Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book for my son, who has no experience and has expressed an interest in digital photography. I used to be into SLR photography and developing, so I thought that I would flip through the book, with my new digital camera in hand. Instead, I found myself reading it cover to cover. And now that I have taken my first 200 pictures, I am going back in for a second reading. The book is easy to read and funny like most Idiot's guides. It is full of a lot of useful details about using the camera, and taking effective pictures. Rather than reviewing cameras (which would be obsolete by the time it was printed) the book focuses on principles and features. The sections on composition are particularly helpful for those who come from the point and shoot world. The most surprising section dealt with the software (mostly Adobe PhotoDeluxe that comes with many cameras) and monitors/printers. I thought that my general knowledge of software and image editing programs meant that I would gain little from reading this section. Far from it. I learned a great deal, in a step by step fashion about how to clean up a photograph. When I got the camera I assumed I would print each picture "non-retouched". After experience and reading the book, I am retouching every picture before I print it, changing brightness, sharpness, colors, cropping, and even some editing. In fact, the book gave me the courage to use the cloning tools (a feature that some experienced PhotoShop users are unaware of) to remove unwanted features from some photos.

The sections on monitors and printers is essential in clearing up the confusion of "Why doesn't my printed picture look like the one on my computer screen". I highly recommend this book to anyone considering buying a digital camera, whether you are an experienced amateur or beginner.

This is a great book! It is easy to read and at times even humorous. It starts with a very useful and important explanation of photography including exposure, lens types, and camera types. I found the chapter on composition very useful and it has already helped me to take better shots. The book describes, in detail, how to buy a digital camera and what features and pitfalls to look out for. The book also has many very easy to follow demonstrations on how to improve my images including color and brightness/contrast manipulations. Later in the book, Steve describes how to make photo collages, masking (selections),use filters, and even how to build a web site. I also found the chapter on printing and calibration really helped me print out my photos exactly how they looked on my monitor.

I looked at a lot of other digital photo books and this was the most complete. I think Steve's perspective as a working digital photographer is very useful. I also found the book very useful and from a beginners point of view very "user friendly" I think even an advanced user will get a lot from the book. I highly recommend it.

I have had a digital camera' a Kodak DC280 for many months now. I have ben a 35MM amature for over 30 years and this book has helped me make the transition to digital photography better than anything else I could have done.Before I got this book, I had many problems with doing this as the manuals on the software were very poorly written and had many things just skipped over or missing entirely. Before I got halfway through the Book there were many things that helped me greatly That were just not in the manuals that came with the software. It has made everything much easier and faster. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is just starting in digital photography.

I read this book two years ago after buying my first digital camera. I gave it away after reading it, so maybe it's not a keeper as a reference, but even so, I have to praise this book very highly for the insight into digital photography that it's given me. I've bought two other digitals since, and find that the lessons that I learned from this book are with me even to this day. If you're a beginner, and wish to understand this technology, buy it!

I bought this book after reading many reviews on digital cameras. What I was looking for was a book on digital cameras and how to help me choose the correct one. What I got was a good all round book on cameras, composition, exposure, lighting, compression etc.

Certainly a great book if you have or are thinking of purchasing a digital camera. I did purchase a book purely on digital cameras but it was a tad heavy going.

This is an easy reading book which you can read cover to cover during the adds when watching TV.

this is a good book for those who know nothing about photography (thus, the "idiot's guide"). and i gave it four stars for that reason. but, for the amateur or student photographer, this book is worthless. the author covers the basics, and will give the reader a good idea of what photography is and how to take pictures. he gives a great intro to the digital world (this was the first book i bought, but quickly moved on to better, more specific books). i gave the book four stars because it is what it is supposed to be, an introduction to digital photography (you can't fault the author because the reader has some basic knowledge). i would have given him five stars, but, he didn't use photoshop as his program. adobe photoshop is the most widely used digital photography program. most people have it or will get it. so after you learn his tips, you have to relearn or adjust them to photoshop. still, i recommend this to those who don't know anything about digital photography.

Unfortunately this book is too far out of date to be of any significant value. The section describing the various types of cameras is no longer accurate and information regarding software, files sizes and formats is of little use.
If you are looking for a guide to using your digital camera this book will only give you basic definitions of the terminology and process involved in digital photography. The sections on composition and lighting are good.
There is a primer on Photoshop Elements. Again this section is out of date as it refers to Elements. 2.0. (At the time of this review Elements is currently in version 4.0) While this section does provide an adequate introduction to the various capabilities of Elements, most of what is found in this book can be found on Adobe's own descriptions of the product.
I have never returned a book to Amazon before but I will be returning this one. It is simply too far out of date and too introductory to be worth the cost.

The book should be updated as most digital cameras - point and shoot and DSLRs have more than 2 or 3 megapixels. A lot of the info is pertinent no matter the megapixel size when it comes to correcting the photos with computer software.

Received the book very quickly. Book was described as "used / slightly used" but it looked brand new to me and I don't think it was ever opened. Very satisfied and would definately purchase additional material in the future from this seller.

I bought the book yesterday and already read half of it. The content is great, very helpful and easy to read BUT the book binding is awful. This disappointed me a lot. I am wondering if all 'Alpha' books have same 'quality' of (un)binding...

Except this problem, the information provided is really helpful and written in a friendly & clear manner.

I enjoy a lot the author's style and personally I would like to see another Steven Greenberg's book, more detailed on Part 3 of the book ('Let's Take Pictures').