Editorial Review

A picture tells a thousand stories, but the one it doesn't tell is how the shot was made. Barbara London and John Upton's Read more

Reviews (44)

Worth the price
An excellent book providing all of the basic knowledge anyone could want on the subject of photography. A bit expensive, but the quality of the pictures makes it worth the price of admission.

Am I the only one who found this jumbled and confusing?
Sure this book has EVERYTHING you need to know about photography and how to develop things, but these people know NOTHING about layout design.I just don't know where to look, where to read, and what to do next.If I didn't have an instructor, I wouldn't know what to do with my camera.It is very hard to find what you need in this book, much less go through a chapter.For people wanting to learn about photography, may I suggest the much cheaper book by National Geographic?It has much more clearly defined chapters though it does not have as much information overall (for example, no information about how to develop film).

Classic guide to film photography
This seminal photographic guidebook, now in its eighth edition, should be basic reading for anyone planning to pursue photography as a career or hobby. Although it deals primarily with film photography, I think you'll find that a thorough grounding in the fundamentals will help you become a better, well-rounded photographer in the digital realm, too.Many of the photographic concepts covered here have been continued into digital photography, whether through digital camera features or by means of "digital darkroom" image editors like Photoshop.Start here, and you'll never regret it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Photo Essays    3. Photography    4. Techniques - General    5. Art / General    6. Photography & Photographs   

Reviews (1)

VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Do you need to edit and organize your photos? If you do, then this book is for you. Author Barbara Brundage, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that is intended to make learning Elements easier by avoiding technical jargon as much as possible, and explaining why and when you'll want to use certain features in the program.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    4. Computers    5. Computers - Other Applications    6. Techniques - General    7. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    8. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    9. Computers / Other Applications    10. Photoshop    11. photography, digital photography, graphics, photo editing, image editing, photoshop, photoshop elements, photoshop elements 5, Adobe   

Reviews (41)

Excellent photography / digital camera instruction
I have purchased this book twice, it is an introduction to digital photography, particularly for the fixed lense Nikon SLR cameras (such as the 8700) and SLR digital cameras.If you have a simple point and click camera you will get some benefit from the book but not as much.
Great for beginner
Bought this book to go along with Digital Rebel XT purchase. The book has not disappointed. Explains everything there is from aperture, exposure, shutter speed etc in great detail yet easy to understand. Recommend it to beginner, intermediate & expert alike

Latest edition excellent
Digital photography is a fast-moving target, and this book manages to keep abreast of the latest changes with valuable information that's vital for anyone doing digital photography.It explains all the key concepts clearly and completely, with lots of advice on getting the best photographs with any type of digital camera.I would have liked additional coverage of digital SLRs, but I have found that elsewhere, and still prefer Complete Digital Photography's treatment of the broader topics. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer Graphics - Image Processing    4. Computers    5. Digital cameras    6. Digital techniques    7. Graphic Arts - General    8. Handbooks, manuals, etc    9. Image processing    10. Photography    11. Techniques - Digital    12. Techniques - General    13. Art / Graphic Arts    14. Special kinds of photography   

Reviews (53)

My favorite photography book, bar none
Of all the books on photography that I own, this one is my favorite. Like me, the author is from the midwest so almost all of his photographs are of things out here in the midwest (which, of course, I'm able to identify with more). As such, this book allows me to be able to see the sometimes featureless midwest landscape in a whole new way. Even if you don't live in the midwest, there's still lots of valuable techniques in here.

Improved Vision
As a square corners and center of the frame type, thanks to Bryan Peterson, I am learning to approach a potential image with more thought as to a more creative and more interesting presentation for the viewer. His sample photos that support his teachings give me a chance to practice his style while I seek to find mine.
Enjoyable reading...
and does help to change the way we see.The excercises suggested are awesome to do. The photographs offered impressive. Best suggestion: Do the excersises. (We do learn by doing).I read and did and my vision was expanded. (Never had I considered taking a photograph for texture!) Of the photography books I have thus far this is one of the best. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition (Photography)    2. Photo Techniques    3. Photography    4. Photography, Artistic    5. Picture perception    6. Techniques - Equipment    7. Techniques - General    8. Photographic equipment & techniques   

Reviews (47)

