Complete Guide to Digital Photography

by Ian Farrell

Complete Guide to Digital Photography [Paperback] Farrell, Ian

Genres: Photography, Reference, Nonfiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Gianfranco Nerdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is pretty decent, but I have a couple of complaints. The so-called "exposure triangle" is not, in my opinion, properly explained, and basically, instead of a proper explanation, among the first thing a person learns after opening the book is how to make a pinhole camera. Seriously? A guy just bought a DSLR and you're asking him to drill a hole through the lens cap? I know these can be bought for 10-15$ (maybe more), and that one would be an idiot to try this without having a replacement cap, but geez, a pinhole camera? The only thing a novice needs to know, and properly master, is the exposure triangle, nothing more. Things like what happens at a wider aperture like f/1.8 (purple fringing, spherical aberration, vignetting, etc.) and what the "sweet spot" of a lens is, and how to avoid diffraction. Perhaps a couple of lens comparisons, just to understand the difference in quality between a kit lens and a professional one. The Sunny 16 rule, which might come in handy, and a quick mention of the zone system, perhaps later on in the book. But no, almost none of this is mentioned, and for a mention of purple fringing one must wait until the second half of the book. The book itself can be divided into two parts: one about using the camera, and the other about post-processing techniques. The first part is OK but nothing exceptional (see complaint above), and the second part has, so far, not been very useful to me, as I don't use Photoshop or Lightroom and tend to keep my edits down to a minimum. I think I'd rather recommend Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure to a novice, his pages on diffraction have been especially useful, though as of this writing I've only skimmed through it, I confess; it's slightly long-winded, but explains things rather well. Also, for lens reviews and comparisons, watch Christopher Frost's videos on Youtube, and don't forget to follow Bryan Peterson on Instagram, he is such a great instructor.

[Katie Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I loved the book, I feel as though it didn't deserve a full five stars because it covered a minimal amount of cameras and stuck to one kind more than others; Nikon. Also, in the photoshop-ing chapter, it assumed you had either a Mac or Apple computer. I feel as though it should have mentioned Dell.

The book itself was wonderful for a beginning photographer to learn the basics or at least have a great start to figure it out on their own camera.

[Alan Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book.
It covers all the topics that I was looking for - photography techniques, camera hardware and image manipulation. The writing style is good and very informative.

If you are new to photography and are looking for a book that covers all you will need to know, then this is the book for you.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library and I kind of wanted to pinch it because it's that good. I won't though!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to photographic techniques enhanced by excellent assignments at the end of each section encouraging the reader to put the theory into practice.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for beginners. Would have preferred it with less emphasis on post editing

[Sen Dil]

k

[John Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introductory book