Good book recommendations

[strawbs77]

Hi everyone,

I went a bit crazy at my local library borrowing books! Basically I want to eventually purchase a couple of good reference books eventually. Ideally I need some software ones and Photography one and Id like to use books that actually have set assignments and maybe even a test or two. I guess I am looking for uni style text books?

This is what I have borrowed until 22/12/09:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 & Adobe Premiere Elements 7
San Jose, Calif. : Adobe Press, c2009.
"The official training workbook from Adobe Systems."
"Classroom in a book collection"
- Haven't had a chance to look at it yet

Advanced digital black & white photography / John Beardsworth.
by Beardsworth, John
Lewes, E. Sussex : ILEX, c2007.
- A little too advanced for me

Digital photography from the ground up : a comprehensive course / Juergen Gulbins.
by Gulbins, Jürgen.
Santa Barbara, CA : Rocky Nook, ; Sebastopol, CA : Distributed by O'Reilly Media, c2008
- I am only up to page 21 and have already found 2 editing mistakes... but overall content is good. It has no assignments in it.

Photographing children / Ginny Felch with Allison Tyler Jones.
by Felch, Ginny.
Indianapolis, Ind. : Wiley, 2008.
- I love this book and need to invest in a copy!

Take your best shot : Tim Grey tackles your digital darkroom questions / Tim Grey.
by Grey, Tim
Sebastapol, CA : O'Reilly, c2008.
- Great book but still a bit too advanced for me just now...

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for photographers : a professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC / Martin Evening.
by Evening, Martin
Amsterdam ; Boston ; London : Elsevier/Focal, 2009.
- I need to purchase a copy of this ASAP!


Can anyone recommend any books that I should also try before I buy?

What is currently on your bookshelf?

[Antonio Correia]

Get a simple book to begin with.

Read the web. Google. Here you find everything.

Even how to make bombs ! Unfortunately.

[strawbs77]

Thanks Antonio

Did I mention I have a passion for books? I love to highlight them, write in them and fold the top of the page and use post it notes... and most importantly cuddle them to sleep LOL The web just doesn’t meet those needs....

[Antonio Correia]

Thanks Antonio Did I mention I have a passion for books? I love to highligh them, write in them and fold the top of the page and use post it notes... and most importantly cuddle them to sleep LOL The web just dosen't meet those needs....

OK. then get those basic ones to begin with.
Before walking we ... how do you say ? - walk with the arms and legs like dogs and cats ... crawl is that the verb for it ?

[Felipe]

I'm sorry I'm not able to help you on that field. I'm low tech.

IMHO, for doing good photos it's essential to learn how to see. Technicisms doesn´t make you an inch of a better photographer.

Did you read "On Photography", by Susan Sontag, or "Camera Lucida", by Roland Barthes?
Have you read Ansel Adams' classic trilogy? Do you have enough books from Kertesz, Modotti, Adams, Cappa, Salgado, Cartier-Bresson, Penn, Eggleston, Friedlander, Evans, Man-Rai, Mapplethorpe, Rodchenko, Madoz, LaChapelle, Weston, Stieglitz...?

The best learning doesn't even needs a camera.

[peterb533]

If you are intending to use Photoshop then in my opinion the best book is 'Scott Kelby's 7 Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3'. Other than that buy, beg borrow or steal some good photographers monographs, you will learn more from them than most techie books.

Peter

[Amberglass]

I would suggest your first choice:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 & Adobe Premiere Elements 7
San Jose, Calif. : Adobe Press, c2009.
"The official training workbook from Adobe Systems."
"Classroom in a book collection"

and Steve Mulligan's book:

Black & White Photography: A Practical Guide (Hardcover)

-Yes, black and white photography. Why? Because it will train your eyes to understand exposure, contrasts, and depth of field much better before moving on to color.

and Bryan Petersen's Series of:

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)
Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/125 Second

[Colin Southern]

Hi Cherie,

I'm a bit confused - I thought you bought Photoshop CS4? If so, I can't understand why you're borrowing Photoshop Elements books?

If it is PSCS4 that you have, then as I mention previously, the two books that you MUST buy are Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 and The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers.

[Steve H]

and Bryan Petersen's Series of:

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)
Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1/125 Second

+1 on Understanding Exposure - very good! Easy to read with great photo's and explanations on how to set exposure on each one. I learnt a lot from it and (I thought) I have been photographing for about 20 years, now I realise I was only taking pictures.

[strawbs77]

I'm a bit confused - I thought you bought Photoshop CS4? If so, I can't understand why you're borrowing Photoshop Elements books?

Sorry to confuse you Like I said I went crazy and borrowed everything I could - you know just in case!

