Photography Books

Photoshop CS3 is the industry standard, I am an amatuer Photographer and found it easy to learn and use. Plenty on tutorials online to help.

Anyone learning photoshop for the first time, or upgrading to CS3, should get this book and read it through. Even if you are proficient in previous versions, this book opens up new concepts and introduces the reader to new tools, not available in previous versions of Adobe Photoshop. This book will truly increase productivity and improve quality.

This book and CD works very well by having you actually do the lessons from the CD so you practice as you read. This is an excellent way to learn. It has been very helpful.

This product was not quiet as good as promised, but very close. The shipping was fast and the price was great.

I previously took a Photoshop class and really did not feel I had a very good understanding of the program. This book takes you step by step through th program. I think I learned more from the book than I did the class!

I was looking for a true beginner's book to digital photography and this book came up first on Amazon and with so many great reviews I decided I needed to head to the bookstore and really look through this book in person. I was somewhat disappointed when I discovered this is not quite a true beginner's book but does include tips when shooting in certain situations. Each page presents a scenario which then offers tips/tricks/solution IF you were presented with the issue.
While reading through this I did pick up some tips to keep in mind but not enough for me to actually buy the book.

If you want a completely non-technical approach to shooting better (great?) shots in various common senarios (eg outdoors, weddings, flowers, sports, etc), this is exactly the right book for you. It's a short read, but you'll have a hard time remembering all the valuable things that are in this book!

One of the reviews mentions here mention how the author uses some weird humor in chapter intros, but don't let that distract you. The author admits he wrote most of those intros while smashed, and I believe it. If you want, just ignore the chapter infos. The tips are definitely very valuable.

As the cover suggests, this is mainly for people with dslr's, so you're not going to get the most out of this book unless you already have one (or are planning to purchase a new one). Those with lesser cameras will still benefit from this book, but as this book makes clear, (digital) photography can be a very expensive hobby.

I have been unable to put the book down. I read a bit, go shoot some pictures and beging the process over. I had worked in the business in a prior life and have had a lot of experience with film DSLR and large format equipment. This is a great transition for someone who is now back into photography and making the big switch to Digital.

Take this little book on every photo trip you go on because you won't know what to do without it. Each page has one "how to" technique on it. Look up what you want to do, say "I want the background sharp" & he tells you what to do, if you need the technical reason you can look it up later in another book. This is a have to have.

Scott Kelby books are my favorites!
Scott answers all of my questions at the exact moment I have them.
It is like talking to a friend.
Yes, his humour at times drags you down BUT you can always just skip the first chapter of each section and ta da, you have everything you need without the distractions. (or read the whole thing and chuckle away).
Amazing color photos. Tricks and hints abound in this book and volume 2.
I highly recommend any beginner and advance photo bugs out there to buy these two volumes.
I read them both very quickly and use them for constant reference.

I've been a shutter bug for years but only recently stepped up to a DSLR. This book has really helped me understand setting up a shot properly. Extremely helpful with understanding the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I can't recommend it enough for amateurs.

I bought this for my husband as a gift and he really liked it. He said that it was very helpful, a good book for beginning photographers, and contained beautiful photographs.

The is is the definite topic explained,a must for anyone who asks the question ....How Why etc


cheers

This one is a classic .... Highly recommended for those who want to learn more about 'creative exposures'

This book instantly made me a better photographer. I went out and practiced shallow depth of field and nighttime tricks from the book.

It was wonderful - lots of tips that I would have never thought about before reading

Excellent books for the amateur SLR digital camera photographer - just what I was looking for!

I love Scott Kelby books!
He writes in a manner the beignner and intermediate photographer can understand.
He reads my thoughts as we go along and answers my questions the moment they pop into my head!
His wit at times does get a bit monotonous IF you are reading for facts.
If so, then just skip the veryu first page of each chapter.
If you find you need a bit of comic relief, then read the whole book.
It is a book I will constantly be refereing to til I am an old hand at photography.
Don't forget to buy volume one as it is invaluable!

This is the second book in the series. Everything he says is practical and help/ed me a lot. However, I think he will write until book #10 or who knows #20. And you would spend US$200.00 to have the whole collection.
So I quit now! Why he does not issue such a book of, lets say 500 pages, and charge us one time only!!
Otherwise it would be TOO Expensive for me.

This book has some good (but basic) information. I recommend it for beginners only. Kelby's tone gets very old very fast, despite his knowledge.

A great book. Well documented "How to's" and a very good index which makes it easy to find a proceedure.

