[icejam]

I hope it’s a right place to post this.


I got a copy of Digital Photography book the other day and started browsing through it.

This is supposed be a book for amateurs – like you and me. I must say this is one of the worse photography books I have ever read. Even Photography for Dummies is more informative than this piece of ***
I do not understand how the author could have received an award for this publication.


Let me quote a few examples.


We read: Buying a fast lens if you shoot primarily in the studio is tossing money down the drain, because you got strobes and not shooting in low-light situations

Few pages later: The most popular look in portraits is to use very shallow DOF so everything is out of focus except the eyes. [...] You will need a lens with a very low f-stop number like f/1.4


Next we get some ‘advice’:


Histogram is useless

If you’re going to shoot landscapes you need a full-frame DSLR (how many of you have a full-frame camera? we're amateurs, remember?)

Shooting in auto-ISO allows you to always capture sports in action

Autofocus is that good nowadays you don’t need to use manual focus at all.

This book is full of nonsense like the examples above. If you’re planning to buy one – don’t. If you already have one – bin it

BTW. Reading the book one might think that there are only two DSLR manufacturers: Canon and Nikon. The book does not even have 'other brands' (not to mention Pentax, Sony, etc) expresion in it.

*Those are my personal observations. Your experience may vary.

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Last edited by icejam; 08-09-2011 at 04:34 PM.

[psychdoc]

Wow!!! That is one harsh criticism.

I am not sure which book you are referring to. I have a copy of Vol 1 of Digital Photography and also his Lightroom book. The Lightroom book is superb. The former is not bad.

As far as not mentioning other camera manufacturers that is more or less the norm. I guess I should look through which book you are referring to since I did not have such a bad reaction to the two books of his I own.

Understanding Exposure by Peterson is the book that helped me the most though...

[crf529]

For a beginners 'what's what?' book, I think it does very well. He never states this is the be all and all, nor that everything he says is gospel (quite the opposite). What he does provide is a simplified 'yes/no' type book that tries to remove some of the ambiguity and debate around most photography topics, which would otherwise bludgeon a true beginner into confusion and disarray.

I found this book very helpful for my GF who wanted clear concise descriptions and answers about many of the very basics and up. I think it's great for what it is, and if you have major issues with it they are not the books shortcomings, but your misaligned expectations from it.

[twitch]

Once you understand Scott is a Nikon shooter which is a system that has fantastic auto-focus, is very zoom centric, and offers 3 different FF bodies, then the "bad" advice starts to make sense.

I have his first 2 books and they are "OK", but yeah his advice on lenses in particular is very Nikon-thinking centric.

"Understanding exposure" is so much better it isn't funny.

[RioRico]

I have a recommendation:

DO NOT BUY A BEGINNER'S BOOK ON PHOTOGRAPHY!

Visit a public library. Borrow some photo books. Read them. Then again, with different books. Then return to the first books, and then all the others. Repeat until you've read them all at least once, preferably more. If any seems like an especially good reference, buy it used on Amazon or AbeBooks or eBay or wherever. Alternatively, browse through el-cheapo used book shops and thrift-charity shops and grab all photo books that cost a buck or so. Read them all. Those that don't do anything for you can be donated back.

BUT DO NOT DEPEND ON ANY ONE BEGINNER'S BOOK!

All the money you save on books can be invested in cheap lenses etc. Or just send it to me. I deserve it, eh?

[Rainy Day]

Understanding Exposure by Peterson is the book that helped me the most though...

+ 1 to that! Understanding Exposure started me off on how to udnerstand the basics of f-stops, shutter speeds, application of DoF, storytelling, etc ad nauseum. But it wasn't the do all and end all. In other words, I didn't learn everything from Understanding Exposures. It's all very well to have knowledge in your head. It's quite different to put that knowledge into practice! The most effective way to learn about photography is to go out and take photos. Period.

BUT DO NOT DEPEND ON ANY ONE BEGINNER'S BOOK!

