Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Peachpit Press; 2 edition (May 20, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0321934946
ISBN-13: 978-0321934949
Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.7 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,421 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #35,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #49 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Visual Arts > Photography #64 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Digital Photography #91 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Audio, Video & Photography
Since I'm offering an opinion (and review) on the book, The Digital Photography Book, I think a brief look at my background may give what follows a bit more veracity. I am an enthusiastic advanced amateur photographer with roughly 40 years of experience that includes a goodly number of awards and published photos. I shut down my wet darkroom a few years ago and have happily traded film and silver-based images for electrons, pixels and ink jet printing.Enough about me; now let's look at the latest book by Scott Kelby (of National Association of Photoshop Professionals fame): The Digital Photography Book.This is a different kind of animal in the world of self-help photography books. The author describes the experience of reading the book as having your good friend--who also happens to be an expert in digital photography--standing besides you while you're taking pictures.The book lives up to Scott's description--complete with the frequent interjection of his quirky sense of humor. (Warning, watch out for the first page of Chapter One.)I don't feel this is a book for complete novices--either in photography or in the use of digital equipment. Scott assumes the readers already know the basics of how their cameras work (what and where the controls are) and have used their cameras long enough to know what else they want to learn to take better photographs.Another reason some basic knowledge of photography is necessary to get the most from this book is that Scott doesn't shy away from including the terms in common use by digital photographers today: ISO, white balance, focal length, lens aperture, etc. He also assumes the readers have the desire to move up in the ranks from point-and-shooters to at least competent amateurs.
I really wanted to write a glowing review for "The Digital Photography Book"... I've been looking for a good tome of insider tips for digital SLRs for a long time, so when I found Kelby's book I was ecstatic! A quick skim showed many great tips; however, after reading the first page of chapter 1 where he carried on about the phrase "TACK SHARP" I began to lose faith.Here is an excerpt (talking about the origins of the phrase Tack Sharp - meaning a "clear photo"):"TACK stands for Technically Accurate Cibachrome Kelvin (which refers to the color temperature of light in photographs), and SHARP stands for Shutter Hyperfocal At Refracted Polarization. Now, these may seem like highly technical terms at first, but once you realize that I totally made them up, it doesn't seem so complicated, does it? Now, you have to admit, it sounded pretty legitimate at first. I mean, I almost had ya, didn't I? Come on, you know I had you, and I'll bet it was that "color temperature of light" thing I put in parenthesis that helped sell the idea that it was real, right? It's okay to admit you were fooled..."Is this for real? Maybe his editor was asleep. He makes a lame joke out of trying to fool the reader, then carries on for half a paragraph laughing at how clever he is! I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he continued with this 'fooled ya' theme by writing fake subheadings on the next SIX sections:The Real Secret to Getting Sharp Photos"sorry about duping you with "The Real Secret to Getting Sharp Photos" headline..."Perhaps Even More Important Than That"Again, ignore that headline. It's just a cheap come-on to get you to keep reading."If You Skip This, Throw Away Your Camera"Still a fake headline.
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