The Photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

By Michael Freeman 
 

Product Description

Design is the single most important factor in creating a successful photograph. The ability to see the potential for a strong picture and then organize the graphic elements into an effective, compelling composition has always been one of the key skills in making photographs.
Digital photography has brought a new, exciting aspect to design – first because the instant feedback from a digital camera allows immediate appraisal and improvement; and second because image-editing tools make it possible to alter and enhance the design after the shutter has been pressed. This has had a profound effect on the way digital photographers take pictures.
The Photographer’s Eye shows how anyone can develop the ability to see and shoot great digital photographs. The book explores all the traditional approaches to composition and design, but crucially, it also addresses the new digital technique of shooting in the knowledge that a picture will later be edited, manipulated, or montaged to result in a final image that may be very different from the one seen in the viewfinder.

Features
*Covers both traditional in-camera composition and the new opportunities for picture-making made possible by digital imaging editing
*Shows how to explore situations and locations in order to find the best possible photographic possibilities
*Uses clear examples from real photographic assignments, with schematic illustrations of how and why the pictures work

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #590 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
“Focal Press continues with its excellent repertoire of groundbreaking books educating readers in the aer & technique of photography.”

“Beautifully presented with genrous and helpful color illustrations, this book is a very affordable addition to the library of the serious photographer.”
-Candian Camera (Feb. 08)

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Customer Reviews

Worthwhile and Well Done
This is an instructional book that makes no pretense of being the last or only word on the subject. The author does a good job of illustrating the techniques and values involved in creating good photography according to established practice. At the same time you are reminded that the subject is artistry and that no rules exist.

What I like most about the book, even more than the attractive layout, is the clear relationship between the written descriptions of ideas and the examples shown. I’ve been an amateur photographer for decades and have “learned” most of the concepts in the past but I find this book a fresh look with new ways of viewing most of the basics upon which good pictures are made.

As far as I’ve read this book is fantastic
I had seen this book’s pictures and notes on the photos it has before I bought it, now Im happy to find out that this guy writes very well and clear. The book is based on desing principles and theory more than other things. It helps the photographer to have a better idea of why and how images work and how they impact. The book its packed with info on all pages.

I highly recomend it

Awesome
Great book! Loved the simplicity and extremely educative for novice photographers like me. Loved the clean and crisp language, very well composed book, just like the concepts it talks about.

Love it!

The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters (Voices That Matter)

By Joe McNally

Product Description

THE FIRST BOOK WITH ONE FOOT ON THE COFFEE TABLE, AND ONE FOOT IN THE
CLASSROOM
Joe McNally, one of the world’s top pro digital photographers, whose celebrated work has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic (to name a few), breaks new ground by doing something no photography book has ever done—blending the rich, stunning images and elegant layout of a coffee-table book with the invaluable training, no-nonsense insights, and photography secrets usually found only in those rare, best-of-breed educational books.

When Joe’s not on assignment for the biggest-name magazines and Fortune 500 clients, he’s in the classroom teaching location lighting, environmental portraiture, and how to “get the shot” at workshops around the world. These on-location workshops are usually reserved for a handful of photographers each year, but now you can learn the same techniques that Joe shares in his seminars and lectures in a book that brings Joe’s sessions to life.

What makes the book so unique is the “triangle of learning” where (1) Joe distills the concept down to one brief sentence. It usually starts with something like, “An editor at National Geographic once told me…” and then he shares one of those hard-earned tricks of the trade that you only get from spending a lifetime behind the lens. Then, (2) on the facing page is one of Joe’s brilliant images that perfectly illustrates the technique (you’ll recognize many of his photos from magazine covers). And (3) you get the inside story of how that shot was taken, including which equipment he used (lens, f/stop, lighting, accessories, etc.), along with the challenges that type of project brings, and how to set up a shot like that of your own.

This book also gives you something more. It inspires. It challenges. It informs. But perhaps most importantly, it will help you understand photography and the art of making great photos at a level you never thought possible. This book is packed with those “Ah ha!” moments—those clever insights that make it all come together for you. It brings you that wonderful moment when it suddenly all makes sense—that “moment it clicks.”

