The Digital Photography Book
by Scott Kelby
List Price:
Our Price: $13.55
You Save: $11.44 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Scott KelbyBrand: Pearson Education
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-02
ISBN: 032147404X
Number of pages: 219
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780321474049
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
- The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers
- The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers
- The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters
- The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers
- The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3
Book Reviews of The Digital Photography Book
Book Review: A well-illustrated pamphlet it indeed is, but a book - it is not.
Summary: 3 Stars
To begin with the quality and the applicability of Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book": in short, it is well-written, excellently organized, extremely informative and a great starting point for a knowledgeable beginner, who requires an overview of digital photography. Everything from achieving professional-grade photo sharpness, through an introduction to Photoshop retouching, scene composition, shooting macro photography, portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, sports, choosing optional equipment, exploiting some digital-specific features of D-SLR cameras and - finally - printing, is covered throughout the book. However, a total newcomer to the world of digital photography might not benefit from all that information as much as it would appear from the broadness of the material covered alone.
Firstly, the overall depth of the discussion is lacking. Perhaps even "seriously lacking". The Author's creative effort to shape his book into more of a photo-recipe -based instructional reference rather than one more unbearable theory textbook is a refreshing idea, but the methodology might have been taken a little bit too far. A reader will have to research fundamental concepts such as "a stop", "an aperture", "a focal length", or "a primary lens" somewhere else beforehand, as almost none of such terms are explained at all. Moreover, there is no gradual progression or cross-reference of conveyed knowledge across disjoint photo recipes. For example, a reader will not be instructed to any extent whatsoever about a working relationship between shutter speed and aperture, resulting in various modes of operation of D-SLR cameras, not even in the most of non-technical terms. A reader will not find answers to common, fundamental questions such as what follows: "Wait, how is an Aperture Mode different from a Shutter Speed Mode? Or a Program Automatic Exposure Mode, for that matter?" "How does this particular aperture relate to the entire possible aperture range? Is such a scale affected when I change focal length?" "Hold on, the farther I get from my lens being wide-open, the aperture numbers in my viewfinder actually increase?", "How does this particular shutter speed relate to, say, a boxing left hook?" "Can I go slower than 1/60th of a second when trying to minimize hand-held camera shake, or should I always follow the '1/focal length rule' and shoot an 18mm landscape at 1/18th of a second?" "Will I actually screw up my picture, when my camera stops at a particular, minimum shutter speed, but I keep decreasing aperture anyway to try to shoot an all-in-focus landscape?" "Oh, so the ISO-schmeeso thingy actually does fit into all this?" *** Thus, the context is entirely missing, making broad understanding of each photo recipe somewhat challenging without additional research - an annoyance for anyone who does not want to just blindly memorize everything. Which is a shame, since judging from the quality of the Author's other technical publications, his talent for passing on complex knowledge is obvious.
Secondly, when purchasing Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book", one is not buying a book at all. Considering the publication's page size, font size, per-page photographs, an index and the Author's verbosity, the entire contents could probably be compressed into a 40-page, dense pamphlet, or a 60-page, standard pamphlet. A very ambitious pamphlet, but still a pamphlet, rather than a book. The "filler" content is high quality, but not always very illustrative: a 1/3-page shot of a camera dial, a 1/3-page generic shot of a man carrying a tripod, no fewer than four (4) different 1/3-page shots of lens filters themselves (instead of "marginally" more instructive side-by-side before/after comparison shots). Some photography tips, even though awarded full-page presentation status, are so common-sense and addressed in such general terms, as to feel a bit as "filler" content as well, since almost everyone intuitively knows to look for unusual close-up angles, find level foregrounds for landscapes, or not to cut off limbs at weird spots in portraits.
Finally, the last but not least, a comment on the Author's humor. Yes, Scott Kelby is genuinely funny, most of the time. No, his humor bears no negative influence on readability whatsoever. I have no idea why more than a single, occasional reviewer (who forgot to follow his or her Xanax regiment that particular day) was so intensely annoyed. The humorous, thought-provoking tone of the book works even when the Author probably does not intend it to, especially when it comes to headlines such as "Hire a Model (It's Cheaper Than You'd Think)" ;).
To summarize: think about "The Digital Photography Book" as either a well-illustrated pamphlet, or a well-annotated photography album, but a book - it is not. Regardless, excellent work, Mr. Kelby. Come on, give us a 1,000-page "The Digi Tapp Photography Bible", will ya? We know you have it in you :).
Summary of The Digital Photography Book
Scott Kelby, the man who changed the "digital darkroom" forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography--how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today's top digital pros use (and it's easier than you'd think).This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here?s how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You d say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."
This isn't a book of theory?it isn't full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.
Here's another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There's never been a book like it, and if you're tired of taking shots that look "OK," and if you?re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.
Digital Photography Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Digital Photography Books
Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure: The Professional's Guide to Capturing Perfect Digital Photographsby Michael Freeman
Focal Press; Published: 2009-04-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.77
Price in other shops:
The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correctionby Steve Hullfish
Focal Press; Published: 2008-02-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.03
Price in other shops:
Advanced Photoshop Elements 7 for Digital Photographersby Philip Andrews
Focal Press; Published: 2008-12-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.31
Price in other shops:
How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montagesby Steve Caplin
Focal Press; Published: 2008-12-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.96
Price in other shops:
Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PCby Martin Evening
Focal Press; Published: 2000-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Digital Imaging: Essential Skills (Photography Essential Skills)by Mark Galer M.Ed., Les Horvat B.Sci Dip. Ed B.A(Photog.) M.A.I.P.P
Focal Press; Published: 2001-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.68
Max Ferguson's Digital Darkroom Masterclassby Max Ferguson
Focal Press; Focal Press; Published: 2000-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.50
Price in other shops:
Nikon D3100 Digital Field Guideby Thomas
Wiley; Published: 2010-12-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.80
Price in other shops:
The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographersby Scott Kelby
Peachpit Press; Published: 2006-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.64
Price in other shops:
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2by Scott Kelby
Peachpit Press; Published: 2008-01-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.33
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography (Amphoto Guide Series)by Jim Miotke
Amphoto Books; Published: 2005-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops:
How to Photograph Absolutely Everything: Successful Pictures From Your Digital Cameraby Tom Ang
DK Publishing; Published: 2009-01-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.59
Price in other shops:
The Digital Photography Book, Part 4by Scott Kelby
Peachpit Press; Published: 2012-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.44
Price in other shops:
Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/ 125 Secondby Bryan Peterson
Bryan Peterson; Amphoto Books; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.93
Price in other shops:
Bryan Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Cameraby Bryan Peterson
Amphoto Books; Published: 2009-08-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photosby Michael Freeman
Focal Press; Published: 2007-06-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.32
Price in other shops:
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3by Scott Kelby
Peachpit Press; Published: 2009-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.90
Price in other shops:
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2by Scott Kelby
Peachpit Press; Published: 2008-01-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.33
Price in other shops:
BetterPhoto Basics: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Taking Photos Like a Proby Jim Miotke
Amphoto Books; Published: 2010-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.51
Price in other shops:
Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Cameraby Bryan Peterson
Amphoto Books; Published: 2010-08-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.74
Price in other shops: