Rating: 
Summary: Best Digital Photography Book I've Seen
Review: This is a real photography book! I've purchased eight or nine "digital photography" books before and most of them emphasized the digital aspect more than photography. They seem to have been written by Photoshop gurus who know a lot about image editing and very little about honest-to-gosh photography.This book is big enough and thick enough to deal with all the topics I wanted to read about. There's the usual material about how digital cameras work, and some helpful chapters on image editing, but the most useful parts are the photography chapters in the middle. These chapters seem to have been written by an actual professional photographer with tons of experience with digital cameras. There are tips about lighting, posing, shooting close-ups, and taking pictures for publication. Everything is written with the special needs of digital cameras in mind. For example, I've had problems shooting sports photos because of the noticeable lag between the time that I press the shutter button and when my digital camera finally takes the photo. The author addresses this problem, along with many other digital camera peculiarities, such as the noise problems you get when you use higher ISO ratings to increase sensor sensitivity. Even though some of the advice is fairly technical in nature, the author never resorts to jargon. Everything is explained quite clearly in terms that even a beginner can understand. I never really understood why selective focus was so difficult to achieve with a digital camera until I read the explanation here. I recommend this book for all photographers, from beginner to advanced. The neophyte can learn how to vastly improve their skills, and even veteran photo hobbyists will learn something.
Rating:
Summary: True All-in-One Reference for Digital Photography!
Review: This is one all-in-one book that is truly comprehensive! I was surprised at both the breadth and depth of coverage. I really liked the approach, too. The first section, "Book I" contains chapters that quickly summarize the essentials of digital photogaphy and image editing, providing both overviews and helpful advice. This part would make a pretty good stand-alone pocket reference on its own. The same topics are covered in more depth in later chapters of the book, but without needless repetition. The later sections pick up where the introductory chapters leave off.
Book II is a useful set of chapters on building your own digital photography studio, with lots of advice on selecting equipment and accessories. Book III has pro-level advice on taking great photos, with long, detailed chapters on close-up photography, sports, travel, portraiture, and shooting for publication. The other books show you how to edit and restore digital photographs with applications like Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, and Paint Shop Pro.
All in all, I loved this book. If you're going to buy only one book on digital photography, this is the one you need.
Rating:
Summary: True All-in-One Reference for Digital Photography!
Review: This is one all-in-one book that is truly comprehensive! I was surprised at both the breadth and depth of coverage. I really liked the approach, too. The first section, "Book I" contains chapters that quickly summarize the essentials of digital photogaphy and image editing, providing both overviews and helpful advice. This part would make a pretty good stand-alone pocket reference on its own. The same topics are covered in more depth in later chapters of the book, but without needless repetition. The later sections pick up where the introductory chapters leave off.
Book II is a useful set of chapters on building your own digital photography studio, with lots of advice on selecting equipment and accessories. Book III has pro-level advice on taking great photos, with long, detailed chapters on close-up photography, sports, travel, portraiture, and shooting for publication. The other books show you how to edit and restore digital photographs with applications like Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, and Paint Shop Pro.
All in all, I loved this book. If you're going to buy only one book on digital photography, this is the one you need.
Rating:
Summary: Big book, big ideas, little price.
Review: What a bargain! There are lots of great ideas in this book, lots of great information, and lots of great pictures. I wanted to learn about digital photography, but came away learning a great deal more than I expected. There are easy pro-style techniques in here, up to date information on digital cameras, and valuable tips on image editing. This is the best digital imaging book I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them! Dummies triumph again!
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need in one book!
Review: What a great extension to the Dummies concept! I love Dummies books, but always finished each book wishing there were more information. This "All in One Desk Reference" has that information! It's two or three times the size of a typical Dummies book at 800 or so pages, and it's all meat. Everything you need to know about digital photography and basic image editing is in here. The emphasis on photography, rather than digital technology, is refreshing. Certainly, there are chapters on how digital cameras operate, and guidelines for choosing a digital camera. But the center of the book has solid chapters on good old fashioned photography, as it applies to digital cameras. There's a chapter on composition, one on close-up photography, another on sports photography, and a great travel photo section. The thick section of color photos are great, too. It's good to see color images in a book about color photography. The sections on image editing are fairly complete and will get beginners started and more experienced people trying some new things. Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are covered, but there is a chapter that evaluates most of the popular image editors and compares and contrasts them. This book really is thorough. However, if you want to buy this book, purchase it for its great coverage of digital photography. That alone makes this the leading digital photography book. The other chapters make it a useful "All in One" reference book.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need in one book!
Review: What a great extension to the Dummies concept! I love Dummies books, but always finished each book wishing there were more information. This "All in One Desk Reference" has that information! It's two or three times the size of a typical Dummies book at 800 or so pages, and it's all meat. Everything you need to know about digital photography and basic image editing is in here. The emphasis on photography, rather than digital technology, is refreshing. Certainly, there are chapters on how digital cameras operate, and guidelines for choosing a digital camera. But the center of the book has solid chapters on good old fashioned photography, as it applies to digital cameras. There's a chapter on composition, one on close-up photography, another on sports photography, and a great travel photo section. The thick section of color photos are great, too. It's good to see color images in a book about color photography. The sections on image editing are fairly complete and will get beginners started and more experienced people trying some new things. Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are covered, but there is a chapter that evaluates most of the popular image editors and compares and contrasts them. This book really is thorough. However, if you want to buy this book, purchase it for its great coverage of digital photography. That alone makes this the leading digital photography book. The other chapters make it a useful "All in One" reference book.
Rating:
Summary: No computers here, just solid photography information.
Review: Wow, what book was she reading?! I couldn't find any computer information here, other than a chapter on setting up your PC for digital photography. However, I didn't have to look very hard to find 300-plus invaluable pages that dealt with nothing except photography that will help any picture-taker, digital or otherwise. There were several hundred more pages on selecting and using digital equipment. For example, there's a thick chapter on composition, explained simply and thoroughly, with lots of information on compositional rules, and when to break them. Another chapter explains close-up photography in depth, including tips for setting up a digital macro photography studio. A third chapter tells about photographing people on location or in a home "studio." I especially liked the section on using multiple light sources. There's another chapter on shooting for publication, a long chapter on sports and action photography, and an especially useful chapter on travel photography. Anyone who has actually read this book will see that it is packed full of great information on actual photography. For me, the image editing sections were a bonus. I did enjoy learning more about Photoshop Elements, because I have mostly used PhotoImpression. But my real reason for buying this book was the amazing amount of photographic lore included. Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: Digital Photography for Smarties!
Review: You don't have to be a dummy to enjoy this book. Everybody knows that the Dummies series is aimed at the smartest computer users out there, people who want to learn about a topic in an easy and fun way. This Desk Reference does that, with a lot more depth than you find in the average digital photography book. I especially liked the BOOK II chapters that looked at my favorite kinds of photography from a digital viewpoint. I learned more than I ever expected about sports photography, shooting close-up photos, and portraits. How many digital photography books have an entire chapter devoted to good composition? This one does! The pictures in the color section are so gorgeous I wish there were more. However, the amount of color is pretty generous when you consider that this book costs less than $30.00. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, this is the best digital photography book on the market.
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