Digital Photography Book

[Llist]

Does anyone know of a good digital photography book for an absolute beginner? I have an Olympus SP series and am disappointed in the shots I'm getting. I thought first before I completely blame the camera perhaps I should do a little reading and get some advice.. It may well be operator error :eek: Until now I've always used the auto settings and on this camera they leave a lot to be desired.

Any suggestions would be great :D

Thanks
Laura

[WingAnimal]

Laura -- What specifically are you disappointed with? That will help us direct you to the right resources. Is it lighting issues, proper focusing on the main subject, framing, color richness???

There are also lots of great resources online if you Google for tutorials on digital photography... and you can narrow that search by looking for your type of camera as well. You might save yourself some money on books just by using the resources online (that's what I've been able to do so far with great success).

[troush]

I think Bryan Petersen's Understanding Exposure is excellent.

-Trish

[Llist]

Thanks Norm

I guess what I'm most disappointed with is the image clarity.. My pictures just don't look as crisp as I thought they would. I tried to do a search online for my camera model and all I really found were sites where you could buy them.. I'll try searching for tutorials... thanks for the tip.

Laura

[Llist]

Thanks Trish... I'll check it out.

Laura

[Llist]

OK... I went to Amazon and does anybody have these books? They are Understanding Exposure and Understanding Digital Photography both by Bryan Peterson and Complete Digital Photography by Ben Long.

Does anyone know if these are good for the novice digital photographer? I'm going to try to find some online tutorials but I like to have something I can hold and reference when need be...

Any opinions would be great.

Thanks

Laura

[e-mailsucks]

Laura, Bryan Peterson is a great photographer and teacher. He explains photography very well in Understanding Exposure and also gives you some easy lessons to practice on. It's really worth the cost.

Brian :)

[Llist]

Thanks Brian

I'm thinking that may end up on my xmas list...

Laura

[e-mailsucks]

Laura, just a few words from experience. Don't read too much too fast. Slow down, take your time, and do all his lessons. You want the features of your camera to become automatic, not something that you have to try and always remember.

Brian :)

[Llist]

Thanks for the advice Brian... I'm going to take my time with this and ignore my usual inclination to dive in head first... I spent a lot on this camera (in my opinion) and want to be able to know it inside and out...

It will be hard to contain the little gremlin in me that likes to zoom ahead... just have to remember that's usually what gets me in trouble!!

Thanks again
Laura

[GaryK]

Laura

I'm not sure what you meant by crispness.

When I first got my Rebel I kept thinking the focus was a little soft. Sometimes it would look ok and other times not. I decided to set it on a tripod and take some very detailed objects using the timer function to try and reduce Gary shake:D .

Turns out my focusing issues were me not the camera. :eek: :eek:

I could make excuses as to why.. but in the end it still came down to me.

My point in all this rambling is, take some very careful pictures .. very specific things in mind ... maybe with no artistic or creative ideas other than to test an aspect of what is not right to you about your camera.:) .

[Llist]

Gary

That's exactly what I mean... I told by dh that I need a tripod (my birthday is coming up) and low and behold we have one down in the basement... hope it works with my camera. I figure I'll start playing with it tomorrow morning before shopping in the afternoon... I am determined to have all my xmas shopping done by the first week of December!!! We'll see if it actually happens ;)

Thanks

Laura

[efarnstrom]

There are a lot of free online classes. HP one at
http://h30240.www3.hp.com/courses/notify_me.jsp?courseId=10540&is_full=true
C/Net also has free classes. I took one there and bought the book used in that class "Shoot Like a PRO!" by Julie Adair King
http://classes.cnet.com/classes/providers/cnet/digitalcamera/
I found very thoughtful advice at
http://www.arizonahighways.com/page.cfm?name=Photo_&nav=photo

Some may be too simplistic for you, but I'm sure you could find more on Google search. Good Luck!

[OFD678]

I did buy Scott Kelby's digital photography book and was fairly disappointed. It was just a very average book that appears to be put together pretty quick. Save your money on that one.

[Llist]

Thanks Es...

I'll check out the links.

Laura

[Llist]

Thanks Brent...

I think the Bryan Peterson books are going to go on my xmas list... also going to check out the internet links above...