The Digital Photography Handbook

by David Harman

The "Digital Photographer's handbook" is a comprehensive beginner's guide, assuming no prior knowledge. It brings together the best of classical photography techniques and the unrivalled potential of digital technology. The author has been a photography magazine journalist for 15 years and has extensive knowledge and an easy, jargon-free writing style. Going Digital - the basics, including choosing a camera and equipment, setting up, taking shots and camera care Using your Digital Camera - tips for taking great photographs, with inspirational ideas for every portraits, holidays, weddings, children, flora & fauna, abstracts, etc. The Digital Darkroom - improving, adapting and rescuing images on a basic, advanced and professional techniques. Output - getting the best end result, on-line or in print, and creating a portfolio.

Genres: Photography, Reference, Nonfiction, Computers

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Debbie]

I've been looking at a number of digital photography books over the past couple of years to give me some extra confidence that I'm on the right track with my photography. On some occasions I feel that the books don't break things down enough, or don't start off at a basic enough level to really draw me in.

It's a shame that I didn't buy this book when I first started reading, as it's quite basic, it breaks things down into simple chunks, it gives some fairly decent hints and tips in bullet points, and it has some photographic examples of what it's talking about.

As I've been reading a number of other books, this was maybe a little too early/basic for me now, but it was still nice to have something to go over the basics again, and remind me of things I may have forgotten.

If you're looking to make your photos a little better, with any type of camera - phone, point and shoot, dSLR, etc, and you're just getting into it, I'd recommend this book as a quick read just to get you some basic pointers.

[Kristin]

This is an interesting book that has lots of helpful tips. However some points that where made where fairly obvious and other parts of the book used technical language without really explaining the meaning of the words despite a glossary being included.
Unfortunately the instructions for photo editing only apply to photoshop and no other software.

[Graeme]

It is as other reviews suggest a beginners guide, giving the basics but not really expanding. It is however worthwhile reading, i found it interesting being self taught with photography and it has allowed me to understand the basics more clearly. There's some tips in here worth learning.

[Lanae]

This is a great basic how-to for photography! This provides many helpful hints for framing great photos.

[Mark Mathes]

Useful basic book. Visual. Good for those with their first DSLR. Not as detailed at the Dummies series for specific Nikon, Canon models, nor the classic Time Life thematic volumes in the film era.

[Rich B]

I have to use digital photography for work sometimes, so was looking for a good overview book on the topic.

It mostly does that job well as it takes you through 4 broad areas. It covers choosing a camera and equipment, using the camera, working with the digital darkroom and how you work with the outputs. The organisation and lay-out is good, the writing style is clear and easy to follow, and it has plenty of examples.

If you’re a complete beginner, it gives you a good structure of the areas you need to learn to get better at digital photography.

However, while the breadth is good, it lacks depth in some sections. The digital darkroom section where he goes through step-by-step instructions on certain tasks also feels padded out in places. There’s quite a lot of repetitive “open the file you need” and “save the file when you’re done” for example, which are quite basic and obvious to anyone who’s ever used a computer.

The other sections are stronger though, with the “using your camera” section the pick of the bunch. There’s good content on areas like lighting, exposure and composition for example. This won’t turn you into an expert, but you’ll learn enough to know what to look for if you want to learn more.

It’s a solid introductory book to the subject, but definitely aimed at beginners. It’s a good first book to learn about photography. But people who know more about the subject might find it too basic.

[Annabelle]

An ideal book for photographers like me, who transitioned from regular DSLRs (Nikon F401) to digital (Nikon F90 and a milieu of lenses: telephoto, bokeh, ultra wide angle). Which meant a prior knowledge of the basics: framing, depths of field, shutter speed, aperture (f/stops), exposure compensation. Most certainly, this is a book that has served me well.

[Ricardo Zappala]

Dicas e ilustrações preciosas para aprendermos muito sobre o mundo da fotografia. A partir desse livro, é possível gerar fotos incríveis e tomar as devidas precauções com equipamento, arquivos e muito mais!

[Ayten Safarli]

Does a great job on giving a basic overview

[Rads]

A lot of the tips are still valid and helpful (in 2024) Covers the basics of photography quite well. Some of the advice is hilariously outdated. (As expected because tech evolves so fast)

[Samantha]

The BEST Digital Photography guide that I have ever read! It includes expert adivce on types of cameras, computers and accessories, memory, pixels, exposure, lighting, special effects, printing, emailing images & even getting them on the web. It's nicely illustrated through-out the book and you can follow along easily with the step-by-step guide. Can be used by beginners and intermediate level photographers; I certainly learned a lot!

[Nadine]

as a beginner's book this is a great start, but for the more professional photographer, look elsewhere unless you want some pleasant reading.
i found that the info on what computers, memory, printers and scanners to buy was a waste of time. he could have used those pages for more info on lighting or more projects.
but other than that, considering the quality, the info and the price this was a worthy buy.

[Cess Que]

My older brother gave this book to me. It's a good guide for beginners (I'm a beginner). But I guess for the more advanced, this will lack some tricks. Maybe that's why my older brother gave it to me, he was done with the gradeschool stuff. Though it's not too elementary, it's a good guide. You'll get your money's worth.

[Craig]

An excellent primer for a beginner looking to get a bit more out of their digital photography.

[Chris]

This is such an easy step by step book loved it.

[Jose C.]

Una guia para principiantes, practica y facil de seguir.

[Rachel Redhead]

it was a gift