Photography Book Review of "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby
The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby
The Digital Photography Book is aimed at beginners and intermediate level photography enthusiasts who are looking to learn fundamentals of photography as well as pick up tips and tricks from a seasoned professional photographer. The book has a very casual way of explaining concepts and some quick and dirty tricks that would help an amateur photographer gain a solid foot into digital photography. The book is written by Scott Kelby who is a famous name in the digital photography world both for his photography skill as well as his keen interest in educating interested amateurs. In fact, there is a whole collection of video tutorials that is available from the Kelby Training which makes use of big name photographers to explain and guide you through the concepts and techniques of photography.
Contents (4 out of 5)
The Digital Photography Book takes a completely different approach towards explaining concepts and provides the reader with technical information. To begin with, it does not go about explaining fundamentals of photography, like shutter speed, f-stops, aperture value and so on as individual chapters or titles. Scott Kelby uses a workshop like approach and touches on the fundamentals when dealing with real life shooting situations, which I believe is an interesting way to keep your audience immersed in the book. The chapters are titled with the different genres of photography like shooting flowers (macro), shooting weddings, sports, people, etc. These titles therefore attract more attention and are at ease with reader’s expectations. The 11 chapters included in the book give you a wholesome dose of all genres of photography and how the fundamentals of photography can be applied to them in real life conditions. Almost all tips and techniques are accompanied by images making you feel the need to read once you see that gorgeous image.
Style & Presentation (4 out of 5)
If you are looking for a book that will enlighten you about the fundamentals of photography so you can drown in tech babble galore, then look elsewhere. Scott Kelby has used the method of showing a picture and then explaining the tips and techniques involved in the making of the shot and therefore keeps the readers pinned to the pages. The book has a very informal style and, as I mentioned before, it takes a workshop like approach where you shoot and then the professional explains how the shot can be made better and offers his take on how to make an attractive photograph of the scene. The humorous style of writing makes the book an entertaining read, though I’m not sure that it would resonate with everybody. Yet another interesting facet of the book is the explanation offered to technical aspects, such as f-stop, is intertwined with a practical real life shooting situation making it easier to understand. Since the book covers different genres of photography as individual chapters you could basically jump into a chapter dealing with a specific genre and feel comfortable. The author cleverly uses references to techniques and tips mentioned elsewhere in the chapter to get you into reading the other chapters, which I like. Overall it is a serious photography book for amateur and mid-level photographers but doesn’t take itself seriously.
A Must Read Photography Book - Great Value for Your Money
Keeping the flow of information in a very smooth, as well as entertaining, style makes this book resonate with its audience. Worth mentioning are sections on printing and calibrating your displays which play an important role in your photography since they are your digital darkroom equipment. Also included is a section called Photography Recipes, which contain a picture, camera settings and setup used to capture that shot, which is helpful for beginners to try it out themselves and enliven with great looking photography. If you’re planning on getting into digital photography then The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby is a worthy read and affordable purchase retailing on Amazon for about $16.
This post is part of the series: Reviews of The Digital Photography Book series by Scott Kelby
These reviews cover all three volumes of Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Books. These great photography technique books should be in every photographer’s collection.
