Looking For A Really Good Book On Photography?

When I first got interested in photography, the amount of educational material available was pretty overwhelming. And it’s even worse now. For example, I just went to the Amazon website and typed “Photography Books” in the search box. That returned over 241,000 results. Using some good filtering techniques (four stars or higher, digital photography, and new releases), I was able to get that number down to 50 pretty quickly. But at the end of the day, I thought it made more sense to see what those who have been at it longer than me would recommend.

My dad has been an avid photographer since his days in the military. In fact, he has  a Leica camera that is at least 50 years old and still in perfect working condition. A couple years ago, he bought me a book called Digital Photography Masterclass by Tom Ang. It was exactly what I needed to improve my skills.

This book has great tutorials that cover every aspect of photography.

This book is set up in such a way that makes it very easy to learn the concepts that the author covers. Each chapter is basically a tutorial on some aspect of photography. The first five tutorials help you to get a better understanding of how your camera works. It covers topics such as key camera controls, and exposure. Then there are four chapters that review the elements that will further develop your skills like mastering composition and using available light. After that, Ang takes us into the darkroom to show how to use the available software to perfect the image. Finally, the last seven tutorials cover a specific type of photography (travel, portrait, sports, etc.) that will enable you to focus on the category of your choosing.

I also like how the book reinforces the concepts. There is an assignment at the end of each tutorial that helps you apply the information that you’ve read. This method of learning has been proven to be very effective, and it’s especially true in photography where the feedback now is practically instantaneous. In this age of digital photography, it is possible to review your work immediately following your session. I find this short turnaround time to be very motivating. Not only am I able to see what I did right, but I can focus on the areas where I didn’t get the desired results and make a note on what I need to do to have a better outcome next time.

So if you are looking for a great book to teach you the basics as well as the finer points if digital photography, you don’t need to look any further than Digital Photography Masterclass by Tom Ang. It is extremely well organized, and the author’s writing style makes it very easy to read. At the time of this posting, there is a 3^rd Edition available on Amazon in paperback for around $20.00. I think you will find it to be a very worthwhile investment. Until next time . . .