The Digital Photography Book

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I really wanted to write a glowing review for "The Digital Photography Book"... I've been looking for a good tome of insider tips for digital SLRs for a long time, so when I found Kelby's book I was ecstatic! A quick skim showed many great tips; however, after reading the first page of chapter 1 where he carried on about the phrase "TACK SHARP" I began to lose faith.

Here is an excerpt (talking about the origins of the phrase Tack Sharp - meaning a "clear photo"):

"TACK stands for Technically Accurate Cibachrome Kelvin (which refers to the color temperature of light in photographs), and SHARP stands for Shutter Hyperfocal At Refracted Polarization. Now, these may seem like highly technical terms at first, but once you realize that I totally made them up, it doesn't seem so complicated, does it? Now, you have to admit, it sounded pretty legitimate at first. I mean, I almost had ya, didn't I? Come on, you know I had you, and I'll bet it was that "color temperature of light" thing I put in parenthesis that helped sell the idea that it was real, right? It's okay to admit you were fooled..."

Is this for real? Maybe his editor was asleep. He makes a lame joke out of trying to fool the reader, then carries on for half a paragraph laughing at how clever he is! I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he continued with this 'fooled ya' theme by writing fake subheadings on the next SIX sections:

The Real Secret to Getting Sharp Photos
"sorry about duping you with "The Real Secret to Getting Sharp Photos" headline..."

Perhaps Even More Important Than That
"Again, ignore that headline. It's just a cheap come-on to get you to keep reading."

If You Skip This, Throw Away Your Camera
"Still a fake headline. Don't let it throw you."

If You Do This Wrong, It Will Lock Up
"It's not as good as the last fake headline, but we're only one more page away from the real chapter content, so I'm backing it off a little."

It's Time to Get Serious
"I have good news: Not only are we at the end of this "fake headline" thing, you'll also be happy to know that from here on out, the rest of the book isn't laced with the wonderfully inspired (lame) humor you found on these first few pages."

Oh... Okay - so he's dropping the annoying stuff. Good. On to learn.

But NO! In Chapter 2, right away he's at it again! Below he describes ways to get around the problem of pollen dulling the color of flowers (???)

"Now, there is a special photographic filter (called the Flora 61B from PhotoDynamics) that can help reduce the effects of this pollination and both bring back the sharpness and reduce the graying effect, but because of U.S. trade sanctions imposed by the Federal Trade Commission, we can no longer buy this filter direct. Especially because I totally made this whole thing up. I can't believe you fell for this two chapters in a row. Seriously, how are you going to get good flower photos if you're falling for the old Flora 61B trick? Okay, I'm just teasing you, but seriously..."

I hate having to stay on constant patrol for full paragraphs of combed cr*p when I'm trying to learn something new! I don't care how good the "real" content is, I'm not going to sift through fertilizer to get to it!

If you find this type of humor funny, or wonder what I'm making such a big deal about, then you'll probably find this a very fun, interesting read.

If you don't like wondering whether or not the author is "pulling your leg this time, too", then you'll probably want to chuck this book out the window by the third chapter.

I have enjoyed photography as a hobby for 50+years. I own a Canon 20D and am a Scott Kelby fan. He is a great photoshop expert, yet emphasizes the importance of getting the best possible shot when taking the picture, to make your time in photoshop more enjoyable. You don't have to work as hard if you make the correct exposure to begin with.
Scott approaches each chapter with some humor, and really understands what you really need is a clear bottom line on how to approach the person or subject you want to photograph.
I received my book Sept 4th, read it and used some of his tips shooting 500+ volleyball pictures Sept 5th. I think I can see some improvement in my pictures already.
He has equipment recommendations and shooting tips for the person that has just bought a digital camera to the person that uses it to make a living.
He has worked alongside of professionals learning tips on how to process the digital photographs and how to best print them. Scott believes photography can be more fun if you get results you like by using some of the basic principles used by professional photographers.
I have unhesitatingly recommended this book to several of my friends.
This is one of the least expensive camera related purchases that I have made to bring my excitement of photography to a new level.
I am quite certain you won't be disappointed, especially if you own a Nikon or Canon digital SLR.
I expect my copy to become dog eared from use.