More to reinforce what I said before. If you're going to buy one beginner's book, get Understanding Exposure. The only reason I'd recommend it is because Bryan Peterson doesn't give advice based on brand, something very few photography books offer sadly.

Borrow books. Read online tutorials. Hit up Youtube. Buy a $10 magazing about photography from your newsagent if it has a few features that you'll find valuable.

but above all, SHOOT!

[einstrigger]

I find Kelby's Digital Photography series tend to be more "monkey see monkey do" in terms of content. For example, you want this effect in your pictures? Then you need to use these settings or do this action. Which is fine for a lot of people, myself included, who are eager to go hands on. His books are certainly not the definitive source when it comes to the fundamentals.

I've also read Understanding Exposure and my eyes just glazed over, but I forced myself through it. Sure, I have a better understanding now, but to me it was boring since I'm really a "monkey see monkey do" type of guy as well.

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Last edited by einstrigger; 08-10-2011 at 09:56 AM.

[gtxtom]

Understanding Exposure really did it for me. I think that's what helped take me out of "auto mode".

[magkelly]

I like Kelby's videos more than his books, but admittedly he himself tends to bore me a lot. I don't take what he says as gospel though. I've found myself disagreeing with him at times too. That being said I think his video series is pretty useful if a bit fan-boyish of some camera brands at times.

[rfortson]

digging up a dead post....

I gotta disagree with the OP. I think these books are great books for beginners (which is who they are geared towards). They're not aimed at people that sit on photo forums all day eating and breathing photography. As he says right off the bat, they're for people that don't want to know the details, they just want to know the buttons to push to get a certain type of shot.

Understanding Exposure is also a great book, and it is for people that want to know all about creating a great shot. It's a different audience.

I recommend Kelby's books to people that bought a camera and want to take a good shot of their kid at the recital or soccer game. They don't want a treatise on exposure, aperture, etc. They just want a quick "recipe" to increase their odds of getting a nice shot.

BTW, I think Kelby's books are the best LR guides I've used. I like his conversational style. I just wish the LR4 book would hurry up.

[okcameradude]

I like his books too, as I have a couple of them.

[cardinal43]

I have one of his LR3 Book for Digital Photographers and I really like it. In fact, I took it to my nearest Staples, where they cut off the spine, added a clear front and rear cover, punched holes in the pages and inserted a spiral deal (like a stenographers notebook) so I can lay the book absolutely flat. Total cost = $4.72! I can also flip it back over itself and read front & back (hope that makes sense). I hate having to either hold a book open with one hand, or lay something on it to keep it flat, while working in LR. I also did this to my Pental user's manual - same price.

[rfortson]

I have one of his LR3 Book for Digital Photographers and I really like it. In fact, I took it to my nearest Staples, where they cut off the spine, added a clear front and rear cover, punched holes in the pages and inserted a spiral deal (like a stenographers notebook) so I can lay the book absolutely flat. Total cost = $4.72! I can also flip it back over itself and read front & back (hope that makes sense). I hate having to either hold a book open with one hand, or lay something on it to keep it flat, while working in LR. I also did this to my Pental user's manual - same price.

That's a great idea. I've never thought or heard of that before.

[Docrwm]

I disagree with the assessment of KB's books too. The intro books are supposed to be 1 suggestion at a time with very easy to follow directions. I found that they gave me a bunch of things to try. I agree about the Nikon and Canon focus but, frankly, I haven't seen any broad appeal photography books that are <10 years old that really mention anything else so he's definitely not alone in that regard.

I find Bryan Peterson and his work far more challenging and enlightening but his books also require more time. So, if I only have a few minutes between appointments I may read a 2 page "chapter" from Kelby's book but if I have more time I'll read something by Peterson. I also like Peterson's videos better, no bad jokes, and they're more like Kelby's chapters in that they're 3-5 minutes and focus on one specific technique you can copy and experiment with.

[chuck_c]

I also like Kelby's LR3 book. I think that it is an excellent source for navigating through that great PP software.

Also, FYI, Scott Kelby was a Pentax shooter before he went to Nikon.