What book for a friend starting into photography

iced_jacob said:
Hello guys I have a friend who is starting into photography now. I was thinking of getting her Peterson's Understanding Exposure.

Is there anything else you would recommend?

Cheers
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How about Hot Shots by Kevin Meredith? A bit more fun and with the emphasis on taking interesting photos rather than technical perfection.
 
Tom Ang's Digital Photographer's Handbook. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Pho...=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348303500&sr=1-5 Amazon price £17.50 (hardback).

Michael Langford's Basic Photography. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Langfords-B...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348303899&sr=1-1 Amazon price £21.99 (paperback).

If I had to pick between the two, I would go for Tom Ang's book. Then again, my copy of Langford's is pre digital - the current edition may well have a very good digital section replacing my copy's film one. I would then scour charity shops for a copy of Langford's, that film section I mentioned is very interesting. Some cities have an Oxfam shop dedicated to books, could be a good place to start looking.

Here's a link to Amazon's bestselling books on Photography http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/books/13731621/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_b_1_5_last#1 . and one to a similar list covering specifically digital phography http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bestsellers...hy/zgbs/books/512746/ref=zg_bs_nav_b_3_267664 .
 
I recently bought this by George Barr,

"From Camera to Computer: How to Make Fine Photographs Through Examples, Tips, and Techniques", it is not your traditional beginners technical manual. George leads the reader through his thought process preparing, taking and post processing photographs.

Good for all levels from beginners to advanced, also good just to read.

I bought it as an ebook, I can not comment on the image quality in the 3D version.

Another was "Chasing the light", byIbarionex Parello. He talks about making the most of available light. Again lots of stuff for beginner to advanced and a good read.

These are both books about love of photography and making photographs and would be great birthday gifts IMHO...
 
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Here's an idea. Get her a month's subscription to Lynda.com and point her at the videos by Ben Long. Plus she'll have access to all the other videos on other subjects, cost will be about the same as a book.
 
How to avoid camera shops and classifieds, by M T Pockets :-)
 
DerekL said:
I got the from the work discount book store.

http://www.theworks.co.uk/The-Complete-Digital-Photo-Manual/9781862009127.html

This is ideal for someone looking to get into digital photography and for £8 you can't go far wrong.
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I got the same book and found it very helpful and it's also a substantial size for a present. The wife went through it too when I gave her my 550D and she found it easy to take in and very helpful too.

Understanding Exposure 3rd edition by Bryan Peterson is a very good read too, makes it easy to understand and remember and it's very helpful too.
 
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