcarson · Aug 3, 2014

I'm interested in reading about general photography, such as things like rule of thirds, balance, etc. You know, like the basics. I really want to get more into photography, and I'm looking at getting a Nikon D3200. When I get it, I'd then like to read on different things like lighting and the settings that you can mess with on the camera itself, but I want to wait until I have the camera so I can play around with it. So, any good reading online or any ebooks/books you guys would recommend for beginner(ish) photogs? Any suggestions much appreciated!

snerd · Aug 3, 2014

This will get you started until someone comes with a list.................

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/search.php?searchid=3746519

minicoop1985 · Aug 3, 2014

"Like" Digital Photography on Facebook if you have a profile. They publish a lot of great stuff on there.

rudimaes · Aug 4, 2014

Here you find the free online ebook "Creative Photography"

Creative Photography: A Complete Online Book - Book Contents

Rudi

PWhite214 · Aug 4, 2014

A good place to start is Cambridge in Color, Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community, it is free online.

Not free, available at amazon, ETC:

Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots Amazon.com: Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots (9780321741325): Laurie Excell, John Batdorff, David Brommer, Rick Rickman, Steve Simon: Books

Understanding Exposure

Amazon.com: Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition eBook: Bryan Peterson: Books

If you have decided which camera to buy, download the manual to get familiar with the basics.

Phil

KmH · Aug 4, 2014

Info for those new to photography:

Digital Photography Tutorials

Digital Photography Tutorials | Learning Photographic Techniques

Learn Digital Photography Basics

10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad

Advanced Composition -- Part I

Photographic Lighting stuff:

Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Strobist: Lighting 101

http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-pho...hy-techniques/

tcarson · Aug 4, 2014

Thank you all!

JoeW · Aug 5, 2014

tcarson said:
I'm interested in reading about general photography, such as things like rule of thirds, balance, etc. You know, like the basics. I really want to get more into photography, and I'm looking at getting a Nikon D3200. When I get it, I'd then like to read on different things like lighting and the settings that you can mess with on the camera itself, but I want to wait until I have the camera so I can play around with it. So, any good reading online or any ebooks/books you guys would recommend for beginner(ish) photogs? Any suggestions much appreciated!

Bryan Peterson is a great place to start. Here's why:
--he's prolific. So if you read one of his books and like it, then you can be sure you'll like one of his videos, articles or other books.
--he'll cover stuff that is useful for a beginner (well, not a rank beginner but someone who is still trying to figure out how to manipulate aperture in ways that influence the photo, or basic composition).
--his advice appeals to more than just beginners. So it's got legs. You're not going to buy one of his books, get better, and then throw it away b/c it's only relevant to a newbie.
--he's got some lovely photography.

One of the things that he writes very effectively about is the triangle of speed, aperture, and ISO...how they interact, how adjusting one affects the others, how your artistic ability as a photographer has you choosing which one to manipulate.

Some of his work: Understanding Exposure, Learning to See Creatively, Exposure Solutions, and a bunch of others. He's also produced a series of videos (short ones) for Adorama TV (they're all free) on a range of diverse quick subjects...shooting water droplets, using ambient light with a speed light to create better portraits. If you don't want to plunk down any money for one of his books then go to Adorama TV and watch a couple of the videos that are geared more to intro photography rather than specialities (like shooting water droplets or creating a light box).