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #552 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed photographer, whose career has spanned 30 years and included assignments in over 50 countries. Although the majority of his career has been spent shooting for magazines such as Time, Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic, in the mid-1990s Joe served as Life magazine’s staff photographer, the first one in 23 years. He also has shot commercial assignments for Target, Nikon, and Sony, to name a few. Joe is a recipient of the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award and has been honored by Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo, The Art Directors Club, American Photo, Communication Arts, and Graphis. He conducts numerous workshops around the world as part of his teaching activities. One of Joe’s most notable projects, Faces of Ground Zero — Giant Polaroid Collection, has become known as one of the most significant artistic responses to the tragedy at the World Trade Center.

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Customer Reviews

Great pictures, so-so advice, exorbitant price…
The book has won more praise from photographers of all ilk than just about any other book ever, though as I discovered $55 later, Joe McNally’s blue-collar celebrity and incredible photographic versatility don’t guarantee that everything he publishes is as cool as he is. The party line is that the book “has one foot on the coffee table and one in the classroom,” which amounts to two few feet, as I see it; each image is paired with a very soft technical explication that merely suggests that McNally is, in fact, alive (and proud of what he’s done while alive). Sure, the novice with little imagination may feel treated to privileged perspective thumbing through the candied panoply of McNally’s greatest hits, but unless you’re at ground zero with this novice, this book will not elevate your craft at all (even though Joe is cool).

Beyond f/stop and shutter speed
Not for those looking for f/stops and shutter speeds.

It gives you the litle tricks you gain by practicing…

In cooking (and in French) this would be similar to a great cook explaining his “Tours de main”. The little secrets that turn a known recepy into a journey to the realms of scents at tastes…

Could not put it down
The first photography book I’ve read cover to cover in one sitting.
Beautifully written, A lifetimes worth of tips and advice shared in a lighthearted way. The more I reread it the more aha moments I have. Joe Mc Nally is a great phototographer who’s walked the walk.

Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital Photography

[David D. Busch]

Product Description

As the new owner of Canon’s most advanced intermediate digital SLR, you want to get started taking professional-looking photographs using all of the exciting features at your fingertips. “Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital SLR Photography” is a concise introduction and guide to your camera’s essential controls and functions, such as Live View, built-in dust reduction, and the blistering 6.5-frames-per-second continuous shooting mode that is an action photographer’s dream. The book provides detailed instructions showing you how, when, and why to make optimized settings with the Canon EOS 40D’s enhanced menus, which include a half-dozen versatile new custom functions. You’ll learn about the camera’s improved automatic focus, flash synchronization tricks, how to choose lenses that will provide the perspective and effects you want, and which exposure modes are ideal for each picture-taking opportunity. Packed with full-color images and examples that illustrate the recommended techniques and settings for your Canon EOS 40D, this book helps photographers of any skill level begin maximizing their equipment as soon as you open the cover!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #428 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-16
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 324 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
With more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is a best-selling author of books on digital photography and imaging technology, and the originator of popular series like “David Busch’s Pro Secrets” and “David Busch’s Quick Snap Guides.” He has written six hugely successful guidebooks for Nikon digital SLR models, and the most comprehensive manuals for dSLRs from Canon, Sony, and other vendors. His many other books devoted to digital photography include “David Busch’s Digital Infrared Pro Secrets” and “Mastering Digital SLR Photography.” As a roving photojournalist for more than 20 years, he has illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. Busch has operated his own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and upstate New York college. His photographs and articles have been published in magazines as diverse as “PhotoGraphic,” “Popular Photograph & Imaging,” “The Rangefinder,” and hundreds of other publications. He’s also reviewed digital cameras for CNet Networks and Computer Shopper.

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Customer Reviews

Canon EOS 40D guide to digital photography
This book will give you an easier path to learning your camera than the factory enclosed manual. I am only about two-tirds through the book, but so far I am impressed with it. I have upgraded from the 30D to the 40D withouth ever learning all the features of the 30D. I think with this book, I will probably learn more if not all of the features of the camera faster and easier.

An essential accessory
If you want to make the best use of the 40D additional information beyond the manual is essential. The manual won’t tell you why to make certain settings. This book has been a big help for me (new DSLR user) to become more familiar with the capabilities of the 40D.

