Customer Reviews

Mastering the Basics of Photography

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

 

 

From the moment I began leafing through Susan McCartney's latest book, I knew I had hit upon the perfect teaching tool. This book, from start to finish, is clearly written and uses good examples of photography to illustrate the subject matter. The ABC's of photography, cameras, lenses, flash and other useful tools are easy to understand and accurately reflected. I will definitely recommend this book to my students and to anyone who wants to learn or to refresh the basic knowledge of photography.

Finally, here is a book clear enough for the beginner yet serious and thorough enough for an advanced novice to use for honing photographic skills. Susan McCartney's book "Mastering The Basics Of Photography" gives that and so much more. The book is complete and technically accurate but does not try to intimidate the reader with complicated jargon. You can find everything you need to achieve technical excellence and also gain an understanding of the creative process. The author's clear, friendly writing style makes the information easy to grasp and enjoyable to read. For years I've been looking for a book to recommend to newcomers and this surely is it!

I've read reviews that this book is perfect for beginners and I'm at a loss to understand why. Things are explained in high, low, fast, slow, and rarely gives an example of what specifically is meant. The writer makes references to things that a beginning photographer, such as myself, might have the vaguest clue about without an explanation, or explanations that aren't very clear. Bracketing is mentioned throughout the book but I'm still understand what the purpose is. I expected clear explanations of the basics - composition, lighting, chosing a shutter speed, and choosing an aperture. The book seems to cover each thing in little bits, then moves on. There's approximately 40 pages (of large text) explaining everything from the different types of cameras, different types of flashes, compostition, lighting, metering, the different ways to meter (as well as the different devices), film, aperture and shutter speeds, and the many sub categories - I excluded all the pages of photographs, and much of the tip boxes since they don't really add much to what's already written on the page. There was more information devoted to the different types of cameras then anything else. I find the book to be almost completely useless. It hardly expands on the manual that came with my camera.

I agree that a true, totally green, beginner is not the target audience for this book. This is not "photography for dummies" nor "introduction to the basics", it is "mastering the basics". If you already take pictures, this book will help you take better pictures. The information about lighting, metering, composition, photographing people and other subjects are all relevent and informative. The self-assignments are great (in my opinion). The positive attitude of the author is welcome. I appreciated that author uses a functional but limited set of lenses; the equipment does not seem out of reach.
No one's work is best represented as 100 line/inch (or so) screen black-and-white. Even so, I thought the illustrations were all good, all educational, and some were excellent.
My only complaint about this book is that a new version is needed for digital cameras. There too many pages about selecting a film and using filters to match light source to the film; digital cameras don't use film, and can auto or manual white balance. I still have a Pentax K1000 so this section was a nostalgic look back at film photography for me, but I don't see what value the information about film could have for a beginner with a digital camera.
My advice: at this price, I believe this book is worth getting for its photographic guidance. If you're starting with a digital camera, you should also get a book that focusses on that. I particularly like Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition by Derrick Story. It's a very small, concise book crammed with information specifically about photography with digital cameras.

This book is ultimate in photography. It is one of the best, I ever had. For new photographers it is the best. Author's explanation for each and every small, small points to be aware of is very good.

Only this I didn't like is, all photographs are in Black & White. So you have to use your imagination how picture must be looking in color, which is hard. When you learn photography, you expect to see colors. At one point she said that she loves color photography.

I'm a beginning photographer, and I wish I'd bought this book before I bought my SLR camera. It's a terrific resource that I refer to often.

I'm an avid photographer and found this book to be about the best for the beginner. The book is written in a laymans language making it easy and most clear to understand the basics of photography.

The book lacks color pictures. I was surprised that the book did not contain any color pictures. Most of us shoot in color not black and white. Fortunately, I understand most of the things that are explained in the book. Nice for the basics but lacks on color photos.

Mastering the Basics of Photography truly helps the beginner from start to finish. From describing the different types of cameras, to film, exposure settings, filters and light metering -- it's a well-written guide! This book even has "Self-Assignments" - that way, you can actually put the "theory" into practice. It has great suggestions on how to go about completing each assignment and some additional tips in taking photographs! My only peeve about this book is the fact that there aren't any sample photographs in color; There are loads of photos that the author took (with exposure and other settings recorded) but they were all in black-and-white. And although the book did suggest that the color versions of her photos can be found on her website (provided in the book), it would have been nice to see photos in color (along with the black and white versions) printed on the book itself. I would greatly suggest starting off with this book!

I like taking pictures and my friends told me I should take a course to consider going professional. Well, I don't have time to take a class, so I bought this book. It makes everything so clear and it is fun! The self-assignments in the book really helped me and everyone says that my pictures have improved since I got this book. I am going to buy a couple more copies to give to other friends who are interested in photography.