Customer Reviews

Complete Idiot's Guide to Photography

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

 

 

This book tries to cover many aspects of photography from equipment selection to photo technique/composition to technical jargon to home dark rooms. However, I found the organization quite poor, with topics such as exposure popping up in various places and other inconsistencies. Also, the author has a definite bias and preaches it strongly. For example, he basically states that you cannot get good pictures from a point and shoot camera, which is certainly not true in all cases.

Also, the information seems somewhat dated, as APS and digital are given zero coverage, and he discusses topics like manual film winding quite a bit.

On a positive note, the chapters on different photographic specialties (macro, portrait, landscape, art, etc.) were well done and informative.

If the writing and organization was tightened up, and new chapters on newer technologies were added, this would be a much better book.

Perhaps this book's title is too accurate. It's very elementary, doesn't go into depth about anything and as a result, is not a good reference. Yes, it has the answers to basic photography questions but not much more. I haven't picked it up since I got my Kodak Guide to 35mm Photography.

This book covers all the basics, but nothing more. No in depth material at all and it's shocking how so many pages are filled with so little information. This is the first and last "Complete Idiot" book I will buy, and I guess the author was just trying to stay within the limited guidelines of the title. Also, I think any photography instructional book should have good photographs in it. The art direction, photos imparticular, are terrible. This book explains, in basic terms, how cameras work and what equipment you might want to buy, but not much else.

I bought this book because I heard it was more in depth than the competition, and better for an SLR user like me. I usually use my Nikon. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. It talks about shuuter speeds and f/stops, but it's never all that clear or specific about when to set what. There's not much real step-by-step stuff or charts, and I was surprised at how few actual illustration photographs or diagrams. The writing doesn't have much pzazz, but what bothers me more is that sometimes it's so vague or unclear that I couldn't apply what the author was talking aabout. And there's just not much detail. Since I buy photo magazines occasionally I sort of know photo terms, and a lot of times the author's use and definition of them doesn't match up with what I read in the magazines. There's even a whole section on darkroom work, which the author could have spent on more detail in the rest of the book. Does anyone do darkroom work anymore? He should have done something about computer photography instead.

This book is okay for those just starting to explore the camera. It's an almost-too-easy guide that is well-suited to complete novices, as the title suggests. It's actually ideal for younger people and those who've just bought their very first camera and want to start with the basic building blocks. For the rest of us it seems to miss out on the essential premise behind photography guides - how to compose and shoot a half-decent picture. I recommend John Hedgecoe's 'The Photographer's Handbook' - a much more comprehensive guide for multi-level photography skills.

I purchased the book Photography for Dummies before this one and wish I hadn't. I already knew that I would be treating this as a serious hobby and would be purchasing an SLR camera over a regular point and shoot. I wish I'd studied the book more thoroughly before leaving the book store with it. That book was almost completely biased towards point and shoot...especially Kodak's new marketing hum drum APS system which I have no use for.

But this book is different. It approaches photography from the hobbyists point of view. Not just the casual shutterbug who only cares about how little Suzie's birthday party pictures turn out. That's fine...but that's not what I wanted. Roger Woodson presents many aspects and techniques of photography and makes them easily digestible. Though the book doesn't go in depth into anything...it does cover topics such as film speed, aperture, zoom vs fixed focal lenses, tripods and even darkroom technique's for those who want to try DYI developing. This book is far and away a better guide than the dummie's book for those who want a good introduction to the hobby.

I received a camera as a gift and had no idea how to use many of its features. This book gave me an understanding of photography that the other guide books I had previously purchased did not come close to. Easy and fast reading made it all the more enjoyable. I continually use it as a reference.