Recommend me a book

C

Christhesparky

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Name
Chris
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Evening

After getting my own DSLR i think its time I learn to use it properly

The wire is looking to get me a book to guide me

Currently looking at DSLR for Dummies, can anyone recommend anything better?
 
Hi

couple of good books

Bryan Peterson - Understanding Exposure (Revised Edition)

Learning to See Creatively - Revised Edition (Bryan Peterson)

(y)
 
Bryan Peterson - Understanding Exposure (Revised Edition)

+1
 
ned.c said:
Bryan Peterson - Understanding Exposure (Revised Edition)

+1
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Bonus points if you don't get sick of him saying "take a meter reading then recompose", or whatever that blasted phrase was.

Great book to learn exactly what the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO is, plus the basics on composition. You can stop after 20 pages though, its more of the same.
 
I've just got the book "Under standing exposure" and have to say if the comment above is anything to go by "You can stop after 20 pages though, its more of the same." then to be honest I don't know why it gets recommended so much,I'm new to Photoghaphy and up to now (page 50) it has not told me anything that your camera manual won't,I hope it's not all the same as I've got another 140 pages to go.
 
snigg said:
I've just got the book "Under standing exposure" and have to say if the comment above is anything to go by "You can stop after 20 pages though, its more of the same." then to be honest I don't know why it gets recommended so much,I'm new to Photoghaphy and up to now (page 50) it has not told me anything that your camera manual won't,I hope it's not all the same as I've got another 140 pages to go.
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Ah well, :bang: lot more in depth and fun to learn (y) and creativeness
 
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snigg said:
then to be honest I don't know why it gets recommended so much,
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Does you camera manual have the picture of Mrs Peterson in a Bikini?

In all seriousness all I can say is Understanding Exposure helped me understand the basics. Although the camera manual explained it all a very technical level understanding exposure went a few steps down the how it works in practice route.
 
For those looking to get Understanding Exposure, do note that that there is a third edition out since summer - August perhaps? Some book shops still have the 2004 edition as do a number of online retailers.

As for other books, I found the Scott Kelby "Digital Photography" series 1-3 helpful as an absolute beginner.
 
I have found this site a really great place to look for books. While it won't point you in the direction of a beginners book, you can read all the Amazon reviews if you want to know more.

I love looking around this site!!
 
The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman gives a good understanding of the elements of composition :)
 
Worth checking what your libary has as well, i didnt think it worthwhile buying the basic books as once youve read through them you`ll want to progress onto ones that are more advanced that are worth buying to use for reference in the future.
 
Islander said:
The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman gives a good understanding of the elements of composition :)
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Just Dave said:
Hi
Bryan Peterson - Understanding Exposure (Revised Edition)
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specialman said:
'Light: Science & Magic' - if you're into knowing about how you can make light work for you.
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+1 on all three of these, and in this order - composition is far more important than technical details of exposure with a modern camera. There's a million and one technically brilliant crap photos about.


I would avoid the DSLR for Dummies book at all costs. I looked through a friends copy a couple of years ago, and other than being overly basic it actually managed to get some stuff completely wrong. It emphasised "being understood" over "being correct". A book that would give you bad habits. But maybe they've revised it since :shrug:
 
i was in a similar position 6 months ago and can give a big thumbs up for 'Collins complete photography course' about £10 on Amazon
covers all aspects of photography and has projects at the end of each chapter to get you out there and practice
have also read
'Digital photography book' by Kelby which is a good taster but doesn't cover everything you'd want
'Digital photography masterclass' by Ang - more indepth and excellent array of pictures to inspire
hope this helps
 
if you don't want to spend a lot of money, PC World-Currys are offering 25% off photography books, I got Doug Harman's Digital Photography Handbook for £5.24 i.e not much more than the cost of a magazine. I bought it mainly for the sections on digital enhancement.
 
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