This is the most practical and useful book on digital photography that you will find on the shelves. The book is Filled with tips and tricks of the trade that the professional photographers use every day to get wonderful looking pictures using nothing but a digital camera similar to the one you have. Why their photographs look better than yours? Well is not always the camera, most of the credit is to know how to take advantage of the camera you have: selecting the right settings for different situations, choosing the right location, etc.

Full of examples and straight to the point tips, this book will definitively improve the quality of every single shot you take. When I compare the pictures I took before I read the book with my latest pictures, it looks like I am know using a far better or more expensive digital camera, but the only difference is the know-how I gained from the book.

Since I'm offering an opinion (and review) on the book, The Digital Photography Book, I think a brief look at my background may give what follows a bit more veracity. I am an enthusiastic advanced amateur photographer with roughly 40 years of experience that includes a goodly number of awards and published photos. I shut down my wet darkroom a few years ago and have happily traded film and silver-based images for electrons, pixels and ink jet printing.
Enough about me; now let's look at the latest book by Scott Kelby (of National Association of Photoshop Professionals fame): The Digital Photography Book.
This is a different kind of animal in the world of self-help photography books. The author describes the experience of reading the book as having your good friend--who also happens to be an expert in digital photography--standing besides you while you're taking pictures.
The book lives up to Scott's description--complete with the frequent interjection of his quirky sense of humor. (Warning, watch out for the first page of Chapter One.)
I don't feel this is a book for complete novices--either in photography or in the use of digital equipment. Scott assumes the readers already know the basics of how their cameras work (what and where the controls are) and have used their cameras long enough to know what else they want to learn to take better photographs.
Another reason some basic knowledge of photography is necessary to get the most from this book is that Scott doesn't shy away from including the terms in common use by digital photographers today: ISO, white balance, focal length, lens aperture, etc. He also assumes the readers have the desire to move up in the ranks from point-and-shooters to at least competent amateurs. Therefore, Scott includes numerous suggestions about photographic gear he feels can help any photographer take better pictures--and, although he breaks his suggestions down by price range, much of the gear still comes with a hefty price tag.
A look at the chapter titles also confirms that Scott was not writing a teach-everything book for all readers. The 11 chapters include specialized topics, such as, Shooting Flowers like a Pro, Shooting Weddings Like a Pro, Shooting Sports Like a Pro and Taking Advantage of Digital Like a Pro. For me, the final chapter, Photo Recipes to Help You Get "The Shot", was the best part of the book. This is where Scott puts everything together and takes his readers into the field to practice what they've learned.
So, do I like The Digital Photography Book? More importantly, do I recommend it? Yes, to both of these questions; but, as I mentioned above, to get the most out of the book, the reader should have at least point-and-shoot digital experience and a basic vocabulary of photographic terms.
One final note. The book can be read front to back, or chapters can be sampled at random to learn just the techniques each reader needs. At the offered price, I think The Digital Photography Book definitely has a place in a well-rounded photographer's library.

This is a wonderful book for beginning and intermediate photographers who want to know the tricks of the professional photographers out there. Although this book could be useful to those with pocket digital cameras, I believe this book is best suited to owners of DSLR Camera's.

The chapters of the book are as follows:

1. Pro tips for getting really sharp photos.
2. Shooting flowers like a pro.
3. Shooting weddings like a pro.
4. Shooting landscapes like a pro.
5. Shooting sports like a pro.
6. Shooting people like a pro.
7. Avoid problems like a pro.
8. Taking advantage of digital like a pro.
9. Taking travel & city life shots like a pro.
10. How to print like a pro and other cool stuff.
11. Photo recipes to help you get "The Shot".

I found the chapters to be laid out in an easy to understand format and each chapter builds your knowledge for future chapters. This book is also small enough that I can shove it into my camera bag or backpack as reference material for those times when I just can't remember which aperature setting or lens I should be using to get "The Shot", as Scott calls it.

Overall, I can't see anyone except for professional or advanced photographers being disappointed with this book. At $15-20 for the book you really can't go wrong.

