Friday, April 27, 2012

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) Review



The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) Feature

  • Scott Kelby shows digital photographers how to unlock the amazing power of Adobe Lightroom 3 and start using it like a pro!
  • Scott Kelby, the #1 best-selling computer book author for six years straight, takes on the new version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
  • Learn all there is to know about organizing, correcting, printing, and showing their digital images using Lightroom.
Since Lightroom first launched, Scott Kelby's The Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world's #1 best-selling Lightroom book. In this latest version for Lightroom 3, Scott uses his same step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. Scott doesn't just show you which sliders do what. Instead, by using the following three simple, yet brilliant, techniques that make it just an incredible learning tool, this book shows you how to create your own photography workflow using Lightroom:

1) Scott shares his own personal settings and studio-tested techniques.  He trains thousands of Lightroom users at his "Lightroom Live!" tour and knows first hand what really works and what doesn't.

2) The entire book is laid out in a real workflow order with everything step by step, so you can begin using Lightroom like a pro from the start.

3) What really sets this book apart are the last two chapters. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: "Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?" Plus, this is the first version of the book that includes his famous "7-Point System for Lightroom," which lets you focus on mastering just the seven most important editing techniques.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers is the first and only book to bring the whole process together in such a clear, concise, and visual way.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography

Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography Review



This ultimate comprehensive photography book is revolutionary in four ways:

  1. FREE VIDEO TRAINING. Integrated into the book's content, the author shows you exactly how he took the photos. The print book includes links you can type into your web browser. If you buy the eBook and your eReader can play video (such as the Kindle app on an iPhone/iPad/Android, or the Kindle Fire), clicking the links when you have an Internet connection will load the video directly within your eReader.
  2. NEVER OUTDATED. This book is regularly updated with new content (including additional videos) that eBook owners receive for free. As new photography trends emerge and new camera equipment and lenses are released, you'll see them described in both the print and eBooks immediately. 
  3. 350+ HIGH RESOLUTION, ORIGINAL PICTURES. Detailed example pictures demonstrate both good and bad technique, all taken by the author himself in nine different countries. Most photo books use stock photography taken by other photographers. On the eBook, zoom into the pictures by double-tapping your screen (on a Kindle Fire) or pinching-and-pulling your fingers apart (on an iPad/iPhone/Android).
  4. HANDS-ON PRACTICES. Complete the practices at the end of every chapter to get the real world experience you need.
In this book, Tony Northrup (award-winning author of more than 30 how-to books and a professional portrait, wildlife, and landscape photographer) teaches you both the art and science of creating stunning pictures. First, you will master these basic concepts:
  • Composition
  • Exposure
  • Shutter speed
  • Aperture
  • Depth-of-field
  • ISO
  • Natural light
  • Flash
  • Posing
  • Troubleshooting bad pictures
  • Using raw files
  • Studio lighting
  • Night photography
  • HDR
  • Macro/close-up photography
Then, you will learn the pro's secrets for photographing these subjects:
  • People (candid, casual, formal, and underwater portraits)
  • Weddings
  • Pets
  • Wildlife (mammals, birds, insects, fish, and more)
  • Landscapes
  • Cityscapes
  • Sunrises and sunsets
  • Flowers
  • Forests, waterfalls, and rivers
  • Fireworks
  • Stars
When pictures don't turn out the way you hoped, you can refer to Chapter 5 for tips on solving common problems.

UPDATE HISTORY:
  • 12/11/2011: Initial release.
  • 1/10/2011: Expanded section on baby portraits (including video).
  • 1/18/2012: Added links to integrated videos covering aperture and depth-of-field, light painting, HDR, and macro.
  • 2/14/2012: Fixed minor reader-submitted errata.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) Review



More than 100 vivid, graphic comparison pictures illustrate every point in this revised classic and can help any photographer maximize the creative impact of his or her exposure decisions. Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. The book contains lessons on each element of the exposure-aperature, shutter speed, iso-and how it relates to the other two in terms of depth of field, freezing and blurring action, and shooting in low light or at night. A section on special techniques explores such options as deliberate under- and overexposures, how to produce double exposures, bracketing, shooting the moon, and the use of filters. Understanding Exposure demonstrates that there are always creative choices about how to expose a picture-and that the decision is up to the photographer, not the camera.


Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Digital Photography Book

The Digital Photography Book Review



Scott Kelby, the man who changed the "digital darkroom" forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography--how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today's top digital pros use (and it's easier than you'd think).

