Sunday, September 14, 2008

Product Reviews - The Complete Idiots Guide to Photography Essentials

Ok, let's talk photography. You love taking pictures right?

That digital camera is awesome and you get instant satisfaction on seeing the thousands of photos right away. I know, I know me too.

This book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Photography Essentials by Mark Jenkinson is a necessary read for anyone who loves taking pictures.

What I loved the most is how basic (well, I guess the fact that it's an idiots guide should have been my first clue) and fundamental this book is.

I must admit, I hate reading well, non-novel (heck, is that even a word) books . I hate reading about how something works or how to learn something, self help books kill me. I just want to jump in and use, do, learn. I don't want to read about it.

I read this book from cover to cover. Why? Because not only do you get basic knowledge like understanding the basic science behind how a camera works but you get tips on everything from editing your images, to shooting in any kind of light and everything in between.

Things like:
  • Use of light and shadow
  • The difference between shooting in film and shooting digital
  • Angle
  • The difference between JPEG's and RAW files
  • Vantage points
  • Composition (the rule of 3rds - I am totally using this rule when I shoot these days)
  • Adjusting depth of field
  • Shooting moving objects
  • and more
My favorite part of the book, were all the pictures 150 total. Using pictures with a description is a great learning tool.

Reading this book is like taking a photography class. This is a must have for anyone who wants to take amazing pictures.

It also made me want to return to my beloved expensive 35mm sitting in a protective bag in the closet. As Mark states, can you really


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2 comments:

  1. Can I leave the comment here?
    Every time I clicked on the part of your other blog that says "go HERE and enter", a site about bible colleges came up and crashed my computer 3 times.

    Thanks for the heads up via email that I commented in the wrong place.

    I just was hoping for an ipod skin for my husband, maybe with a picture of our boys on it :)

    onlycancan at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just wanted to stop by and say thanks again for stopping by my blog. Hope you stop by again!

    ReplyDelete

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