Not what i was hoping for
Well, I was hoping for this book to help me understand special CS2 filters, enhancements, etc....and what I got, was great stuff I cannot redo as shown in the pictures and very short guidelines for the most part of it. One example was the enhancing of the eyes (sometimes the iris turns out too dark, and there are ways of enhancing it to brighten the eyes.) The so called step-by-step guide in the book, I followed it and followed it, even got my husband to take a turn, and neither one of us was able to manage the enhancement, at least not in either of the 2 different versions explained. (We later figured out a different way, but I'm sure it's not as good as the example pictures shown in this book.) Like I said, overall it's a great book, that teaches you tons of neat stuff, but I don't think it's very easy to recreate, not even with the provided CD. You really need to be a very advanced CS2 user to be able to use this book as a tool for it's full potential. I'm hoping that once I've mastered more about CS2, this book will come in handy again. And yes, all the pictures are terrific quality, and it's nice to read and look at, but how much does that really matter, if you can't even recreate the things explained in it?

A tremendous professional resource
I've found this book absolutely invaluable and perhaps the most useful book on Photoshop I've ever read. I agree with all the other reviewers whom endorse it but to those who ask: "who is this book for?" I'd point them in the direction of many other books better suited to their needs. How can you fault a book for not catering to everyone?! However this book was perfect for me - a busy professional photographer. I've been using Photoshop for years but have huge holes in my understanding. I really needed to gain more sophisticated and practical understanding of many fundamental principles and complex procedures as quickly and efficiently as possible. I don't have the time or patience for lessons rarely practical to my needs.
who's it for?
Best suited for someone who has at least a little experience with earlier versions of Photoshop, this text could be better organized.Could also benefit from more detail and better expalnation of how things work. I did find useful the sections on camera quality, historical references, and the author provides links to external websites which this reader found helpful for research.Print and paper quality is very good, but when are we going to see a software book written (or at least containing images) by a non-fashion photographer?The women in ME's photos are merely over-decorated objects, and might as well be artificial mannequins. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    2. Computers - Desktop Publishing    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. Techniques - Digital    6. Techniques - General    7. Photography / Techniques    8. Photoshop   

Reviews (10)

Information Dashboard Design
This book primarily deals with what the title says. Dashboards. I was not aware ofthe complexity and breadth of this type of interface, but since it is not a forte I usually provide to clients, the book was an interesting read.
Disappointing
I had high hopes when picking up this book.In the end I found little of use.Perhaps I was looking for more than an approach that was business oriented.Information displays for systems monitoring are a topic almost completely missed in the book.
Important Resource For Dashboard Designers/Developers
What is a dashboard?
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Interactive & Multimedia    6. Microcomputer Communication Software    7. Presentation Software    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Design    10. Techniques - General    11. Computers / Interactive Media    12. Computers / Languages / Programming    13. Computers / Programming / Software Development    14. Computers/Interactive & Multimedia    15. Internet    16. dashboards, data presentation, BI, business intelligence, information design, datamining, widgets   

Reviews (25)

Excellent for the beginer and the experienced DP
This book goes back to first principals and clarifies things that many of us have picked up by experience without really thinking about them.It starts by talking about the difference between diffuse and direct reflection which makes books like "Lighting for Digital Video & Television, Second Edition" and "Matters of Light and Depth" more valuable for the beginner.It also talks about subjects like lighting extreme contrast, glass and specular metal objects which will benefit anyone doing table top shooting as well as outdoors.The section on portraits shows what works and why in a really useful way.They don't promulgate rules but give you the tools to think through what you want yourself.This book is like the sound books by Jay Rose an essential for every level.

A Must Have to Understand What You're Doing, Recording Light
If you plan to go beyond mere snapshots with a cheap camera, then you need to understand and know what's in this book. Even if all you have is a point-and-shoot camera, you will take better photographs knowing what's in this book.
simply the best book on artificial lighting
This is the best book ever written on the subject.It explains the physics of light and types of reflection, which is what the camera records.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Lighting    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    5. Photography    6. Techniques - General    7. Techniques - Lighting    8. Applied physics & special topics    9. Photographic equipment & techniques    10. Photography / Lighting    11. Special kinds of photography   

Reviews (1)

