John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide To Photography: A Step-by-Step Course from the World's Best-Selling Photographer [Paperback]

John Hedgecoe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1995

A Step-by-Step Course from the World's Best-Selling Photographer John Hedgecoe. "An excellent way of teaching the technical aspects of photography through hands-on exercises. A first-rate addition to all collections."--LJ. "Hedgecoe has revolutionized photo books....Highly recommended."--Popular Photography. 224 pages (all in color), 6 5/8 x 10 1/4.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806984279
• ISBN-13: 978-0806984278
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonably good guide to taking creative pictures, March 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide To Photography: A Step-by-Step Course from the World's Best-Selling Photographer (Paperback)

Some nice pictures, and reasonable information, but the Kodak Guide to 35mm photography does the job a lot better, with more detail and relevant pictures to demonstrate technical points. The Hedgecoe 'complete' guide probably isn't the best route to learning how to use your new SLR (or compact), nor to use your existing one better, although it might spur your creative thinking. The focus is on the picture rather than how to achieve it. The layout also struck me as a tad old-fashioned, perhaps because it hasn't been updated since 1990.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for beginners!, May 3, 2001

By 

S. Nare "snare" (Lebanon, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide To Photography: A Step-by-Step Course from the World's Best-Selling Photographer (Paperback)

Being fairly new to photography myself, I was more than a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of photography books available. After carefully surveying the market and making a few trips to the local library, I began to notice that two styles of books seemed the favorites: Kodak's series of books and books authored by John Hedgecoe. After purchasing and reading books from both, I can tell you that you can't go wrong with either choice.

This book in particular I liked very much. John breaks the book into three sections. The first part is about the basics of photography: 1) how camera works (basic terms like aperature, f-stop and shutter speed) and 2) choosing and understanding the camera, lenses and flashes. The second part of the book is a series of projects you can do in order to learn to use your 35mm SLR. Each project provides details about how to acheive the desired shot. The book contained over 70 projects! Finally in the last section, the author provides some insight for you once you master the skills presented in the book.

While I must admit that the Kodak book on 35mm photography is just as good, you won't be disappointed with this purchase. The sheer volume of information, tips and advice are alone worth the price. If you take the time as I did to plow through the book, I know you will see amazing results. While I never intend to pursue photography from more than an amatuer sense, I feel after reading this book and applying the techniques that I now have skills to be quite proud of, not to mention good looking pictures.

I strongly recommend this book for beginners and intermediate SLR users. Once you finish this book, check out his other books on specific photography topics like photographing landscapes. All around this book is a solid buy.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go from point-and-shoot pix to photo-storytelling in 1 book, April 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: John Hedgecoe's Complete Guide To Photography: A Step-by-Step Course from the World's Best-Selling Photographer (Paperback)

Hedgecoe's book walks the reader through photographic topics, lab-style. The book consists of 73 projects, each one of which focuses on one element of effective photography: shape, composition, pattern, color, uses of color, over- and under-exposure, black-and-white, positioning subjects...using examples, short 'technical tips' and discussion, I found it easy to begin assembling my own "photography workbook" by doing the exercises. In less than a year I was doing work good enough to start entering amateur photography competitions---and REALLY enhancing my scrapbooking.