The writing style in this book is incredibly distracting and irritating, especially for non-american readers. It begins with 2 pages of gushing thanks to God, Jesus, the author's lovely wife, the author's lovely children, etc, then continues with about 5 pages of absolute drivel in a failed attempt to establish a jokey rapport with the reader. Then finally we get a couple of pages of technical photographic advice, then that's Chapter 1. Chapter 2 starts with more jokey stuff, and so on. I was ready to burn the book by Chapter 3.

The plan for the book is a nice concept: one photographic tip per page. While this makes it very digestible, unfortunately the small page size and the large font mean that each page carries very little information, so the text is superficial and disjointed.

I have read a lot of photography how-to books, and this one did not contain anything new to me. I found most of the technical tips far too basic, too general and sometimes incorrect or oversimplified. On the other hand, I think a beginner in photography would find this book bewildering because there is insufficient detail.

I would recommend The New Manual of Photography over this book in all respects.

It's obvious Kelby's book was too short and he needed lots of fluff to get his minimum word count. The jokes are absolutely terrible. It's a classic example of someone who's not funny trying to be funny. Hey Scott, leave the jokes to Deke ok?

This is an intermediate book. Advanced users aren't going to get much out of it, just a basic reminder of what they already know. Beginners are going to enjoy it, but they'll also need another book such as Understanding Exposure by Peterson.

One thing I really liked is he didn't waste too much time on basics, especially aperture etc. This was a relief. The second thing I really liked is it was written as if we were out shooting together and I was asking questions. I love this casual format and the book was extremely easy to read (I read it all in one sitting). He also turned me on to some equipment I wasn't aware of (the stop down filter, which goes from 2 to 8 stops is very cool until I almost had a heart attack when I saw the $300 price). He really stresses the importance of a tripod and shooting at dawn & dusk. I've heard these before but for some reason am still disappointed with my hand-held midday photos. I think this is a big one, because most people want magazine quality photos but don't have the time for it (myself included).

The section at the end describes why some of the photos "work". I found myself thinking I don't want to take a photo like that on several of them (he is famous for his photoshop skills, not his photography skills) but it was a good wrap-up of the basics presented throughout the book.

Finally, there were a few bits of information that I found controversial. Such as using f11 for portraits. That usually puts the background in focus. Another, he recommends a shredder to shred your old photo CD/DVDs before throwing them away. Wouldn't a pair of scissors do just as well? But it gets more serious: He states that "you" (the reader) will never be able to get the types of shots you see in magazines. And why is that? Because even if you get up at 5:30am all the good spots will have already been taken. And I don't think this was another one of his bad jokes. I found it very negative and discouraging.

Overall, I liked this book much better than many of the others I've seen but it did frustrate me nonetheless. I think it's helpful for beginners and intermediate users. Even if you know all of that (who doesn't know one should use a tripod?) it's a good reminder with plenty of examples. I think the book could have went a little farther and gave some really useful information instead of describing all the Epson printer models.

It's a shame, because this book really had the potential to be a 5 star
book, but it falls short. Kelby brags about having written 37 books. I would prefer a few outstanding ones than 37 that are just good enough to get published.

I have never written a book review before but after reading almost the whole book in one day I had no choice but to give my opinion. I just received this book today 01 Sep 2006 and I can't put it down. It covers so many aspects of shooting in various modes and makes it simple enough for me to understand. I use a Canon 5D and 20D and have been into photography for about 6 months. All I can say is that I have looked at several books and read several online forums and tutorials...etc. This book covers everything I need to know to get that WOW factor out of my shots. Scott Kelby you are the best and this book is more than GREAT. When does "BOOK 2" get released....Anyway, I hope others that get this book enjoy it as much as I do.

I read this book cover to cover in about 2 1/2 hours (clearly I found it very enlightening). Kelby notes in the beginning that this is a book more for people who want to know what to do to get the shot, as a friend would tell you when you're out shooting together, rather than reading theory behind why things need to be shot the way they are. Don't get me wrong, that stuff is VERY important (Ansel Adams' "The Camera" is on deck for my reading list, as thinking about getting the shots made me think now about why the things work the way they do). However, sometimes you just want to know what to set the camera at to get this or that shot. This is the book for those times. Kelby's always-charming and amusing writing style helps to make even more sense of all the details.


