book recommendation for beginner

shaylou

shaylou

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I was wondering if I could some suggestions on some good books for learning photography. I have read brian peterson's understanding exposure (not impressed) so I'm looking for another one to read. I understand the basics of exposure (though I need a lot more experience and in depth study) to fully understand it. I also have the basics of dof, and shutter speed. I have not studied much on lighting. I dont know anything about using a flash or composition. I think it might be more helpful for me to read books that isolate one subject at a time. Thoughts/suggestions?
 
Another good book if your gonna have a go at flash photography is The Speedlighters Handbook by Syl Arena, Its fairly indepth and covers alot about flash and lighting and pretty much everthing to know about speedlighting.
 
one i am reading at the moment is "The photographers guide to light" by Nigel Hicks. Now it is oldish 2005/2006 but for the price £3.00 off amazon it is an interesting read.
 
Have a look at Scott Kelby's Digital Photography books. There are four volumes now (I have the first 3) and they are easy to follow and break things down into bite size chunks. There's sometimes deals on these on Amazon.
 
ive also had lots of success from reading the advice posted on here - also in magazines too :)
 
Hi,

Find one that specifically targets your camera. I have found this the most useful so far.
 
Hello,

I have found "Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography" a rather good read, the only problem you may find is that it seems to be kindle only, but if you have a kindle, fondlepad or so on you can't best the 5 quid piece tag.

Digital SLR Photography All-in-One For Dummies® was ok but I came away with a nasty feeling that the entire book could have been distilled down to 80 useful pages. The rest felt like filler.
 
shaylou said:
Thanks for the suggestion but like I said in my post, I read that book and with all do respect was not impressed.
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Doh! This is what happens when I read and post stuff one minute before I finish work. Sorry, should have paid more attention.
 
Paul_Westhead said:
Hi,

Find one that specifically targets your camera. I have found this the most useful so far.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I got a book that is based on my slr so I'll work on that for now. I will be going on vacation next month and have a 21 hour flight (one way) so I thought I would load up on a few books to kill the time and actually enjoy it. I was thinking about a book that is dedicated to light and maybe one that is dedicated to flash. And composition.
 
shaylou said:
Thanks for the tip. I got a book that is based on my slr so I'll work on that for now. I will be going on vacation next month and have a 21 hour flight (one way) so I thought I would load up on a few books to kill the time and actually enjoy it. I was thinking about a book that is dedicated to light and maybe one that is dedicated to flash. And composition.
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Personal opinion, but I find model specific books to be largely a waste of time, once you've got the custom modes/settings configured you probably ignore the book from then on. Definitely a secondhand or library book rather than a new purchase.

For composition it has to be The Photographer's Eye by Freeman, I also like Hot Shots by Meredith but it won't occupy you very long on a long flight.

Light, Science and Magic is the bible for light, with a strong emphasis on still life.

For flash, pick your favourite blogger/webcelebrity whose style you enjoy, they all have books published - McNally, Hobby, Diaz, etc (new pc so I haven't all my blog favourites re-setup yet). If it's someone whose style appeals it will be entertaining as well as informative.

And don't disregard older books at carboot proces, nothing has changed in the physics of light since digital came on the scene. Technology has advanced, but it's almost always about doing the same old thing in new ways.
 
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