Read J Boones description for an accurate take on Scotts book.
BUT the only thing I disagree with is I like the humour aspect.
I love Scotts books.
The way he writes.
I find it easy to follow.
I found I was talking aloud as I read this book.
I would say "Huh?!" and in the very next sentence Scott would write, "I bet you are saying HUH? right now"
Then he would go and clearly explain to me what it was I was having a hard time grasping.
Scott writes in a a way a teacher does who knows the thoughts of his students.
I highly recommend this as a fanastic book to all us beginners and intermediate level photographers.
I am constatnly using it for reference.

This is a great book. I have improved my photoshop skills enormously and will be purchasing more books from this author.

Everyone needs a little help with Adobe PhotoShop CS3. This book touches on many different areas. Another helpful book is Adobe PhotoShop CS Down and Dirty Tricks. Both work very well together.

To me a review is most meaningful when you know a little something about the person writing the review. I have been an avid amateur photographer since the late 1970's and have been selling my work since 2004. Photography isn't my day job, but it does provide a welcome supplement. I shot with a Canon 1D Mark II Professional Digital SLR from 2003 until May of 2008. I recently switched to a Nikon D3 and while the files do have a different look directly out of the camera, in the end both systems provide wonderful images once they have been worked in post process. When I last wrote a review I was doing all most all of my post processing work in Photoshop, but my workflow has evolved significantly since the introduction of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and make extensive use of the abundant educational materials available on the member website. I have read well over three-dozen Photoshop training guides with one overriding goal in mind; producing the best images possible.

The Photoshop CS3 book fore Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby is THE book I recommend to anyone that is new to Photoshop and feeling overwhelmed by the program. I have worked extensively in Photoshop since 2001, and I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of what the program is capable of offering. The learning curve with Photoshop is formidable. This book is the best guide I have found for getting you up and running quickly and effectively. Don't think that it is only for newbies however; there are many great tips for users of all experience levels throughout the entire book.

You won't find a great deal of Photoshop wizardry in this book, but that's not the point. This book is dedicated to explaining the basics, and helping you really master the underpinnings of Photoshop so that when you ready to take it to the next level you are doing so from a rock solid foundation. Having said that there is a tremendous amount of material covered in this book. You will learn how to handle numerous real world problems that every photographer faces at one time or another.

In a nutshell the books walks you through how to setup the program so that it works intuitively for you. Next you learn how to import and organize your images so you will be able to find them later. Once you are able to upload, store and retrieve your images then you start to learn how to correct the myriad of technical problems that are typical with digital photography. At the end there are several chapters dedicated to preparing your images for printing including numerous suggestions for ways to present your work like a pro.

There are 457 pages, most of which are written in classic Scott Kelby form. If you have never read one of Scott's books you are either in for a treat or will find yourself groaning... a lot. I happen to really enjoy his writing style, which is good because he is a prolific writer and consummate educator. If you have a thirst for Photoshop knowledge you will come across his work again and again.

I copied the next few lines directly from my review of Layers by Matt Kloskowski, because it sums up this book just as accurately. Like everything the Kelby team does, the layout appeals to the visual senses immediately. The images and examples throughout the book are well done and demonstrate real world examples of how to correct or enhance your images in Photoshop.

I'll repeat myself to make certain you come away with a clear understanding of how strongly I recommend this book. Scott Kelby far and away writes the best guides to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom that I have ever come across. His are the first books to buy when faced with learning either program.

Martins update to his book for Lightroom 1 is a very thorough and comprehensive guide to the new features and capabilities of Lightroom 2. It is extremely well written, covers everything you need to learn as either someone new to the program or as someone upgrading from the previous version. There are many sidebars and anecdotal tidbits giving some insight into the process of how the program was developed.

I assumed that a 624-page book would go into great detail about the best new feature of Lightroom 2, the adjustment brush. There is one paragraph. Hardly a mention. Martin Evening is a famous fashion photographer. I guess his photos need a lot less editing than mine. Maybe this book is really for professional photographers with make-up artists and lighting crews. You'll learn a lot more about the new Lightroom features watching the excellent podcasts at 'Lightroom for Digital Photographers'...

I ordered this because it was the only Lightroom 2 book available at the time. I have read the Kelby books in the past and feel they are more solution oriented. This Adobe book is more about how to use the program and does a very good job.

This is the best book I've read so far on Lightroom. I haven't yet any other book on LR2, but many on LR1.
This book by Martin Evening has very clear and detailed explanations and covers not only how but also why to do something.
I read the book in one weekend and since then, I am constantly looking things up and trying it out.

I've rarely read such a good technical book. If you want to fully master LR2, then this is your book.

My review is going to be short and sweet, as the others here have written far more and better than I could. Having just received my book, and just gotten through part of it, I would say that it's well worth the price. I have one other book by Mr. Evening, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS, 7.0, and this book is just as detailed and helpful. I don't even have the software yet, but wanted to get a jump on Rev 2 of Lightroom, and the book appears to point out the new features of the new Lightroom, compared to the previous revision, a great help for those who have been using the older software. I'll update this review if I find anything to change my initial opinion, but it looks great so far. Highly recommended.