Nice
Was anyone ever described to you as "nice"?Scary isn't it.I am an ardent fan of Deadwood and a fan of David Milch.This book is a `nice' coffee-table addition that succeeds as a way of fondly recollecting the characters and singular moments of Deadwood.I was hoping for an extension and an amplification of Deadwood -more great Black Hill's tales from Milch's magic pen.In that respect, the book is disappointing.
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Subjects:  1. Photo Techniques    2. Photography    3. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    4. Reference    5. Television - History & Criticism    6. Photography / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (48)

DAM good book
Extremely usefull roadmap to navigating the new territory of digital workflow.If you are a professional photographer shooting digitally, this book is the essential guide toeverything you need to capitalize on digital's opportunity and avoid time consuming mistakes.I feel like an evangelist, as I've bought a handfull of copies for colleagues.

Finally, a great guide to managing thousands of photos
One of the most difficult realities of managing thousands of digital photo images is how to label them in a consitent manner so that you can easily retrieve photos and keep track of photos that have been altered. Another important consideration is if you will be able to read the information as software and hardware changes occur. Peter Krogh makes logical suggestions and tells you why he chose to label an image in a particular manner. The DAM Book also has great suggestions on backing up photos. I have always struggled with labeling/numbering consistency, Peter Krogh makes it all very logical.

Essential Resource for Photographers
Any photographer who is serious about their craft needs to take a good look at The DAM Book.This book was written by a true professional that knows their stuff and will assist you in getting your photos from the the boxes and boxes scattered no doubt throughout your house and into the digital repository that is a better place to store, access, and retrieve the precious prints that you work so hard on producing.
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Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Computers - General Information    7. Digital techniques    8. Image processing    9. Interactive & Multimedia    10. Photography    11. Reference    12. Techniques - Digital    13. Techniques - Equipment    14. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    15. Computers / Desktop Publishing    16. Computers / Interactive Media    17. Computing and Information Technology    18. Photography/Techniques - Digital    19. photoshop CS2, digital photography, adobe creative suite, adobe photoshop, photoshop, digital workflow, digital archiving, Adobe Bridge, DAM, digital asset management, media cards, filenaming, file handling, DNG, camera RAW, metadata, digital workspaces, batch processing, metaframer, Adobe version cue, master files, digital asset backups, storage migration   

Reviews (4)

Good book
I enjoy his book and got much more out of it as it focuses on psychology of the subjects and the photographer. You will get much more out of this book than the PPSOP class and it is much cheaper too.

Another winner by Bryan Peterson
Many years ago I was a budding photographer with no formal training, never really interested in photographing people. Yet people were always getting in the way of most of my shots. Many years later, I discovered that people can add interest to my images by adding scale, a sense of place, or adding to the image's story. Today I enjoy sports photography and I look for ways to include people when composing. As a serious hobby photographer with no formal training, this book will help me get more creative when photographing people.
Facing your fears, one person at a time
BryanPeterson'sbest books are the ones that allow photographers (beginning and professional) to confront their fears in becoming better photographers. This is, hands down, one of his best. A great distillation of his years of experience as a top working photographer, teacher, instructor and writer.
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Subjects:  1. Photo Techniques    2. Photography    3. Portrait photography    4. Portraiture    5. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    6. Techniques - General    7. Photographs: portraits   

Reviews (62)

Great starter book
This is a great book to get you started with nature photography. The chapter on exposure was an eye-opener for me.
Professional Help for My Amateur Obsession
I find little more frustrating than downloading a series of photographs, only to find my "masterpieces" will serve as examples of mistakes to avoid.
Learn from the master!
John Shaw has mastered Nature Photography in all its permutations, and this book has underscored his expertise by become the classic guide for both film and digital photographers.If you're serious aboutg this type of photography, you owe it to yourself to buy, read, re-read, study, and memorize the information in this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Nature Photography    2. Photo Techniques    3. Photography    4. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    5. Techniques - General    6. Photographic equipment & techniques    7. Special kinds of photography    8. Art, Architecture & Photography    9. Science and   

Reviews (4)