This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You d say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."

This isn't a book of theory—it isn't full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.

Here's another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There's never been a book like it, and if you're tired of taking shots that look "OK," and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques Review



Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques Feature

  • Walks you through the basics of macro photography, whether you're capturing an insect, a flower, a close-up of the texture of a pine cone, or more
  • Shows you how to overcome the challenges of this type of photography, such as using the appropriate equipment and how to handle focus, depth of field, and exposure
  • Takes you beyond the fundamentals to help you develop your own creative style
  • Informs and inspires you with the author's own stunning examples of macro photography
Product Description

The art of macro photography-photographing small objects or super close-ups of small sections of big objects-yields fascinating results, but shooting at this level brings its own set of challenges. Now you can shoot close-ups with confidence and creative flair with this information-packed guide.

Renowned photographer Harold Davis provides pages of field-tested techniques on focus, depth-of-field, exposure-even the appropriate equipment to use for this unique niche of digital photography. The book includes stunning and intriguing examples of his work to illustrate concepts.

  • Walks you through the basics of macro photography, whether you're capturing an insect, a flower, a close-up of the texture of a pine cone, or more
  • Shows you how to overcome the challenges of this type of photography, such as using the appropriate equipment and how to handle focus, depth of field, and exposure
  • Takes you beyond the fundamentals to help you develop your own creative style
  • Informs and inspires you with the author's own stunning examples of macro photography

Join the vast and beautiful world of small photography with this essential guide.

Amazon Exclusive: Photography Tips and Techniques from Harold Davis


How to Use Shadows to Enhance Your Composition

How to Use LAB Color for Black and White Effects

Professional Photography Techniques from Harold Davis

Amazon Exclusive: Interview with Award-Winning Photographer Harold Davis

We hear you’ve written some new digital photography titles. What’s the story behind these books?
Wiley Publishing is releasing three new books of mine, Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , and Creative Composition: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques . My idea with these books was to help people become better photographers by presenting the subject of digital photography in a different way.

What’s different about your approach?
They say that cameras don’t take photos, people do. It’s really true. Someone with a great eye can take masterful photos with an inexpensive camera. Therefore, it is important to know something about photo technique, but the really amazing thing is that we can conceptualize and come up with these bits and bytes that make up a photo—and they can be meaningful to people. I try to help people come up with images that are relevant and meaningful. Cameras and hardware are just tools.

What’s with all the photos in these books?
Well, everyone likes to look at striking images, so one thing my photos do in these books is get people’s attention. However, the photos play another role as well. Each photo in my book is accompanied by the story of how the photo was made and the technical data related to the photo. That way, if you’re not ready to dive into the text itself, you can learn a lot just by browsing the photos.

My feeling is that you truly do learn about photography by looking at photos. It’s much more important to look at images you admire and try and figure out why you like them than it is to read about photography. The photos in these books are baked into the DNA of the teaching strategy. By browsing through the pages, someone can learn a great deal and have an enjoyable visual experience at the same time.

What’s the most important thing that readers can get out of your new books?
I want to inspire readers to be the most creative and best photographers they can be. If you pick up one of my books, I hope you can make use of the technical content and see how the photos relate to some of your own work. The most important thing, however, is to take the ideas in the book, get out there, and do some really peddle-to-the-metal creative photography.

The essential guide for digital macro photographers everywhere

The art of macro photography-photographing small objects or super close-ups of small sections of big objects-yields fascinating results, but shooting at this level brings its own set of challenges. Now you can shoot close-ups with confidence and creative flair with this information-packed guide.

Renowned photographer Harold Davis provides pages of field-tested techniques on focus, depth-of-field, exposure-even the appropriate equipment to use for this unique niche of digital photography. The book includes stunning and intriguing examples of his work to illustrate concepts.

  • Walks you through the basics of macro photography, whether you're capturing an insect, a flower, a close-up of the texture of a pine cone, or more
  • Shows you how to overcome the challenges of this type of photography, such as using the appropriate equipment and how to handle focus, depth of field, and exposure
  • Takes you beyond the fundamentals to help you develop your own creative style
  • Informs and inspires you with the author's own stunning examples of macro photography

Join the vast and beautiful world of small photography with this essential guide.