I can't recommend this book enough, both as a starting point for different types of photography, and as a reference manual--it's going to have a permanent spot in my camera bag for when I need to remember what to do when I'm out shooting. Happy reading!

Scott Kelby doesn't fool around. He only gives you what you need. His book is easy to read and contains a wealth of information that takes you from a beginner to an intermediate photography right away. It's not for the experts; but there are pearls here and there even for the pros. Over all, I think this book will help anyone who has recently picked up photography as a hobby.

This book was great and made it into my camera bag immediately. I liked the fact that he just gives you the mode and camera settings to get a specific kind of shot and you only had to read a half a page. The pictures in the book give you good ideas on what to look for and there are some great tips that will save you money and time. When you try the settings and see the results it amazes you that this book was not done years ago. I have read a few other books and taken some classes but this book was by far the best thing I have found to help me out so far. Considering my Camera and Gear is worth about $4000 this $13 book was an easy decision and I'd buy the next one the day it was available.

The Digital Photography Book

I read a couple of reviews that pointed out this author's ill considered attempt to insert humor in a book that is alleged to help folks with their digital photography, but I didn't pay attention. What a mistake!! The nonsense begins on the very first page and continues for what seems like forever, and he isn't even funny!! Why do so many people think that good comedy is easy, when it is actually far more difficult that digital photography. If you are willing to suffer through this stuff to be told that you need to steady the camera to get sharp pictures and pay attention to good posing to get good porrtraits, then ignore this review and buy this book. If you want your tips straight, then buy one of the many other good primers on digital photography that are on Amazon!!

I have been taking digital photos for a few years and recently upgraded my camera to have more control over my pictures. I also read a few books to learn specifically about the differences between digital and 35mm photography. After reading the reviews of this book I expected to be dazzled with useful information. I was not. Here are some of the reasons.
*The author is not a very good writer. He tries to be funny and he is not (to my taste anyway). The author is very preoccupied by his own status. He is constantly talking about his famous photographer friends, blah, blah, blah. I thought this was going to be a book about hands-on technique...Show the photos and explain how they were taken.
*The quality of the book is poor. The book is small and the paper and printing are cheap. The paper is magazine quality.
*It seems that nearly half the photos in the book are stock photos, not taken by the author. That surprised me.

This book might be okay if you know abolutely nothing about photography but I found it simple and uninspiring. There was no single photo in this book by Mr. Kelby that made me say "wow".

I found The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography (Amphoto Guide Series) to be a far superior book; well written with great photos, all by the author.

This is a great book for the average photo enthusiast. The goal of the book is to teach an average photographer to take great photos. Its relatively short and each point only takes a page to explain. Also the explanations are short and to the point. Kelby doesn't prattle on about optic theory or other mundane issues, instead he tells you that pros generally do this or that. As Kelby says in his intro, he giving you tips as if you were a buddy out shooting photos with him. Kinda like a photography mentor that is giving you pointers to improve you photos.

The book is arranged by the type of photography being pursued. Flowers, Weddings, Landscapes, People, Sports, and Travel. Kelby is considered a Photoshop authority, so he covers some of that and and also what to focus on to prevent problems in photos that can't be fixed with Photoshop. He also does something that few authors are willing to do; he makes suggestions about equipment and vendors. While this type of information gets dated quickly in a book, its interesting to hear what he thinks is a good product.

His writing style is casual and humorous, which I appreciate. The topic can be rather dry, but Kelby's style of writing and the quick pace of the book kept me awake and engaged. I have read many books on digital photography and most assume that you recently had your brain erased and therefore you know nothing about photography. Consequently, those books start at the most basic of information and don't seem to teach you how to get great shots. They also put me to sleep. This is the only book I have seen that is different.

