The Beginner's Photography Guide: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Manual for Getting the Most from your Digital Camera

Excellent book. Well written and illustrated. It does start off VERY basic but soon gets into the technical stuff which is explained in a clear and concise way. It is very focussed (sorry for the pun) on Canon for camera operations but the info should transfer. I paired it with Digital Photography Basics Pocket Guide which has lots of practice assignments and I find the two books complement each other well.

Over the decades I have bought numerous DK books and have been pleased with all of them. This book is no exception, it is beautifully presented in a large format with glossy pages, clear printing and excellent photographic examples. Although the focus from the author is on Nikon and Canon dSLR cameras, they do point out that all the points made will apply to most dSLR, mirrorless, compact, and even some smartphones, advising readers need only check their own instruction manuals for the positions of certain buttons. This book really is designed for beginners. The text is easy to follow with no unnecessary jargon and the book begins right at the start from when you first pick up your new camera, showing what it can do, what accessories you might need, before moving on to chapters covering various aspects of photography. I can't praise this book enough. If you have just bought a nice camera, or if you have one tucked away in its case because it seemed to complicated to use, definitely buy this book and slowly make your way through the chapters.

Bought as part of my son’s skill development in Duke of Edinburgh’s award (Bronze) to help get him started. Easy to read and understand and great ideas for style and composition. He seems happy with the content and is trying out the advice.

Bought this book to help me with my camera. IT IS A LARGE BOOK full of information. TAKES you through camera settings and how to take various types of photos. It is a book I use now and again.I like to dip in and out of the book.THE Information given is very good. It is a standard book in that the information applies to most cameras available these days.

Absolutely brilliant book for new beginners using digital cameras like me

The book covers all the basics about DSLR cameras and lenses, and most of techniques/settings to use in specific situations. If you have any previous knowledge about photography (understanding exposure and basics of aperture, shutter speed and focal length) this book will be an easy read, yet giving you more understandig of correlation of each, and how one influences the other... Long story short, for any beginner starting to use his first DSLR (or mirrorless) this book is a must have to speed up the learning curve and minimise frustrations, especially considering low cost (got mine for 10£ incl shipping from UK to Croatia). For more advanced users, or a beginner after fully understanding this book, and after few months of practice, knowing what are you doing... there are other bigger books to consider, but this one is "the best first book for photography", not too big, not too small, covers all the basics and motivates you to go out and shoot.

Lovely, easy to follow yet very insightful book for beginners and improvers alike.

Excellent book to assist me on my photography journey, little disappointed as there was slight damage on the corners and the spine of the book due to inadequate packaging.

After I bought my first SLR which is D5300, thought to buy a book through which I can learn some Nitty-gritty of Photography. Fortunate enough I purchased this book ( Fresh 2nd edition, fully revised and updated. ) I chose Flexibound format, found it much better and light in weight, cheap in price. Buying a hardcover has no difference except the cost. Books are forever, keep it neat and safe and it'll be with you forever either spiral or Flexibound. Now about the content:- --------------------------------- If you get this book I can assure you will learn a lot about Photography and it is more than best for a novice Photographer. You will get to learn in very simple terms, very easy and straight forward English, no heavy jargon. Book will tell you know your camera man!!! This book can easily teach you about the most important aspect of Photography which is Exposure and that comprises of Aperture settings, Shutter speed and ISO. Also teach you about SLR body parts, you will know your camera better then. Many of us beginners got confused on f-stop values related to aperture size and here this book take your boat to the other shore. This book includes almost all the matter related to a modern SLR's settings and photography modes like P S A M and much more. CHAPTERS: ---------------- 1- Equipment 2- Exposure 3- Focusing 4- Lenses 5- Available light 6- Flash 7- Image enhancement Well arranged Glossary and Index on the back. The page quality is super glossy and thick. I should say it's much more in this price tag and thanks to DK Publishing for keeping the price minimum for this awesome book. I loved it!! Thank you for taking your time reading this review and if you found my review helpful, please give me a like dear friends!!!

Great and well designed. I loved the book, but if you were also taught how to take pictures using a smartphone, the book would be better.

ES EN INGLES. MUY DIDACTICO ES UN MAGNÍFICO LIBRO PARA PRINCIPIANTES DE TODAS LAS EDADES

I've done film photography since the 1970s and know a lot about the photographic principles and processes. In the digital era, I got lazy and had never really learned how to translate my pre-digital photo knowledge into setting up and using digital cameras effectively. I mostly stuck to Auto, I'm sad to say. Camera manuals are pathetic, so what I really wanted was to learn exactly how digital cameras do what they do, and learn to use my digital cameras' settings more creatively than you can do on automatic. As one example, Gatcum explains beautifully the differences between all the possible settings such as Auto vs. Program, and what the benefits and limitations are for each one. This is one example of a topic the limited and badly translated camera manuals are silent on. This book assumes limited photographic knowledge so it would be fine for photo newbies, but it's actually extremely well laid out with brief but useful explanations and really great illustrative photos that anyone could learn and benefit from. I got a lot of good ideas from the various subjects the book. Another good point is that the topics and descriptions are clear, precise, but not too wordy. Just enough to illustrate the subject well both in description and with visuals. I have recently bought several similar books and this one is my favorite and I learned what I wanted to learn. Very useful for those in my situation as well as for total beginners, and highly recommended.

Great book for beginner at photography. As other great DK guides actually!