Customer Reviews

Mastering Digital Photography, Second Edition

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this author's "Digital Photography for Dummies Desk Reference" some time back and found it to be very good. His "Mastering Digital Photography" was also available then, but I wasn't ready for it. Now I've learned quite a bit and am ready to learn more, and I was lucky enough to find this upgraded version on the shelves. It has the latest information about using the features of the newest digital cameras, including digital SLRs like my Canon Digital Rebel XT.

The author goes into quite a bit of depth on a wide selection of interesting topics. There are separate chapters on Action Photography, Portraits, Close-Up Photography, Travel Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography, and Architecture. Each of these includes "pro" tips on getting the best pictures.

It's full of beautiful photographs that illustrate each point. This is the best general digital photography book on the shelves, and believe me, I looked at them all before buying this one.

Actually, I found the friendly, conversational style in this book both disarming and fun to read. Too many digital photography books are dry and bland, and not spiced up with enough anecdotes and real world examples. Author Busch does a great job of bringing digital photography to life with this book!

I enjoyed the large chapter devoted exclusively to portrait photography, especially since it included complete lighting diagrams for the most widely-used styles of lighting. The diagrams helped me set up lights in my own home "studio" to duplicate the author's techniques exactly.

I've been disappointed in the past by digital photography books that show you how to get the looks you want in Photoshop after the shot was taken. This one skips image editing and concentrates on how to get a great picture with your camera! What a concept!

I purchased a Canon Digital Rebel and this book on the same day. I had only used a point-shoot type camera before, and wanted to upgrade my equipment and skills at the same time. Although the book does not deal with SLR cameras as such, its fundamental photographic approach applies to every type of picture taking. I learned a lot about photography and digital shooting from this book. I don't think professional photographers are out there buying books on how to take pictures. If they didn't already know how to use their cameras they couldn't call themselves professionals. This book is for the 99 percent of us who are just amateurs or business users of digital photography who want to improve their capabilities. The clear instructions and beautiful full color pictures show exactly how to do that. Thank you.

I am an amateur with experience in film and digital photography. I got interested in digital imaging because powerful tools are more affordable than their film counterparts. However hard I tried to take good photos, 99.9% of them came out bad When I bought a new digital camera I decided I was going to learn "how to take good pictures". So I headed down to the book store and spent another hour looking through their selection. Of about 30 books, I found two or three that covered differing aspects. One for using a digital camera, one for retouching techniques, one for photographic techniques. I have been frustrated by recent titles on digital photography. Half of the books out there are essentially dictionaries. The other half are "me too" books on Photoshop tips and tricks, rather than digital photography. The book includes both a solid theoretical background and lots of practical (how-to) information. It discusses in great details those techniques that are unique to digital photography, showing you how to get more from the tools you already know.

This book is amazing : it covers every aspect of digital photography, from camera choice to photographic techniques to sports photography and portraits. One thing I love are the "tips from the pros" sections.And its packed full of stunning full color photos.

This is the perfect book not just for digital photographers but all persons wanting to get more out of their camera. The writing is friendly and clear, the illustrations are outstanding, all in color. Some books are so good that, after reading them, you want to share the experience with others. That's exactly what happened with Mastering Digital Photography, and why I am posting this review.

I agree with the reviewer who says this book is not for professional photographers. If you are a pro and are using a $5000 SLR, this book is not for you. However, just about anyone else can learn from this tasty and informative book. It is filled with useful techniques about sports, portraits, architecture, and close-up photography that most of us amateurs favor. Although the author admits that some of the photo illustrations were taken with the latest Kodak digital SLR camera, he says that most were taken with plain old Minolta A1 and Nikon Coolpix 995 digital cameras like the average reader might have. Those are hardly what I'd call "old photos."

Anyway, I really liked this book and recommend it highly. Although professional photographers don't need it, I'll bet that even users of low-end digital SLRs like the Digital Rebel or Nikon D70 will find lots of good things here.

This is a gorgeous book, full of inspiring color photos and great techniques. I like the approach, I like the content, and I like what I've learned from reading it. There are a ton of digital photography books out there, but this one is by far the best.

Many of the digital photography books I've seen either don't have enough about real photography (and emphasize the gadgetry instead) or seem as if they are ordinary photography books with "digital" inserted here and there. This one covers photography in depth, but also pays a great deal of attention to the special needs of digital cameras. For example, the author explains the problems we encounter with shutter lag when taking sports pictures, then clearly shows how to overcome those problems using a couple tricks he developed. That section is worth the price of the book alone! He also explains why digital cameras collect more image "noise" with long exposures or with higher ISO ratings, and uses his own fireworks pictures to show what can be done. There's a trick in there about taking a "blank" picture at a high ISO setting, and then using it as a "filter" to cancel out noise that I haven't seen anywhere else.

This is the first digital photography book I've seen that not only covers ways to use multiple lights with a digital camera to achieve professional-looking lighting effects, but includes all the lighting diagrams you need to position those lights for broad-lighting, short-lighting, glamour effects, and other setups. Why aren't other books this complete?

I think this book is suitable for beginners and intermediate photographers, because the techniques shown are professional in quality, yet still explained in an easy to grasp way. Even veteran photographers are likely to pick up a few tips. All in all, an excellent book that I recommend highly.

Learned more from this book than NYI photography lessons wonderful job.....I have purchased more from this author and they are as good as this one!

First off this book use old photos for its examples. Secondly it does not tell you anything about professional digital SLR equipment or on how to an SLR to take pictures. I guess it was my fault for buying it I should have read reviews on other sites as well as the ones I read here. Basically if you looking for a professional photography book this in not the book for you, but if your using a point-and-shoot its worth buying. I hope this review was useful to you.

I was browsing through the bookstore looking for decent books on digital imaging and came across two by this author, this one on digital photography and another one on scanning. I snapped up both of them and couldn't be more satisfied. What attracted me to these books at first were the beautiful color pictures, but after I had skimmed through the text, I was impressed with the information, too.

Face it, even the best digital photographer can use a little help, and I'm not the best. I've been doing most of my work with a 35mm camera and only recently switched. This book had valuable tips oriented towards the strengths and failings of digital cameras, so I was able to reinforce what I already knew and pick up some new techniques as well. The section on getting around shutter lag problems was very helpful. The writing styles is friendly and easy to comprehend and even mixed with some humor. This is a very useful book. I also recommend the author's scanner book if you're into that.

I read an article by Mr. Busch in the August, 2003 issue of Popular Photography & Imaging magazine, and follow his advice on the CNet web page, so I was pleased to discover that he also writes books. I snatched this one up and have been delighted with it.

Few digital photography books I've seen go into the depth this one does. I really learned some useful techniques. I enjoy photographing the animal and plant life along the seashore, and can't wait until the weather gets better so I can try out some of the close up photography ideas I learned from this book. I'm also convinced I can get better pictures of my daughter's fast-pitch softball team this spring. Thank you!