Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Photography Essentials

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4 star:		(1)
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As a studying photo student, I have had to purchase entire collections of photo books recommended by my school that I never really read. The reason being all of those books were so big, far too text booky, intimidating and ultimately dull.

Yet when I purchased this book after a friend recommended it to me, I was very pleasantly surprised. I've read so much more from this book already in the last few days than from all of those "other" books combined! I will tell you now that I never ever write reviews and I especially loathed doing those book review assignments we've all had to do as a kid. Yet this book really took me by surprise that it compelled me to share my thoughts.

Some of the best things about this book was that it was the perfect size, unintimidating, small enough to carry around easily in any bag or simply in your hand, it uses simple language, and has lots and lots of visuals and color throughout, a key thing that all other photo books lack. There is an amazing mixture of photos in the book from commercial shots to candid shots, and it gets the reader excited because it makes photography look fun. As a reader of this book, I especially like the fact that it doesn't really matter what level of photography you are at , whether you are just starting out or a seasoned pro. You can read the book like a novel from start to finish, or you can keep it like a dictionary, if there is something you don't know, you can just find the section and read about it.

While other books make photography look difficult, this book excels by simplifying all the key principles, encouraging the reader to break the rules and explore what's fun, interesting and exciting about photography. This is a must-have for every person who aspires to take good pictures and it's the most accessible book of its kind. Definitely give this one a shot!

I have purchased and borrowed several books in the past two years about SLR and DSLR photography. I consider myself a beginner/intermediate technician with an advanced intermediate to advanced sense of composition. I cannot recommend this book more highly. It is very clear and concise. The author explains everything, taking nothing for granted while not speaking to you like the "idiot" the title suggests. This is the book I have been looking for. I only wish it had been published much earlier. It may very well become the manual for all photography classes everywhere. Kudos to the author and editors for doing such a great job. It goes where I go and is now my all purpose reference manual. Thanks, Jay

As an intermediate photographer (I have been taking pictures for 30 years) I found this book not only to be helpful, but amazingly accessable. The writing is clear and concise and the examples are very helpful! As the father of two, I find myself taking many pictures in varying conditions and this book addresses nearly all of the situations that I have found or could find myself in. I would certainly suggest this book to anyone who takes pictures or is interested in taking pictures. Either way, Mr. Jenkinson's book can only help make your photos better.

I have owned this book for a little over a year. In that time I have gone from absolute beginner to photo-junkie. Although I have read numerous books and visited countless websites, I still refer back to this book. It is simply the most well-written, concise, and informative text on photography that I have come across.

This is a great book. It covers everything you need and nothing you don't about the practical side of photography. Great in-depth detail without dumbing down the material.

This book lays out the technical aspects of photography in very understandable terms. Excellent!

I think this book does a great job introducing a novice (like myself) to the basics of photography. It provides a good basic understanding of how your camera works, and how to use it effectively to get the results you want. The author does two things: (1) he gives you specific, practical instructions for using your camera to achieve particular results (i.e., use settings x, y, and z if you want to achieve result "a"); but he also (2) explains the functions behind those simple instructions, so you can understand the concepts and apply them to other situations (i.e., x, y, and z give you result "a" because x controls this, y controls this, and z controls this, and this is how they all interact).

The book covers everything from what basic equipment you will likely need (and why); to basic tutorials on using light and exposure to your best advantage; to tips for shooting landscapes, events, candids, and portraits; to what editing software would give you the most bang for your buck. One feature I really liked about the book was that most techniques that were discussed in the text were also illustrated with photographs; for instance, there were two photos of the same frog in a pond, one shot with a polarized filter, and the other shot without, so the reader can see the difference that a polarized filter makes.

One distinction that needs to be made: this book is definitely for beginners. I would imagine that anyone who has completed any coursework or internship related to photography may not learn much from this book; that's not to say they wouldn't learn anything, but I would guess that much of what this book covers would be old information to anyone with previous experience.

This is exactly the book I was looking for. Had all the information for a person who knows only the basics of using a point and shoot camera who wants to upgrade to a digital SLR.

This book has a wealth of information and is a good second or third choice if you're a beginner (buying several books is a good idea), and a good addition if you've got a shelf-full of books and like to keep up. Basically, about 95 percent of the book is good. However, the work has an excessive number of stupid little typos, for example p. 11: "Cameras can be damaged by the sun's heat; being focused into the camera's body." That semicolon has no business there. Maybe it's just me, but when I discover half-a-dozen such typos in the first 25 pages, I start wondering if the fact-checking is also sloppy. Also, there's some really bad writing here; not a lot, but some. For example this sentence p. 33: "Changing the f-stop (or 'stopping down,' as it's called) causes a mechanical diaphragm inside the lens to close down and change this ratio. Now, here's the thing you have to understand: as I said earlier, the aperture, or f-stop, is actually an expression of the ratio between the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the opening." I can imagine a beginning photographer (the book is aimed at beginners via the word "Essentials" in the title) or an intermediate pausing right there and saying to himself/herself: "OK....the author says this is something I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND. Lessee....aperture is an expression of the ratio between the....Um, I better memorize it, I HAVE to GET THIS." Etc. In fact, this is NOT something a beginner or intermediate needs to understand. What the photographer needs to understand, the thing the author is pointing you toward with his phrase "the thing you have to understand," is contained in the NEXT PARAGRAPH (you need to turn the page to get to it): "So the bigger the f-number, the less light is actually entering the camera." Ah. There's something essential. There's the thing you have to understand. I'm OK with the author including a moderate amount of technical background, but surely it should not be labeled as something you NEED TO KNOW; a decent copyeditor would have caught that in a second.

I was looking for a something that laid out all the basics in an easy "read this..then go out and try this.." resource... and this book is therefore very inspirational as it explains concepts clearly and encourages you to experiment for continued learning. I now understand how my camera works so that I can achieve the results I need; it helped me understand how all the pieces come together in photography, from consciously thinking of composition, shooting manually, looking at lighting and color as devices in photography, using flash, painting with light (amazing!)etc.

Once you start you will not be able to put this book down except to play with your camera of course!