Part of the equation
Pro photographers use a variety of methods of marketing their work, from advertising to word of mouth, with each method tailored to the particular type of work that the photographer wants to do.Freelance photojournalism and fine art photography and portrait sittings all require their own brand of selling.
great book
filled with tons of contacts this is definately needed for anyone looking for places to sell photographs... thanks!!
Great Resource...
... but a bit incestous. It references itself and has many items listing multiple times. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Careers    2. Commerce    3. Commercial    4. Commercial Photography    5. Marketing +    6. Photo Techniques    7. Photography    8. Reference    9. Media, information & communication industries    10. Photography & Photographs    11. Reference works   

Reviews (27)

A Must Have Addition for your Photoshop Library
Squeezed between the covers of this book is an enormous amount of essential information about how to do just about everything with Photoshop with a little bit of Illustrator thrown in for good measure. The author starts the book off with one of the best visual demonstrations of how to use Photoshop to make selections, replace colors, and many more. Using commercial illustrations he has created for national magazines and newspapers he shows how he achieved the effects with just enough information to allow you to be able to create a similar photo treatment without making it so complicated that it puts you into a comma reading it. While the latest edition doesn't cover all of the new CS2 tools, it covers the ones necessary for those that do photo clean-ups or manipulation. He even explains how the 3D model feature in Photoshop works - a topic most authors neatly avoid.
Awesome
This book has many informative tutorials and is very good for anyone, from intermediate to advanced users.Worth the price!

Greatest Book Ever Written
Some people prefer War and Peace, but that doesn't come with a CD, isn't in English and doesn't do a thing for the reader's Photoshop skills. And where are the pictures?
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Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    2. Computers - Desktop Publishing    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. Techniques - General    6. Photography / Techniques    7. Photoshop   

Reviews (8)

Too complete
I probably found this book too complete; sure Prof. Stroebel gives all concepts for large format photography, but in my opinion all these concepts are put in the book one near the other without a logical education steps for the reader. So in my opinion if you already have got those concepts you will sure understand them, but if you don't know those concepts, you will have a lot of difficulties to learn them by this book.

THE authority.
This is THE reference standard for view camera photography.Prof. Strobel fully explains the different types of view cameras and how to best take advantage of the bellows and various camera movements.This book first appeared in 1967 and has only gotten better with each printing.Prof. Strobel was one of my professors at RIT 30 years ago and I still find myself using his excellent book as a reference.

The "Complete" book on photogrpahy
View Camera Technique is a fantastic, all encompassing bookcovering not only view cameras, but all aspects of photography. Everything you've ever wanted to know is in this book. It will be a reference book that I will pull off the shelf for years and years. Well done and well worth the price! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Handbooks, manuals, etc    2. Photo Techniques    3. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    4. Photography    5. Techniques - Equipment    6. Techniques - General    7. View cameras    8. Photographic equipment & techniques    9. Photography / Techniques   

Reviews (4)

Mastering Photoshop Basics
My husband and I are taking a beginning Photoshop class at the local adult school. Instead of a more extensive and difficult text we chose to supplement the class with Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies. It moves inmore logical sequence than the class and enabled us to begin editing our photos immediately. It also allowed us to focus onclass instruction without taking notes.

Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
Good reference for ideas of how to do almost anything in Photoshop.

Software that's getting ever more powerful
Thee seems to be a trend in software that they have to keep comming up with new releases to get people to send in more money. But after version three or four, it seems that the new features that they are adding aren't really features that you'd use. Look at Microsoft Word, which of the new features do you really use? But also look at WordPad. It's grown until it's about the equivalent of Word 3.0 or something like that. It's faster, smaller, easier to use and pretty much does what you want, in some cases even better than Word itself.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    2. Computer graphics    3. Computers - Desktop Publishing    4. Digital techniques    5. Image processing    6. Photo Techniques    7. Photography    8. Reference    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    10. Photographic equipment & techniques    11. Photoshop   

Reviews (2)

The Best of Family Portrait Photography: Professional Techniques and Images
This book has great up dated photo ideas for the newer photographer that is needing posing ideas for shooting group or family photos. It is filled with photos to see what the set up could look like.