Great general book for beginners and intermediates, but lacking on details for advanced usage.
I must admit that when I initially flipped through this book after receiving it and then started reading the first two chapters, I was expecting to eventually write a 3-star review for it. Overall, as an experienced EOS 30D user, I would probably still give it a rating of 3 or 3.5 stars, mainly because its target audience seems to be more oriented towards totally new to intermediate users of the 40D in specific, and also users new to DSLRs in general. But I selected this book because it does seem to be the best 40D book on the market right now. For a beginner/intermediate audience, I would easily give it 5 stars. But the book is thin on substance for advanced users, either for advanced users of film cameras switching to digital or advanced users of non-Canon cameras. One of the dilemmas in writing an instructional book like this, as is also the same problem found in some software books on how to use Photoshop, Excel, or how to program code for Web sites, is deciding on what to assume readers already know before reading the book and what readers hope to learn by the time that they finish reading the book. A definitive book on the 40D will let readers wade in from the shallow end as novice point-and-shoot camera users and emerge, by the time they finish the book, as 40D power users confidently swimming in the deep end of expertise and familiarity, and knowing how to efficiently use all of the camera’s settings under various shooting situations. But, alas, there is not a single 40D book out there that fits this bill.

Even though the author mentions several times in the book that he does not want to rehash the owner’s manual, a large part of the first four chapters does basically rehash the owner’s manual, albeit using larger text and photographs. This book is far easier to read than the owner’s manual, but due to weight/bulk considerations, I carry all of the owner’s manuals for my 30D/40D cameras and lenses in my Lowepro Slingshot while this book stays at home.

And so I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because my wish list for the book includes: 1) more in-depth coverage of the all-important creative and manual mode shooting situations; 2) better descriptions of the nuances of the custom function settings as applied to various shooting situations (i.e. not just mainly describing what they do, but explaining more why/when/where a user would want to set a custom function); and 3) more in-depth coverage discussing how to use the supplied software utilities and applications (after all, there are tons of books on Photoshop, but no Canon photography book ever covers much about the included Canon software). I am surprised that guide books written about Canon’s EOS cameras do not spend a full long chapter discussing how to optimally and efficiently use the supplied software that is included with the camera since not everyone will have their own separate Photoshop or DPP software that they already use, and Canon’s DPP software is notably better than most “free with the camera” software that is supplied with other brands of cameras.

Overall, a great book that touches upon lots of topics beyond just pointing out all of the camera’s features, and also going into aperture, shutter speed, and exposure concepts that entire books have been written about. If you are a total DSLR beginner coming from the point-and-shoot camera world, this book will be very helpful in describing how to use all of its dials, buttons, and menus. But if you have reached the intermediate and beyond stage of expertise, the book will not progress you much into the advanced world of manually tweaking settings to get various desired effects and it will not teach you how to compose a great shot; for that, you will have to look elsewhere.

Stone by Design: The Artistry of Lew French

[Lew French]

Product Description

More than 125 gorgeous photographs showcase the beauty of award-winning stonemason Lew French’s work in eight different homes, illustrating how rounded fieldstone, gray slate, rough granite, and even curvy driftwood can be incorporated into stunning pieces of functional art.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap
When Lew French made his first stone fireplace at age nineteen, he didn’t expect to feel so drawn to the simple material. Twenty-eight years and countless projects later, he still feels awed by the presence stone has in a well-designed setting, whether it’s an artfully rendered remodel of a writer’s stone studio, a playful fireplace, or a carefully crafted garden pathway. This first collection of French’s work, filled with artistic inspiration for your own home or landscape, is a study in contrast: contemporary hearths of rustic slate, sculptured walls of both great granite slabs and stacked, rounded fieldstones. More than 130 gorgeous photographs by Alison Shaw illustrate the beauty of French’s pieces and invite you to see how rounded fieldstone, grey slate, rough granite, and even curvy driftwood, are incorporated into stunning pieces of functional art. Throughout, French narrates the charming stories behind the projects: how an idea came to be; how a stone-splitting technique is executed; even how one of his most difficult pieces, a three-year-long project, was saved from ruin just in the nick of time, the day it was completed. Stone by Design is the perfect inspiration for anyone interested in adding the beauty of stone to their own home or landscape. Lew French was born in a small farming town in southern Minnesota, called Zumbrota. He started to work with stone when he had a small construction crew right out of high school and built one or two houses a year. He moved to Martha’s Vineyard twenty years ago, and has since worked on his own stone designs exclusively. His work has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times and House Beautiful. French was also featured as a Modern Master on the premier season of “Modern Masters” in the House and Garden Network. French lives with his two sons, Asa and Truman. Alison Shaw is a fine-art and editorial photographer who lives and works on Martha’s Vineyard, which has provided the inspiration and subject matter for much of her color and black-and-white photography. Over 5000 of her original fine art prints are in public and private collections. Alison’s work appears regularly in Yankee Magazine, Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and Cape Cod Life. She teaches photography workshops for the Maine Photographic Workshops and Santa Fe Workshops. Alison lives with her family in Oak Bluffs.