Is some of the advice oversimplifying it to a degree? Sure it is. Not everything can be improved using the photo recipes that Kelby gives you, but for the average photographer, the general rules will help produce better photos and thats what its all about.

If you're looking for an A-Z digital photography primer, look elsewhere. If on the other hand, you're looking for tips, tricks, and hints at making your pictures better, this is it. Kelby assumes you know your way around a camera and proceeds to impart wisdom on virtually every aspect of the actual picture-taking process. This is not a technical book that devotes page after page to the science behind a CCD, magnetic storage media, etc. It is a book that will help you produce better results. And, it's accessible by photographers of all levels - Kelby keeps most topics to 1-2 pages each (or less!). Many of Kelby's tips could apply to film photography as well. Buy it today and start taking better pictures tomorrow.

This is a must have book for people wanting to take great photos. It really makes it easier to understand what is going on with taking photos, buying equipment, and printing, everything you need to take and process great photos. I own a Nikon D70 and in just a few minutes of reading his book I know more about what my camera can do than all the other books I have read. I read the entire book the day it arrived and plan too read it again and keep it in my camera bag for a quick reference guide.

This is a good book for someone new to photography. Most intermediate on up shooters will find little in it to advance their skill. Ok for a reminder of basic approaches but nothing else.

This book might be ok for people who never took a single photo in their lives. If you are serious about photography, you will regret this purchase. There are far better alternatives elsewhere. In addition, the author's (unnecesary) use of lame humor is rather irritating.

While this book covered many interesting topics there wasn't much depth and I thought the author was glib and less than professional. Of the many photography books I own this is one of the few I will probably pass on to others or trade in at a used book store. Oh Well.

Yes skip this book, Scott doesn't give you much in this book, I mirror the other reviewers who got really sick of his waste of time first page of every chapter (him trying, but failing, to be funny) There are much better ways of spending your money and your time

I love this book, and could probably end the review right here because that sums it up for anyone who is into photography and wants to learn how to get professional looking shots. I am not a book person, I normally prefer the video version of most things - but with this book, I couldn't put it down, I read it cover to cover, learned a ton about camera equipment and how to get quality photographs. And with the way Scott writes his books, it's a nice easy read and you'll even crack a smile now and again throughout the book.

And for the price?!?! It's not even a thought - just buy it! It's the best resource book out there for digital photographers who are serious about getting quality shots but are just missing the essential tips - this book will help you "get the shot" without all the technical mumbo jumbo. This book travels with me whenever I go out to shoot, I especially like the recipe section at the end. Great work Scott!

The review is as much about the author as it is about photography. This is not a book for a photographer who wants to master digital techniques. It is intended for a beginner and offers a good introduction to photography. It can get very annoying if you have some familiarity with general photography.

If you're looking for a book that will teach you every last detail about theory, mode, and practice for digital photography, don't get this book. The book serves much more as a quick reference guide for beginning to intermediate photographers, on issues ranging from focusing to equipment, and from composition to the digital printing process.

As a many other people have noticed, Scott's 'humor' is a bit much at times and probably distracts away more from the book than he may have thought when he wrote the book - but it can be ignored enough that you can still enjoy the material and learn from it.

Although the real focus of the book is digital photography, there are also a lot of helpful tips on shooting situations (flowers, landscapes, weddings, portraits, etc) that will apply to any kind of camera: from digital point-and-shoots to large format film photography.

Overall, the book is a helpful guide to those wishing to make their photography more refined and professional by making simple changes to what they already do.

I recently purchased a very nice digital camera for work. The one we had before was good for taking photos of our students for the roster, but every photo I shot of a live speaker or group events was just pitiful. So we popped for a Canon EOS Rebel XT and I figured I'd better learn how to use it. After all, what good is the investment if I still take lousy photos with it?

Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book is every bit as straight and to the point as its title. Well let me qualify that slightly. While Kelby does get to the point, he doesn't do it with a straight face. His writing is infused with a sense of humor that worked well with me. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this book. I just knew that I had a knack for taking ho-hum photos, digital or otherwise, and any instruction had to help. I guess I expected a lot of "use this kind of lighting" and "set your f-stop at..." sorts of advice. There are those kinds of tips to be sure, but there are also an amazing number of forehead-slappingly simple things and insider insights that make a world of difference.

