Customer Reviews

Langford's Starting Photography, Fifth Edition: The guide to great images with digital or film

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

 

 

As the title implies, Langford's Starting Photography is a text for the beginning photographer. Dating back to the mid 1970's, this 5th edition has been updated to reflect the changing landscape of digital photo technology.

The problem with modern digital cameras is that they make too many decisions for you. They are ready to shoot, fresh out of the box! This means that you don't need to learn the principals of photography before venturing out shooting. Unfortunately, this also means that the artistic skills of making a good photograph - things like composition, patterns, leading lines, use of light and color - are also bypassed. The result? A hard-drive collecting many snaps, but very few photos.

For those who don't have the time or money for a photography class, I would recommend this book! Langford's Starting Photography is geared and organized for the complete novice, but is of great benefit for those who have been snapping digitally for years! The first two thirds of the book are dedicated to work behind the lens, while the last of the book teaches the basics of the darkroom (one chapter on film developing, and the remainder on the digital darkroom). This book even comes complete with `homework' in the form of a projects list every few chapters.

I've never picked up an older copy of Langford's Starting Photography, so I can't compare to previous editions, but I found this book to be easy to use and thorough. Michael Langford is British, and it shows in his writing. I found myself reading it in an English voice. The book is heavily illustrated in full-color. A few of the how to graphics were a bit rough (i.e. - sketches of someone holding a camera, with a photo of the camera crudely pasted-in), and being a Mac user, I had an aversion to the books use of Windows screenshots. But on the whole, an excellent `photo class-in-a-book'!

Rated 5

I was introduced to Starting Photography Fifth Edition (the edition is important) as a textbook, but it was exactly what I was looking for on my own. It offers a thorough understanding of the subject and includes some sections devoted specifically to digital photography. It would be even more valuable if it had broken some chapters into several parts because there is too much to absorb all at once in some of them. The topics warrant separate attention and they take time to absorb individually.

It is not a book for beginners, nor is it one for professionals. It is for people who are trying to learn more about the various elements of photography to which they have already been exposed.

This is one of the best Intro to techniques of photography books I've found (and I have a bit of a personal library). It very clearly explains the various technical elements you should master to become a better photographer (no need to read this if you're strictly going to point-and-shoot on a baby Auto focus camera). If you're new to digital (or film) SLR/manual cameras this would be a very useful book to buy. It takes you from the basics of photographic technology, to what you can achieve using creative modes like Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority, to lighting considerations and finally workflow (editing and sharing photos). Well written, easy to read and refer to - I use it together with the guidebook to my own camera.

This book (Langford's Starting Photography) was recommended to me by my photography teacher who has been a professional photographer for years. The book is a very good resourse for people like me starting to learn how to take good pictures.

I have moved from point and shot to a Rebel XSI which is a big jump, at least for me. Now needing to know not only the why's of using all the bell's and whistles of the camera but the reason for making these choices. Information is easy to understand and examples given when needed are helpful.

I would recommend this book, espically for beginners.

This book is very informative about all aspects of Photography and give a very clear understanding about Photography with Film or Digital Photo Taking. Another good book for the collection.

This book's redeeming quality is that it is inexpensive for a beginning photo text. And I like some of the British vocabulary, words like "oddments". Unfortunately, the book has the feeling of a technical manual. The images are mediocre at best, and the usage poor. Some of the glossary definitions are confusing and unclear.

The photography in the book reminds me of cheap royalty-free stock imagery, most of which provide good examples to prove technical points, but are by and large uninspiring, predictable, and lacking in personal style. I think students need to look at good photography, this text does not have inspiring, compelling work in it.

In an age where space for photography keeps diminishing, good usage is more vital than ever to the medium to provide impact. I couldn't find a single image that was used even a half page, let alone full page or doubletruck. I found it fitting that the author was credited with having photos on postage stamps. The images in the book are even more diminished by dropped-in text and distracting color borders and boxes.

While it provides a good deal of necessary and accurate information, Langford has no section on history of photography or masters of photography. It doesn't include any historical or master's work in any context. The reproduction is somewhat poor, poor enough that an example showing the difference between ISO 100 and 800 doesn't read. Lastly, Langford's example of presenting photo packages is what I would use as 'what NOT to do" when laying out a photo page.