Recommend a photography book please?

FourRingCircus

FourRingCircus

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I wonder if some of the more learned scholars of photography can recommend a good book about the basics / technicalities that I can give my wife to read.

In common with things like driving, remote controls, machines with moving parts and the like, my good lady will take any amount of instruction from a stranger, but she will not take it from me. Apparently, this is all my fault because "my mind works differently to hers". It would seem that everybody else on the planet has a mind which works in the same way hers does too!:shake:

The problem is that I like to start with the basics and approach things from the perspective of the lowest common denominator and this tends to be where I go wrong...... "This is a DSLR", is apparently not the best start to a lesson - even though she has no idea of what the letters stand for. The only 'reflex' I see is "Stop treating me like I'm stupid".:bang:

So, a book which will explain apertures, shutter speeds, ISO and their inexorable reliance upon each other would be a good start. Something which continues to explain the settings best used for particular scenarios - preferably from a Canon perspective would be ideal.

Any ideas?

(I may even need to brush up on things myself so perhaps she can teach me a thing or two once she has read it.):lol:

:help:
 
FourRingCircus said:
I wonder if some of the more learned scholars of photography can recommend a good book about the basics / technicalities that I can give my wife to read.

In common with things like driving, remote controls, machines with moving parts and the like, my good lady will take any amount of instruction from a stranger, but she will not take it from me. Apparently, this is all my fault because "my mind works differently to hers". It would seem that everybody else on the planet has a mind which works in the same way hers does too!:shake:

The problem is that I like to start with the basics and approach things from the perspective of the lowest common denominator and this tends to be where I go wrong...... "This is a DSLR", is apparently not the best start to a lesson - even though she has no idea of what the letters stand for. The only 'reflex' I see is "Stop treating me like I'm stupid".:bang:

So, a book which will explain apertures, shutter speeds, ISO and their inexorable reliance upon each other would be a good start. Something which continues to explain the settings best used for particular scenarios - preferably from a Canon perspective would be ideal.

Any ideas?

(I may even need to brush up on things myself so perhaps she can teach me a thing or two once she has read it.):lol:

:help:
Click to expand...

My wife read it over my shoulder and said 'She's got a point'.:)
 
Thanks again Les.:thumbs:

Just been on to Amazon and bought three books (this click to order stuff is addictive!):

  • Understanding Digital Photography By Bryan Peterson
  • Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition By Bryan Peterson
  • The Photographer's Eye By Michael Freeman

That might keep her off the 50 Shades of whatever for a wee while........:lol:
 
Might add some of them to my reading list! And btw I must be one of the only ladies in the world
NOT reading 50 shades! Lol

Oh and I have canon 450d for dummies that's quite good! X
 
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FourRingCircus said:
Thanks again Les.:thumbs:

Just been on to Amazon and bought three books (this click to order stuff is addictive!):

  • Understanding Digital Photography By Bryan Peterson
  • Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition By Bryan Peterson
  • The Photographer's Eye By Michael Freeman

That might keep her off the 50 Shades of whatever for a wee while........:lol:
Click to expand...

50 shades of Gray, what is that about? :naughty:
 
FourRingCircus said:
In common with things like driving, remote controls, machines with moving parts and the like, my good lady will take any amount of instruction from a stranger, but she will not take it from me. Apparently, this is all my fault because "my mind works differently to hers". It would seem that everybody else on the planet has a mind which works in the same way hers does too!:shake:
Click to expand...

This bit made me giggle, i can say something many a time and nothing changes, a month or so down the line i get...so and so said this, it's a good idea. Errr but i said this months ago.
 
Well I can sympathise, but I do understand where your wife is coming from, I can take instruction from anyone else than my other half, for some reason it just ends up with one of us going mental :bonk:

But in regard to the books thank you for recommending them, they'll help a lot and now i just need to pray they arrive before i leave for work again :D
 
I got a good chuckle out of this one. LOL.

But I do feel your pain. If it was me I would take a much different approach. Her reaction to "this is a dslr" was understandable considering that her objective is to learn how to use one (in her mind). My approach would be to give her just enough info to get her started taking pictures and her questions will come. This will take the burden off of you and she will feel more in control. Explaining exposure basics to her and let her make her own mistakes. Imho this is a better option for both of you.
 
In common with things like driving, remote controls, machines with moving parts and the like, my good lady will take any amount of instruction from a stranger, but she will not take it from me. Apparently, this is all my fault because "my mind works differently to hers". It would seem that everybody else on the planet has a mind which works in the same way hers does too!

WOW we must be twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
FourRingCircus said:
Just been on to Amazon and bought three books (this click to order stuff is addictive!):

  • Understanding Digital Photography By Bryan Peterson
  • Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition By Bryan Peterson
Click to expand...

Good call, got these for my wife when I got my first SLR, she thought they were great :)
 
As a photographer you should be reading '16,384 shades of grey'.

+1 for the Photographer's Eye though.
 
As a newbie to photography, I confess to actually having read my 550d manual a couple of times.

But finally I gave in and spent some more money on the For Dummies book, by Julie Adair King.

I found it very useful in understanding the camera and the many functions available, this then has encouraged me to experiment more with it, and then to come on forums like this to gain further knowledge.
 
Well, we've had all three books for a week or so now and she hasn't picked any of them up yet. Apparently, she will get started once she has finished 'Fifty Shades Freed' which is the last of the trilogy. Only a hundred or so pages to go apparently...... I was being quizzed about 'but plugs' a few days ago (it's a fifty shades thing), so I just told her to go and buy another book about them because I wasn't even going to start on that one!!!:lol:

Anyway, I have to admit to being (casually) a third of the way through the 'Understanding Digital Photography' book and I've got to say it's taught me a fair bit. Perhaps I should qualify that by saying it's actually reminded me about a number of things from many years ago.

Perhaps one of the most important revision points comes from the perspective of someone who is never close enough to his subject (birds). I've invested heavily in decent glass and I have a tenancy to work from an AV priority perspective. After all, why pay thousands for an F2.8 or F4 super telephoto and then use a smaller aperture? This book has reminded me that just because you have a large aperture, you don't have to use it ALL the time! I'd actually forgotten about the DoF effect with the large apertures and often wondered why the occasional landscape shot (24-70mm) simply wasn't working as well as would be expected....:eek:

You can all laugh at me now.:nuts:
 
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