Kelby jumps right into the basics of how to get "tack sharp" photos, reasoning that "If your photos aren't sharp, the rest doesn't matter." He starts out with the equipment you need over and above your camera to get the kind of shots you want - tripod, ball head, cable release, level, etc. I'm sure that will have many of you reaching to protect your wallet, but have no fear. In many cases he gives alternatives that you can use in a pinch. Granted, he generally represents them as what to do when you are caught without all your equipment, but they can also be considered low-cost alternatives. In most cases when he suggests new hardware he is very specific about brand and models he would recommend at various price ranges. I found this very helpful. It's one thing for someone to tell me to buy a tripod, but have you ever gone looking for one? Not only are the choices overwhelming, but the number of ways you can configure them are as well. Kelby makes it much simpler.

After laying out the ground rules for equipment, settings and terminology he jumps right into a series of practical chapters such as Shooting Flowers Like a Pro, Shooting Weddings Like a Pro, Shooting Sports Like a Pro and more. He has chapters which deal with some of the problems and advantages unique to digital cameras and digital photography. Did you know you should bring extra batteries when you are shooting in colder weather? I didn't. He wraps up the book with two very useful chapters - How to Print Like a Pro and Other Cool Stuff and Photo Recipes to Help You Get "The Shot". The latter is just one shot scenario after another with the keys to making it work.

Since I am such a novice I didn't know what I was looking for when I picked this book up other than tips on how to take better shots with my digital camera. After reading it I fell like I got hit with a Mack Truck full of tips. Lucky for me, I did get the number of the truck that hit me. It is "Scott Kelby" and I recommend stepping into his path as soon as you can!

I have a lot of Scott's books and was looking forward to getting this one. I am an avid amature photographer with quality equipment and proficent in CS2 thanks to Scott's help. This book was a disappointment in that it didn't go much beyond basics. I was expecting more detail and pro tricks and procedures. If you are looking for an intro book into using a digital SLR this is it.

I recently purchased a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, and thought this book might help me make the most of my new camera. Unfortunately, I found that its useful contents can be completely summarized as follows: Use a tripod, and spend the money for quality lenses and filters. The rest of the contents were either not particularly helpful, or even more obvious than the above. The author also injects a fair amount of bad humor which may appeal to some readers, but didn't to me at all.

I love photography, but I'm certainly nothing more than an amateur with a DSLR. Like many others, I found that after switching from a point and shoot camera, I knew even less than I thought, and all those "extra" settings and feature actually meant something. Plagued with "How Do I..." questions, I first turned to the camera's manual and then to "replacement" manuals written by people "in the know". That just solidified the realization that I need to take a class. But until I get around to that, I still have a camera, a desire to take better photographs, and a lot of questions.

Enter this title. By the time I was done with just the first chapter, I already had answers to not only existing questions, but quite a few I didn't realize I had. The subsequent 10 chapters were no less informative and vital to beginners. Don't let the compact, picture-intensive, 200+ page size of the book fool you - the information is spot on, in layman terms, and demonstrating real-world methods and practices that are simple to understand and duplicate. The writing style is casual and humorous, but not clogged with unnecessary fluff. Throughout the book the author makes equipment recommendations, and although I typically resent books that have any product endorsements, the author presents only "generic" recommendations at various price ranges; equipment that you'll want to seriously consider once your discover that the results you want are accomplished using that equipment.

I'll still take a class, but with this title under my belt, I feel confident putting it off a little longer, and perhaps skipping the "intro" courses. This book has found a spot in my camera gear and already proved invaluable on more than a few occasions.

This book is FUN, and easy to read. It is packed full of useful tips.

One that I will share is that if you want "tack" sharp digital photos use a tripod and the self-timer. This eliminates the finger !

This book is good not only for the "point-and-shoot" digital cameras, but also digital SLR.

This book 'shows' photos of Nikon and Canon high end digital cameras. But, don't let this discourage you. I have a small Kodak 5 MP and I have been able to take some tips and use it with this "point-and-shoot".

