Beginner Books

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Godmodeuk

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Hi, is there a good book for a absolute beginner to read that I could buy to give me an understanding of photography ? I dont have time to read alot so something fairly simple and straight forward would be great.

Im buying a 450D soon and it will be for nightclubs my friends works at.

thx in adv.
 
Godmodeuk said:
Hi, is there a good book for a absolute beginner to read that I could buy to give me an understanding of photography ? I dont have time to read alot so something fairly simple and straight forward would be great.

Im buying a 450D soon and it will be for nightclubs my friends works at.

thx in adv.
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You need in your life the following: The Digital Photography Books 1&2 by Scott Kelby.

Imo it covers your needs. Here is an extract from the book - "Here is how Scott describes this book's brilliant premise "if you and I were out of a shot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, with the background out of focus? I wouldn't stand there and give you a photography lecture. In real life, I'd just say, 'Put on your zoom lens, set your F-stop to f/28, focus on the flower, and fire away'. That's what this book is all about: you and I out shoooting where I answer your questions, give advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like i would with friends - without all tthe technical explanations and techie photo speak"

I guess that sums it up. If you are wondering who is this guy, he is apparently a renowned photographer, he work with the best of the best and he is also the editor-in-chief of Photoshop user magazine.

The book imo is straightforward and includes many tips that yyou will find handy. I am going shooting today and the books are coming with me, just in case.:)
 
Blaque said:
You need in your life the following: The Digital Photography Books 1&2 by Scott Kelly.

Imo it covers your needs. Here is an extract from the book - "Here is how Scott describes this book's brilliant premise "if you and I were out of a shot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, with the background out of focus? I wouldn't stand there and give you a photography lecture. In real life, I'd just say, 'Put on your zoom lens, set your F-stop to f/28, focus on the flower, and fire away'. That's what this book is all about: you and I out shoooting where I answer your questions, give advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like i would with friends - without all tthe technical explanations and techie photo speak"

I guess that sums it up. If you are wondering who is this guy, he is apparently a renowned photographer, he work with the best of the best and he is also the editor-in-chief of Photoshop user magazine.

The book imo is straightforward and includes many tips that yyou will find handy. I am going shooting today and the books are coming with me, just in case.:)
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Well that would sum up how NOT to do it actually!

f28 would give a large Depth of Field and have the flower and background sharpish, it would also bear no relation to the shutter speed which could be too low at such a high f no and would then potentially cause all of the image to suffer from camera shake.

If as I suspect that it is a typo and that you actually meant f2.8, it is also a little presumptive to assume that many beginners would have a zoom with a f2.8 maximum aperture, these items are not cheap especially at the longer focal end of the zoom ranges where the f2.8's use would potentially throw the background out of focus in relation to the subject, with the provision that the background was far enough away from the subject. Most kit lenses and the cheaper end of the zoom market do not get anything near f2.8, so the person would probably not have a clue what he was on about.

As to the not giving a photography lecture, perhaps people are happy being involved in a pastime that they do not understand and are happy with their odd snapshot that by a happy accident has a little more to offer than they normally take, but after reading through various threads on here lately, which have included misguided and uninformed posts (some from members with a large post count) then I think that many people could benefit from actually spending time understanding photography, the relationships between aperture values (f nos), shutter speeds, ISO values and focussing distance and how the image is a combination made up of all these values.

It is much more satisfying to be able to create an image knowing how it was conceived and that your input has created the image that you expected by your informed use of the various photographic variables available to you than to stick the camera on auto and chimp away until you get something that looks okay.

If I were you I would get the Understanding Exposure book and acually learn something about the subject!
 
Yes it was a typo, should have been f/2.8.:)

You can get critical with the book, I guess it is nothing but an opinion. The book have proved useful to me and it is one of the best-sellers on Amazon UK. The OP wanted a recommendation, I gave one. Whether he picks up on it or not is another issue, and you are entitle to dimiss it all you want.

Like I said above, I found itt very useful without the technical mumbo jumbo that is associated with other books I have seen. This book is aimed at a beginner and that is what I am. It spoon feed the reader on what to do and once you are okay with those and want more, the author himself made some recommendation of other books.:)
 
EdBray said:
It is much more satisfying to be able to create an image knowing how it was conceived and that your input has created the image that you expected by your informed use of the various photographic variables available to you than to stick the camera on auto and chimp away until you get something that looks okay.

If I were you I would get the Understanding Exposure book and acually learn something about the subject!
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Clearly, you have the wrong idea about what the aim of the book is. May I suggest you check it out yourself? If you for one sec believe that it tells you to set you camera on auto and chimp away. I think you missed the fact that this guy is getting to the basic and telling people how it is without much complications etc. Like I said before, it is aimed at a beginner and I am of the believe it suits my need for now.

You know, just because you read a book and you like it d not mean it is the bible and quran that will suits everybody's need.:)
 
Okay ... Chill pill time .... :rules:

So far we have two recommendations ....

1 ... 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson

2 ... The Digital Photography Books 1&2 by Scott Kelly

Any more?
 
hypnotic said:
Okay ... Chill pill time .... :rules:

So far we have two recommendations ....

1 ... 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson

2 ... The Digital Photography Books 1&2 by Scott Kelby

Any more?
Click to expand...

Fixed. I made another typo again...:gag: It is Kelby and not Kelly.
 
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