Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Photography

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Two friends (who are professional photographers) were telling me that there are too many books on photography on the market that turn a comparably simple task into something complicated. Shrouding the relations of aperture, shutter speed and film sensitivity made it difficult for me to improve my skills. But this book explained the basics of proper exposure so easily, giving good advice for even the most difficult light settings that I now have the courage to use more and more often manual settings instead of the program mode of my SLR.
This is by far the best book on photography for people that want to learn the basics and move on from point & shoot to a more creative way of taking pictures.
This is a must have book!

If I had to pick one book for a beginner to learn the basics of photography, this would be the one. Whether film or digital, it presents the basics in logical easy-to-grasp order. The illustrations are not just works of art, but each make a point pertinent to the topic [like comparing depth of field with wide angle or tele lenses], stimulating the reader to give it a try. This author possesses that unique knack of presenting difficult material in an understandable, pleasantly conversational, manner - assisted by attractive sketches and relevant photo's. Not the least, the high quality paper makes reading easy, and the photo's glow. The occasional Briticism is good for a chuckle, and adds to the charm [yes, the author uses both metric and US measurements]. To repeat, whether you use film or digital cameras (or both), this book presents the basics, and presents them simply, attractively, completely, and very well indeed. It's a lot of book for a very modest price.

Although the fundamentals of photography remain unchanged, equipment changes over the years - and that's where the present (2003) printing shows it's 2000 origins. Digital cameras, in particular, have changed: an illustration of a "modern" 1.4 MP camera, and comments about memory 'as much as 256 kB', make the digital chapter seem undeservedly dated. Even so, the advice offered is as sound today as it was a few years ago. This superb introductory text deserves revision and updating -- keep it going Mr. Frost!

This the one book that taught me more about how to use my SLR than the camera's manual itself. The step by step approach and the logical arrangement of chapters makes it a book that really teaches you photography. I also liked the way Mr. Frost uses two photographs to illustrate a filter. One take without the filter and then the same one with a filter. Also explained very well is how longer lenses reduce depth of the photograph and small helful tips on increasing your depth of field. An encompassing book, the last few chapters tell about how a slide show can be made more interesting and how to take care of your equipment. The peppering of photos and illustrations make you want to go out and take pictures using the methods shown. A good buy and money well spent. My only gripe is that I preffered the smaller size of the previous edition as it fit easily in my kit bag.

I bought this book because I just bought a Canon G2, and wanted to learn the basics to take advantage of the features of my new camera. Prior to this book, I have no idea what aperture or depth of field mean. I finished this book in one sitting -- very easy and engaging book to read for beginners. I like how it covers many of the common scenarios, such as shooting at night, shooting at mid-day and when to use manual adjustment to accommendate difficult shots. I can say now after reading the book, I feel confident to take on the many features of my camera, and I'll definitely come back to it for reference in the coming days.

I just received the book today and am amazed at how much USEFUL information is in this book. Having both SLR and digital cameras, this is the book that I've been looking for. The illustrations are simple, precise and very easy to follow. It's not written specifically for professional photographers, but for amateurs like me who just want to better understand my cameras.

Lee Frost covers all the basics in this book. If you're just starting out in photography, this will help you out. But having been written more than 10 years ago, it is simply not relevant anymore for someone shooting digital. He refers to digital cameras as "nearing megapixel resolution" which just seems so silly now. If you're shooting film and you need to know the basics, buy this book. If you, like most people just starting out, are going digital, then there are more recent books, including one by this author, which will better serve your needs.

This is a wonderful book for starting in photography. It's only problem is that, even in its latest edition, it treats digital as a new technology that has yet to enter mainstream. It just dates itself in several ways, such as saying that APS is also a new technology. Really the techniques it gives are wonderfull no matter what, its just the equipment guide to 'Choosing a camera" that needs to be updated.

Overall I thought the book was good. It starts at the basics, explaining aperature, film speed, etc. A good overview of all the different types of photography (landscape, portraits, etc) is also included. The only complaint I have is the book is a little dated. The majority of the book covers film cameras, with only a small section on digital cameras. However, I just bought my first Digital SLR and many of the features it has are just like the older film cameras the book describes. So, it was still relevant.

A few weeks ago my digital camera quit working at a very bad time. I had to break out my twenty year old 35mm film camera and use it. I was stunned at the quality that my old Yaschica had over my digital camera. So I bought this wonderful book and never looked back. It is filled with great tips that are easy to understand. Tips on how to use differant lenses, filters and film. Not to mention great flash tips that almost eliminate red eye. My wife and friends are amazed at the quality of some of the pictures that I have taken. Plus digital pictures won't last but a few years stored on disk and a negative is almost forever. So if you want your memories to last a lifetime break out the old 35mm film camera and BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!

Excellent book for beginner photographers or even for persons who would just like to take better family or vacation pictures.