My boyfriend sent me this book as Christmas present and I've read through the whole book now. The pros:

1. There are indeed many solid tips for photography. Especially good for beginners.

2. On every and each page there is a good picture serving as the example of the tip applied.

3. The price of this book is fair, considering the quality of the paper used in prining.

Cons:

1. There are way too many unnecessary words which have nothing to do with photography techniques in this book. Nowadays it might be trendy to write any book with a light and entertaining style but the bloated text somehow degrades the usability of this book. This book isn't really suitable as a technical reference book since the meaty text is often buried in irrelavant text.

2. If you've been reading around in popular photography sites on internet, you'll find all the tips in this books very familiar, you've encountered them again and again in numerous online toturials for free.

3. All the tips can be condensed down on an A4 paper (font size: 12). And if you need a reference when you are shooting pictures, just take this piece of paper instead of the book.

This is an excellent book about Digital Photography. I read it in one night, and now keep it in my camera bag for reference. There is a lot to sort out when attempting to take great photos, ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, white balance and colors, let alone composition and subjects. Scott does an incredible job of addressing all of these and much more. You can read it in a couple hours, but you will benefit from it for life. I have bought three photography books that were specifically geared towards digital and this was the least expensive, the most portable and by far the best.

This book is a great place to start if you are looking to move from snap-shots to great photos. As with most digital photography books it is really geared towards D-SLR owners, but it is all pretty applicable with my Panasonic DMC-FZ50. Many of the tips are not camera dependant, but it may be a little harder benefit from if you have a compact digicam.

One reviewer was really bothered by his "funny" openings to some of the chapters and some jokes. It didn't bother me, this is a complex subject adding a little humor can make the learning process more enjoyable.

Matt

I thought this book covered a lot of very good tips for beginner and intermediate photographers. It was written in a clear, easy to understand format. The only thing about the book I didn't like was his attempt to be humerous. I thought at times he would go on far too long trying to be funny, when comedy just isn't his forte. But this would be a good book for any aspiring photographer.

I have been in photography for over 20 years. This book is the best document covering "How to do it" I have read in years. Great for beginners and intermediates alike.

First of all, I really like Scott Kelby. You can read his work and laugh a lot at his jokes, and he is really an affable guy. But if you're a fledgling photographer, you should buy books by people who are known more for their photography than for Photoshop. This book shows a few good basic tips, then delves into many specialist type forms of photography. I think that if he just broke it down into components of a photograph, such as composition, exposure, light, etc, it would have been better. I am not a wedding photographer nor do I shoot portraits, so there were so many things that I skipped, I felt I would be better served by a more specific set of components which comprise any digital photograph, not specific types. Bryan Peterson's photography books are far more beneficial to me as an artist, even though Scott's attempt at defining digital photography was interesting. Nonetheless, I DID learn a better way of sharpening my photos, which was a Photoshop technique that he describes in the book. Everything else I already knew or didn't want to know. Scott has a big marketing machine machine behind him, some of whom create reviews on this site. I admire him for his skills, but this book just isn't up to par with the rest of his work. Even the layout was pretty amateurish at best.

Kelby's book is a great start if you are new to the world of digital photography. The book is divided into topical sections which covers each of the major issues surrounding photography in general and digital photography in specific. This book is not a lengthy technical exposition of optics and camera hardware; rather, it is a hands-on guide that helps us both compose and capture the best photographs we can from even our sometimes diminutive and inexpensive cameras.

Although the book is aimed at novices, there are some nice tricks and tips that even seasoned photographers may not have considered. But its main audience is the novice or mid-range user who simply wants to make sense out of the process photographers use to take great photographs. For example, we learn about aperture, shutter speed, and exposure, and how these three are related on to another. But more importantly, we learn what effect CHANGING aperture and/or shutter speed will have on the resulting photo. We learn about how to take sharp, crisply-focused photos, and what it means to say a photo is "tack sharp." We learn about some basic and inexpensive add-on hardware that can completely alter the quality of most any digital camera (some costing as little as three dollars), and as a person who as actually tried most of these suggestions, I can say that knowing and learning these things really can move your photos into an area of quality that is surprisingly good. Kelby's suggestions are born out of years of experience, and his ability to explain exactly what does and doesn't work is clearly demonstrated on most every page.

