« [ADVANCED FREELOADING] | Main | [KEEPING IN TOUCH] »
April 04, 2009
[REVIEW—Digital Photographer’s Handbook]
Price: $70
Truly comprehensive
The low-down: This complete introduction to all aspects of digital photography, written by British photographer Tom Ang and published by Dorling Kindersley is in its fourth edition. Subjects covered include the technology of cameras and a how-to-choose guide. The essential physics of lenses and their behaviour is explained. All aspects of the art are covered, including framing, composition, lighting and subject selection. The post-camera chapters describe all common editing techniques, including cropping, exposure correction, black and white conversion, colour correction, spot removal and other computer manipulations of images. Some of his advice on achieving weird effects is a little esoteric. Scanning, printing, web-sharing and emailing, as well as file storage are covered.
Like: This is an ideal classroom-in-a-book for anyone who wants to progress beyond the point-and-shoot and print-at-Big W stage. Ang’s own photos illustrate the text well. The layout and the clarity of the text are excellent.
Dislike: The section on nude photography is a little twee. And Ang assumes that every reader is using a Mac. All his screenshots are from a Mac, which will make 90 per cent of his readers feel a little unwelcome. He has advice on choosing between Mac and PC which is a mix of truth and myth and misses out the real difference between the two systems – price!
Verdict: There are many books which purport to do what Ang has done but there are few that are so comprehensive. His chapter on camera selection is up to date with product images of cameras that have just come on the market. This book is ideal for anyone considering an upgrade from a compact to a DSLR with aspirations to do better than take the occasional snap. And compared with similar books from the US this British publication is good value for money.
*
Posted by terry at April 4, 2009 06:07 PM