Great Family Photo Guide
Mr. Hurter continues to create wonderful collections of images from photographers around the globe. This book features some wonderful family photos and some insights on how to get the most out of each session. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Photo Techniques    2. Photography    3. Portraiture    4. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    5. Techniques - General    6. Photographic equipment & techniques    7. Photographs: portraits    8. Photography / Portraits   

Reviews (15)

The photo studio Bible
The most skillful and creative photographer=the most successful studio photographer(financially)? Wrong.This is THE book everyone who wants his/her own studio should read.Lilley tells how to operate a studio right.No hold back.Not at all.He tells you every aspect you'll run into and what you should do.
Excellento!!!
I have never bother myself to write review on any books that I read :( but this book impressed me so much that I feel it is not fair to be passive and not let the potential readers know how great is this book. I just love how organize and detail oriented is the author and this is one of the best professional book that I have ever read.
Don't Start a Business Without It
I bought this book based on the very positive reviews on Amazon.It's apparent why this book is rated so highly.The author exudes common sense.We all like to think we're common sensical people, but sometimes our opinions and the ideas we form keep us from seeing the entire picture.That's where this book comes in.The author relays his vast photography business experience in terms that we can easily comprehend.His style is very encouraging versus a lot of warnings.Anyone who is even in the thinking stages of starting a photography business - whether on a small scale or large - owes it to themselves to read this book first. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business methods    2. Commercial    3. Commercial photography    4. Marketing    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photography    7. Reference    8. Photographic equipment & techniques    9. Small businesses & self-employed   

Reviews (18)

Posing for high school seniors
I bought this book to try to learn some useful poses for my subjects, and given most other people's ratings, I decided to give it a try.However, upon opening the book my first thought was, "these all look like high school yearbook photos", which is exacltly what they are.It seems that that's primarily what type of photography the author does and his book is geared almost exclusively to that market.His main concern, which he stresses throughout the book, is creating a "saleable picture", and he keeps emphasizing the importance of pleasing mom, since she's usually the one with final say over the pictures.A better title for this book would have been, "How To Take High School Senior Pictures".
good tips
good tips for models or those being photographed. the tips are fundemental, and help you to learn the ropes, however it probably wont change your life. i would reccomend to models with no photographic experience.

Awesome book
The negative review certainly must be mistaken, and about another book!This book is quite detailed when it comes to posing an individual,and even gets down to details of each part of the body...hands, hips, feet, arms, ect.I would recommend this book, and in fact am ordering another for a friend!I didn't want to sell him my copy! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Photo Techniques    2. Photographic Techniques For Specific Conditions    3. Photography    4. Portraiture    5. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    6. Techniques - General    7. Photographic equipment & techniques    8. Photography / Portraits   

Reviews (18)

Excellent Painter IX book for beginner to advanced
This is one of the first books you should get if you want to learn to use Painter IX. It gives detailed descriptions, with examples, of all of the brushes, papers/textures and step-by-step instructions for cloning and painting.The enclosed CD includes images in the book that you can use to follow the step-by-step instructions.All instructions are very clear and easy to follow.More experienced users will use this book as an excellent reference source.This is one of the best books I've purchased to learn to use Painter IX.

excellent bookif you want to learn Painter
I was so frustrated trying to understand Painter so I bought this book and learned quite a bit in a very short time. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to jump start their learning process. It's easy to follow and understand..very well done. buy it today! :)

Painter IX by Addison
There are not many books out yet on Painter IX.This is the best one I have read, however.User friendly....Good effects. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - General    2. Photo Techniques    3. Photography    4. Techniques - General    5. Image processing: graphics (static images)    6. Photographic equipment & techniques    7. Photography / Techniques   

Reviews (9)

An Awesome book!
As a professional wildlife photographer I have always shied away from spending too much time correcting my images on Photoshop because a) I don't have the time and b) the books are too geeky and boring. That is until I got hold of Rob Sheppard's book. For the first time I have understood the benefits of complex tools like adjustment layers and Rob's workflow style approach has really had an effect on my workflow.
Great Photoshop book for any type of photographer
Sheppard works through a series of photographs showing when, why and how to use the various Photoshop tools.Unlike most other Photoshop books, this one focuses on establishing a workflow.
Jack of all trades master of none
I really wanted this book to be better. I got this book after reading an excerpt from it in Outdoor Photographer magazine.
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Subjects:  1. Photo Techniques    2. Photography    3. Subjects & Themes - Landscapes    4. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    5. Techniques - General    6. Photography / Subjects & Themes / Landscapes    7. Photoshop    8. Special kinds of photography