[strawbs77]

If it is PSCS4 that you have, then as I mention previously, the two books that you MUST buy are Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 and The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers.

LOL yes Colin I took your advice and got The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers. I have also made a request at my library to purchase the 7 Point System.

[Colin Southern]

Good girl

Now be sure to work through them when you get them (there'll be a little test at the end!)

[Blazing fire]

Hi Cherie,

I'm a bit confused - I thought you bought Photoshop CS4? If so, I can't understand why you're borrowing Photoshop Elements books?

If it is PSCS4 that you have, then as I mention previously, the two books that you MUST buy are Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 and The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers.

May I know why Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 would be useful for CS4? I'm not too familar with PS.

Btw, Scott Kelby is also recommended by Thom Hogan (author of bythom.com).

Update: The best of the most recent Photoshop books, by far, are from two of the best-known NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professional) authors: Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop is probably the most lucid the "here's how I do it" type of books. While the "groundbreaking system" hype is mostly just that, Kelby does indeed reduce Photoshop's huge array of features down into a manageable set of key techniques that solve most of the issues digital photographers face. It doesn't teach you Photoshop, it teaches you how to use Photoshop effectively, a very key difference, and one missing in a lot of the Photoshop books that are out there. At the other end of the spectrum is Matt Kloskowski's Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature. This book does try to teach you about specific Photoshop features, though it also adds the "how to use it" layer (sic) that makes the book useful for virtually any photographer using Photoshop. If you don't know anything about layers, don't worry, Matt does a fine job of getting you up to speed. If you do know about layers and use them, I'll bet you that you still find lots of useful information and tips in this book. Both these books are a must for any Photoshop-using photographer, in my opinion:

[Colin Southern]

May I know why Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 would be useful for CS4? I'm not too familar with PS.

Btw, Scott Kelby is also recommended by Thom Hogan (author of bythom.com).

Hi Blazing Fire,

CS4 is an "evolution" of CS3 - so the CS3 version of the book is equally as applicable to CS4. If Scott ever updates it for CS4 then obviously that would be the one to go for, but to the best of my knowledge he hasn't updated it yet.

As the other quote mentions, the "7-Point System" possibly wasn't the best name, but the basic approach is to establish a fairly standard workflow, and then repeat it over and over (with variations) on a lot of images - so the beauty of it is that it gets you "in the swing of things".

[PopsPhotos]

(I thought) I have been photographing for about 20 years, now I realise I was only taking pictures.

Just to be picky, the photograph is what is stored in the camera. The picture is behind your eyeballs. Think about an artist painting a picture. If he puts paint to canvas, he has a painting. If he is good enough, he creates a picture which shows and says what he had in his mind as he was working on it.

The camera captures an image of what you point it at. It is up to you to make that photograph show what you saw that was worthy of capturing.

Sorry about the treatise on what you already know, but I'm in the process of writing class notes and get carried away, at times.

Pops

[PopsPhotos]

Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks - Scott Kelby - May, 2009
The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers - Scott Kelby - January, 2009

Amazon has them. They are new enough that the prices are still about retail.

Pops

[Shadowman]

Read the Helmut Newton autobiography. The book covers his ups and downs in the fashion industry as well as life.

[Blazing fire]

Hi Blazing Fire,

CS4 is an "evolution" of CS3 - so the CS3 version of the book is equally as applicable to CS4. If Scott ever updates it for CS4 then obviously that would be the one to go for, but to the best of my knowledge he hasn't updated it yet.

...

He did write 2 books for CS4 actually. "The adobe photoshop CS4 book for digital photographers" and "Photoshop CS4 Down and dirty tricks."

Have a look at these bundles:

http://www.kelbytraining.com/product...pher-pack.html
http://www.kelbytraining.com/product...t-program.html

[rpcrowe]

All of Scott Kelby's books are great...

Two other books which I enjoy are:

Getting Started in Camera Raw by Ben Long
Although this book is primarily aimed at CS2, and PSE 3 & 4; much of it is valid for CS3. I don't use CS4 so I cannot attest to the value of the book when using that program.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Starte.../dp/0321384008
There is a second edition which probably has updated information
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032...RW05YAQH5DF1HT


Photographic Multishot Techniques by juergen and Rainer Gulbins
Gulbins' book provides in-dept insight into high dynamic range, super resolution imagery, extended depth of field shooting, and pano stitching techniques. IMO, this book has some awesome information.
http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-M...8976315&sr=1-1

[Colin Southern]

He did write 2 books for CS4 actually. "The adobe photoshop CS4 book for digital photographers" and "Photoshop CS4 Down and dirty tricks."

I know - I've got both of them