A fun book to read to learn about how types we're created (author and history).
Really like it.
I guess only people in the graphic design world will like this book.

I like this book a great deal. The next time I have a chance to use this in a class (to teach) I will. There are lots of good examples, the language is clear, and it's not too ethereal or esoteric. I think it's a great introduction to typography and laid out very well.

It's informative, it's inspirational, it's philosophically engaging, it's warm and welcoming. But it might not turn you into a master typographer.

A beautiful read, this book presents history and theory into well-thought, easy to swallow bite-sized chunks. Along with exercises, this kinda gives it away as a student's textbook, which might be less than what you're after, if you're a working designer wanting to advance your typographic skills. It might still worth getting the book. Did you knew Gutenberg used alternate glyphs and ligatures? I know now. Smart guy, this Gutenberg.

A nice book for bathroom reading, but hardly a desk reference or textbook caliber tome. Look for "Design form and Communication" by Rob Carter for a more thorough source on all things type related. Pick this one up for 10 min refresher reading while you're..killing time.

I love type, but I lack an educated background on its use. I was so looking forward to learning about such details as when to prefer a sans-serif versus a serif in certain situations, how people react to various different families of faces, prescriptions for when to apply different types of layouts, and so forth.

When I got was a partially complete history lesson on how different types of faces and families evolved, an introduction to grid layouts with very little prescriptive advice, and weirdly, a brief editorial primer teaching how to mark up the printed page with pen.

To its credit, the book is full of examples of layouts. As I read, I expected any minute I'd penetrate the entry level "Here we see an example of a layout" to the real meat, but it never ever happened.

To the author's credit, the book was meticulously assembled and was clearly the product of a great deal of effort. And, this is not the first design-related book I've discovered that lacked meaningful depth.

But to any practicing designer looking for some guidance for taking their use of type to the next level, or understanding beyond his own innate instincts when to apply certain techniques, this is not the book for you. In fact, I'm not sure who this book is for.

I've received and read the book, and enjoy the content. However, compared to many other books in the marketplace, I'm having a hard time comprehending where there is over $100 worth of value. It seems that everytime something is written by an academic and presented as a textbook, regardless of the content or quality, that the price is jacked up by 3 to 4 times what it is really worth. I'd suggest looking for a used version of this book unless you really want a pristine copy to show off to others.

This book is pretty comprehensive. I am using it for a basic photography class. It covers a lot of subjects, but none in great detail. The newer versions actually covers a bit of digital photography as well.

This was a required text for my Photography 101 class and well worth the price ($20 less here than at the college book store). This book covers all the basics of photography tog et you started and the information is clearly illustrated by accompanying photos. This will be one I'll definitely be keeping as a reference.

textbook needed for photography class. Its new and arrived on time. One can also be satisfied with the older edition of the book- especially for a beginner.

This is the book! If you are studying for the CPP test this is the one. It is comprehensive to a fault. The explanations of photo concepts are complete and easy to understand. The only problem is that the book is so big that it is falling apart. Wish me luck on the test!

This book sets out the principles for composition and visual construction of photos brilliantly. A variety of shots for each topic are shown, explaining why the 'bad' ones don't look quite right and for the 'good' photos the secret to the composition is explained.

The book starts out with the basics of composition. Each subsequent chapter builds on previous chapters; capitalizing on the lessons learned. The sample pictures are excellent and clearly demonstrate the chapter's lesson. Whether you're an amateur or a professional, as I am, you will learn from this book. It has become a permanent part of my library and will be something I refer back to over and over again. There are not that many good books about composition and this one stands head and shoulders above the others.

This is the photography book I've been hunting for on the shelves all these years! It pairs the much broader area of Art Composition down the essentials that apply to photography. It returns to the theme of photography's inherint compositional constraints. No hyper-facination with equipment or equipment settings. I know I don't think like an artist, but I've always wanted the photography specific aspects of composition made accessible to me - in that respect this book knocked my socks off.

I had to give this book 5 stars if only for the photos. This is a visually stunning book, especially from a photographer's perspective. The author tells you how he achieved each photograph both technically and asthetically (he explains why this makes a good photograph). He really teaches you by showing you and does not assume you know a lot about photography, which is perfect for me. He also gives you extensive lessons on using Photo Shop to enhance or even completely alter your photographs.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in getting the most out of their camera and learning some digital editing skills.

This was a great read for anyone interested in what makes powerful pictures. This is an organized discussion on the elements that make people take interest in a photo.

There is very little discussion of the technical aspects of photography and no discussion of megapixels or anything like that.