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques Review



Capture the beauty of the world around you with this professional advice

Landscape photography inspires millions of photographers. If you're one of them, you'll find new insight into landscape photography in this book by professional photographer Harold Davis, as well as tips, tricks, and technical advice to help you improve the quality of your photos. You'll learn to use lighting and composition creatively, choose and use appropriate equipment, look at your subject matter in a new way, and even when to break the rules in order to capture the best image of all. Illustrated with the author's own spectacular landscape photos.

  • Landscape photography intrigues and inspires photographers, but there is more to getting great landscape photos than many photographers expect
  • Professional photographer Harold Davis teaches tricks and techniques that will enhance your skills
  • Explains how to approach the subject creatively, choose and use appropriate equipment, and refine photographic technique to create spectacular landscape shots
  • Looks at how lighting, texture, and composition affect landscape imagery
  • Lavishly illustrated with the author's own photos

Landscapes have long been a popular photographic subject; this book helps you advance your skills as a landscape photographer.

An Amazon.com Exclusive Introduction from Author Harold Davis

Dear Amazon Reader,

I’m passionate about landscape photography. I love getting out, traveling, finding new vistas, and photographing them. But, there’s a surprising paradox with landscape photography. On the one hand, this kind of photography might seem easy: It isn’t hard to find spectacular landscapes, no specialized gear is needed, and on its face, landscape photography doesn’t seem technically difficult.

On the other hand, as Ansel Adams put it, “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer, and often the supreme disappointment.” Great landscape photography is, in fact, far harder than it looks.

Part of the trick is being in the right place at the right time. But even if the scene you are witnessing is sublime, there’s no guarantee that you’ll bring back compelling digital landscape imagery without the right creative ideas, techniques, and tips—which is where Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques comes in.

I’ve always loved landscape photography, and in the course of my career I have had the opportunity to photograph a wide variety of landscapes from many perspectives. I’ve pursued my love of the landscape by hiking solo across the Brooks Range—the northernmost Mountain range in Alaska—crossing ranging torrents with my camera perched precariously on my back and the rest of my gear on handmade rafts. I’ve gone hungry in my pursuit of the wilderness landscape. I’ve dangled from small planes and helicopters, lashed in with a harness, to photograph urban and wild landscapes from above. And I’ve sought the dark spaces of the night, to photograph landscapes and show them in ways they haven’t been seen before.

Digital has changed almost everything about the tools of the landscape photography trade, and how captures are processing in the digital darkroom.

My goal in Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques is to be your companion and guide in landscape photography. I work with you to find the right locations for your kind of landscape photography, and help you figure out the right time to be there. I share my best creative ideas about landscape photography with you, and explain the equipment, tools, and techniques you need to master. Finally, I show you how I process my landscape work in the digital darkroom.

Each of the photos in this book can be used as idea generation for your own work—how you might approach a specific kind of landscape to make spectacular photos of your own. I’ve included the story behind each photo in the book, as well as full technical data about the captures. Like other books in my Creative series, Creative Landscapes is intended to be useful as an idea book.

Creative Landscapes is divided into four parts. As you’ll see, there’s a great deal of material that covers a lot of ground:

Part I: The Tao of Landscape—Tao is a philosophy with ancient roots that refers to the primordial essence of things, the natural order of existence, and the fundamental aspects of the universe. My approach to landscape photography involves embracing the Tao of the world, and this section begins a conversation about integrating one’s work holistically with the world around us and the demands of modern life.

Part II: Tools & Techniques—Explains in detail the camera settings you need to know to make the most of your landscape photography opportunities.

Part III: One World, Many Landscapes—Photographing a mountain landscape is different from photographing a desert—and both are different from capturing a seascape, or the city as landscape. This section explores different considerations to keep in mind depending upon the kind of landscape you are photographing.

Part IV: Landscapes and Post-Processing—With digital photography, taking the photo is only the beginning of creative image making. In this section, you’ll learn to use RAW processing, Photoshop, and HDR techniques to improve the creative impact of your landscape photos.

I hope you enjoy Creative Landscapes: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques. I hope it encourages you to try new techniques. Be adventurous, and seek out awe-inspiring vistas. Explore the world around you, as you capture your own creative landscapes.

Best wishes in photography!

Harold Davis

Landscape Photos from the Author

Bridge and Stars at Night
(Click to see larger image and the story behind the photo)
Yosemite Morning
(Click to see larger image and the story behind the photo)
Yosemite in Snow
(Click to see larger image and the story behind the photo)