The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2
by Scott Kelby
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Book Reviews of The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2
Book Review: Great for quick information.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'd have to say this book is an excellent purchase for people who want to learn how to improve the look of their photos quickly rather than tedious work, trying to find 10 books on everything that's involved with digital photography.
This book may not be for the advanced user. But even still, I've read over 50 books on photography and digital photography - and I still found things I did not know in this book. All helpful info of course. There was some humor in the book, but instead of looking at it as a defect or flaw, I see it as an out of norm that makes the book less like a text book.
Really any book on photography will be a little differ from another, and this one gave me some new ideas for adjustments to make with my normal work. I highly recommend this book and the first book by scott kelby.
My favorite books are the digital photography books by Rick Sammon but they each are at the moment 30 dollars and there are 4 of them so either these two or those four are my recommendations.
Rick's books are much larger and many many more pictures but for scott's price of less than 20 dollars, you really can't argue that it's not worth the buy. (because it certainly is)
Book Review: Waste of money
Summary: 1 Stars
This book only for beginer. If you have read other books about photography you do not need this one.
-Page 13 "Drag the Shutter" to see more background. I could not understand what he meant.
-He wrote: " First, set your camera to shoot in program mode. Then, aim at your subject and hold the shutter button halfway so your camera takes a meter reading of the scene. Look in your viewfinder and see the f stop and shutter speed your camera chose to properly expose your subject, and remember those two numbers. Now switch to manual mode and dial those same two numbers. If the camera showed speed of 1/60 of a second, to drag the shutter you'd need to use a slower shutter speed, right? So try lowering the shutter speed to 1/15 of a cecond and take the shot". The problem is: If I lowered the speed two stop the photo would be overexposure, if I also lowered the speed and closed the aperture two stop the photo still got right exposure without the flash.
-Page 21 "Rear sync Rock(& why you should use it)
As matter of fact if I change from leading curtain to rear curtain sync the amount of light fall on the sensor remain the same. I think that in this topic he want to talk about slow-speed-sync.
Book Review: Too many flaky bits
Summary: 2 Stars
I read Vol 1 and thought it did exactly what it set out to do, and the information was great as a refresher course for me, and I would recommend it to novice photographers.
This one (Vol 2) is a different kettle of fish, though, as I kept being disappointed as I read through it - there are many mistakes, and contradictions - as pointed out in another review, he says not to crop the chin, and then shows just that as the example for a tip that "has the potential to make your photography the best" ... He says that setting 2nd-curtain flash makes the shutter stay open longer (??? longer than I set it to???), and to use this to get ambient light in the room when shooting with a flash ... and in 'Dragging the Shutter' (to avoid dark backgrounds when using flash), he says to meter for a shot (OK), set it into the camera in manual mode (OK), and then lower the shutter speed by two full stops (??? That's overexposing it by two stops!!!)
There are just too many such errors for me, and if I ever meet Scott Kelby, I'll be asking for my money back on this 'puppy' - I'd expected a much higher standard, from what I'd heard of him (apart from the jokes - no such expectations there! ;-)
Book Review: You need both...
Summary: 5 Stars
Kelby is one of the best when it comes to letting the rest of us in on the techniques of good photography. His first book lead to a quantum (perhaps an exaggeration) improvement in my own pictures, both from a composition and execution point of view. This book adds to the first, updates a couple of things, and gives a broader application.
In my opinion this book functions more as completing the set than as a stand alone work. If you do not have the first book then buy them both together and read them serially. Kelby's writing style is a bit (excessively?) "homey" and that can be a bit off-putting for some people. I personally don't mind and even enjoy his humor. There is no denying the effectiveness of his teaching though... short, pointed articles, each of which stands alone on its own but which add incrementally to the others. You can bounce around in his books to your hearts delight, pick up something and start using it right away and then go back and read something else which may add even more.
This book, along with his first, should be standard items in serious amateur photographers' libraries.
Book Review: Indispensable Guide for Digital Photographers!
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved volume 1 of this book, and love volume 2 even more!
This book has more in-depth tips and techniques on lighting (studio
and outdoor), and fantastic but simple advice on getting better
portraits of people, something I was definitely interested in.
Based on Scott's advice and tips in this book, I was able to set up
my first home photography "studio" for not very much money, and turned out some really great portraits for my friends and family - something I'm so proud to have been able to do! I absolutely couldn't have done it
without this book.
I even shot an album cover for a friend using Scott's black background/black clothing advice and it turned out absolutely amazing.
Great advice on choosing a lightbox, selecting a professional flash (and how to set up multiple flashes and strobes), tips on posing, using a reflector, and much, much more.
If you're not really into technical photography jargon like me, and just want something that gives you direct, simple advice that anyone can use to improve your photos, this book is DEFINITELY for you!