About the Author
Alison Shaw is a fine-art and editorial photographer who lives and works on Martha’s Vineyard, which has provided the inspiration and subject matter for much of her color and black-and-white photography. Over 5000 of her original fine art prints are in public and private collections. Alison’s work appears regularly in Yankee Magazine, Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and Cape Cod Life.

Lew French was born in a small farming town in southern Minnesota, called Zumbrota. He started to work with stone when he was nineteen years old. He had a small construction crew right out of high school and built one or two houses a year. This is when he started to explore with stone. He moved to Martha’s Vineyard twenty years ago, and for the past twenty years has worked on his own stone designs exclusively. His work has been featured in the New York Times and House Beautiful.

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Customer Reviews

Shows stonework can be true art.
This book is 5 stars all the way. Lew French shows his masterful stonework in the many photos this book provides. If you are interested in what can be done in stone and how stone can be used to create a “WOW FACTOR”, this book is made to order.
Every other page has photos that are “WOW”.
Is you love stone you need to see this book.

Stone By Design
Caught a TV article on Lew French – CBS Sunday Morning. What a fabulous
artist! I bought the book based on the show. The book was not as good
but not bad. It’s still very interesting stuff with some beautiful photography.

True Beauty
This book is pure pleasure. The artfulness in creating the spaces we live in with stone in pattern, an organic extension of this earth. This is not a ‘paint by numbers’ how-to book, rather, like looking at a
Rembrandt, ultimate examples of stone taken to true art.

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)

[Bryan Peterson]

 Product Description

For serious amateur photographers who already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images but want to be more creative with a camera, here’s the book to consult. More than seventy techniques, both popular and less-familiar approaches, are covered in detail, including advanced exposure, bounced flash and candlelight, infrared, multiple images, soft-focus effects, unusual vantage points, zooming, and other carefully chosen ways to enhance photographs. The A-Z format make sit easy for readers to find a specific technique, and each one is explained in jargon-free language. Top Tips for each technique help readers achieve superb results, even on the first attempt.

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 Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

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Customer Reviews

The confidence to switch to M
What a great book! This guide gave me the confidence to switch off of Auto and really put my camera through the paces. Great insight, pretty easy explanations, and beautiful pictures.

My only 2 negatives, and neither were promised, so they don’t count against the rating:
1. Written (even in the revised version) heavily leaning to film photographers. Not to say there isn’t a lot of commentary on pros and cons of digital, and some specific advice pertaining to them, but you’d be even happier with the book if you were shooting on a 20-year-old Nikon.
2. No commentary or advice on the use of flash. Not expecting a comprehensive guide (because there can be a lot to it), but some basic pointers would have been good.

Overall, well worth the time and money.
Off to shoot…

Puts the how to of photography into plain words
I’m glad this is the first “how to” book on photography that I purchased. It provides in clear words the effect your shutter speed and aperture have on obtaining the correct exposure. It also explains in an easy to understand manner why a photographer would occasionally want to go with different settings for a more creative exposure. Also it has great photos to help explain how the different settings will help you obtain similar types of work. I would highly recommend this book as a good starting point for beginning photographers. It should provide a good basic understanding of how cameras work before moving on to more advanced books.

Great Book
This is a great book and a must read, at least for the beginning photographer. It definitely helped me in taking better exposures.

2 thumps up

Oscar

The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2

[Scott Kelby]

Product Description

Scott Kelby, author of the groundbreaking bestseller “The Digital Photography Book, Vol. 1” is back with an entirely new book that picks up right where Vol. 1 left off. It’s more of that “Ah ha—so that’s how they do it,” straight-to-the-point, skip the techno jargon; packed with stuff you can really use today, that made Vol. 1 the world’s bestselling book on digital photography.

In Volume 2, Scott adds entirely new chapters packed with Plain English tips on using flash, shooting close up photography, travel photography, shooting people, and even how to build a studio from scratch, where he demystifies the process so anyone can start taking pro-quality portraits today! Plus, he’s got full chapters on his most requested topics, including loads of tips for landscape photographers, wedding photographers, and there’s an entire chapter devoted to sharing some of the pro’s secrets for making your photos look more professional, no matter what you’re shooting.

This book truly has a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: “If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, ‘When I use my flash, the background behind the person I’m shooting turns black. How do I fix that?’ I wouldn’t give you a lecture on flash ratios, or start a discussion on flash synchronization and rear curtain sync. I’d just say “Lower your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. That should do it” Well, that’s what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend—without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak.”

Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you’re tired of taking shots that look “okay,” and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you.

This isn’t a book of theory—full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it. With nearly another 200 of the most closely guarded photographic “tricks of the trade,” this book gets you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos every time.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User and Layers magazines. Scott serves as training director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the technical chair of the largest Photoshop gathering in the industry, Photoshop World. He has written numerous best-selling creative technology books.

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Customer Reviews

Lots of great tips
Ever wanted to sit down with a great photographer and and ask a bunch of questions, about how they got those great shots? That is exactly what this book is. It a conversation about how to get those perfect shots. He discusses various techniques, and equipments, giving you the pros and cons of the different options.

Be ready to go take some pictures! These are practical, hands on tips that you need to practice and learn to apply. There is very little theory here, it’s one page one technique, next page something different. Something like an apprenticeship, get this, do that, don’t ask why, it’s not important. Here is how you do this technique.

Well worth the money for a someone who understands how the camera works and wants to learn how to make different types of shots “LIKE A PRO”.

the digital photography- great
this is a great book for beginners. Straight to the point and with some good tips. The humor wasn’t too much and it was like getting advice from a buddy. I recommend it for amateurs. More advance shooters should look elsewhere but you never know there might be a little trick in there for you too.

For Novice, Amatuer, or Professional Photographer alike
I really like the presentation and layout of this book! I’ve got other books by Scott Kelby and I like them as well. I know some people have knocked his attempts at adding humor to the publications. Overall, the information is definitely useful and worthwhile. I bought two copies of this book. I gave one to a friend in Ireland who does wedding photography. He thought that it was brilliant! He’s a very talented photographer but was still fascinated with the contents of the book. My point is that beginner to advanced can learn something that they previously did not know. Highly recommended.

The Digital Photography Book

[Scott Kelby]

 

Product Description

Scott Kelby, the man who changed the “digital darkroom” forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography–how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today’s top digital pros use (and it’s easier than you’d think).

This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: “If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, ‘Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?’ I wouldn’t stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I’d just say, ‘Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.’ You d say, ‘OK,’ and you’d get the shot. That’s what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak.”

This isn’t a book of theory—it isn’t full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic “tricks of the trade” to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.

Here’s another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There’s never been a book like it, and if you’re tired of taking shots that look “OK,” and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User and Layers magazines. Scott serves as training director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the technical chair of the largest Photoshop gathering in the industry, Photoshop World. He has written numerous best-selling creative technology books.

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Customer Reviews

Can this book help you take better photos? Yes!
I bought this book after purchasing my camera, but didn’t review it closely enough.
When I had a specific need to get some good shots, I went back to this book and studied it closely.

The learning and depth really occurs with the explanation of the manual settings on most popular brands.
Namely, White balance, ISO (film speed), shutter speeds, F stops and Burst mode, for quick sequential shots.

Understanding these settings, and practicing with your camera, will improve your photographs. You can then return to the book, for a better understanding of the tips.

Many times, I’m trying to recapture exactly what my eyes are seeing at the moment not end up with something that is starkly lit by a “flash bulb”. These settings, with the help of the book will give you a good understanding (or at least a lot of practice will) of how to capture the moment.
I never realized how much better shots can be without the flash. Users really need to try to force themselves away from the “auto” setting on their camera, except for the MOST basic shots.

With storage space so cheap, it’s so much easier than the days of film and film processing to get the practice you need.

The downside of the book is that it tries to cover almost too much info. (lenses, filters, kids & old people) I think some of this could have been left out, and focus around manual settings could have been covered in better depth.

I think the book is a very good starting point, and should also be used as an ongoing reference until you are comfortable with your brand of camera and its settings.

Go with a book the author recommends
After reading the reviews here on Amazon I have to say I was highly disappointed in this book. Instead I would recommend Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) which the author of this book recommends himself.

This book is full of lame jokes about shoving other photographers down and breaking their equipment to “get the best shot.” There is no clear explanation of how shutter speed and aperture work together to give you the proper exposure. If any of my family or friends asked me if I thought this was a good book on photography, I would tell them to avoid it at all costs.

Great book if you wnat to improve your photography
This is a great book if you want to improve your photography. To move to the next level of photography, you need to read this book. Scott is witty and this book shows you different ways to really great shots. K. Frank