The introduction of digital technology to the analog camera has revolutionized how we view and take photographs. I, for one, could never get "into" photography while it was in its film variant, the process being too cumbersome and intricate (and expensive) for me to wish to pursue it to any degree. When Sony introduced the CCD sensor in the mid 1990's and made digital photography available for the average guy, I, like millions of others, started experimenting with photography for the first time. That means that there are millions of people walking around with relatively sophisticated digital cameras who don't know a whit about how to leverage them to take the best photographs. Kelby's book admirably fits the bill for those people, demystifying the process of simple composition, explaining basic concepts and controls, and then giving us those added tips and tricks that can really serve well on photographing expositions. To boot, the book is beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs and is reasonably priced. Use this book as a stepping stone into the larger world of photography. You might be surprised just how good a result you can achieve with a sub $200 camera using some of these useful strategies.

As with many of Scott Kelby's works, this book covers a lot of territory, with just enough depth to be effective. This is a great book to buy someone who has a new digital camera or who is dusting off an existing camera and wants to know the basics. Common mistakes to avoid, equipment and accessory advice, etc. This book can make any amateur a better photographer and a more prepared photographer, and it's a very quick read. Recommended.

I think I have 3 of Scott's books, swear by them all, and if they're on a topic I want to learn more about, I'll keep buying them. Practical, to the point, full of many tips that are simple to incorporate and that produce immediate results.

This book arrived a couple of hours before my wife and I were going off to view a friend's Nativity scene collections. Literally hundreds of them from all over the world.

I spent about a half hour with the book before going and learned more about my high end Canon point and shoot than I had in the previous 3 years of owning several versions of the camera.

Although it's great for any digital photographer and any camera, the only problem is that it made me want to run out and buy a digital SLR. (That stays on my "wish list" for now.)

I came home from that first trip with 50 of the best pictures I've ever taken. Only had to toss 3 or 4 of the roughly 50 that I took and those were because I forgot to turn off the flash.

Unless you're a highbrow, know-it-all professional wannabee, if you want to improve your digital photography and get the most out of any camera, get this book.

This is an excellent book. He gives straight to the point tips as far as settings and that is all 99.9% of photographers looking for tips need. No need to give the entire history of how the camera came to be.

However, I found the author to be an equipment snob. Yes, more expensive lenses are generally better but you can do great work with the kit that comes with the camera. My old Minolta has 'gasp' a cheap Sigma lenses but I have many photos that I know I could not better with even the top of the line equipment. So people enjoy the book but do not feel you have to go out and buy $1,000+ lenses to get good pictures.

What an outstanding book!! Each page teaches a photography tip and illustrates it with a picture. Explanations are simple to understand and the techniques are very cool. The book also provides unbiased recommendations for photo equipment such as tripods. After researching tripods online I ended up buying what the author suggested.

This book is not written in tech speak (that's what everyone loves about it). So, you will learn how to take great pictures without reading about aperture, f-stops, etc... But having some prior knowledge about these photography basics will make your pictures more professional and will help you take better advantage of the tips given in this book.

I loved this book. He teaches you how to get those shots that you see in magazines and it was especially helpful to me because it gave a lot of information about the Nikon DSLR and how to use them. I would highly recommend this book to all beginner and intermediate photographers. Thanks to Scott for the easy to understand lessons!

After reading the reviews here on Amazon I have to say I was highly disappointed in this book. Instead I would recommend Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) which the author of this book recommends himself.

This book is full of lame jokes about shoving other photographers down and breaking their equipment to "get the best shot." There is no clear explanation of how shutter speed and aperture work together to give you the proper exposure. If any of my family or friends asked me if I thought this was a good book on photography, I would tell them to avoid it at all costs.

Im 37 years young and just starting out in photography (well you could say that, even though I have owned a number of cameras since I was a teenager, both film and digital, I just took photos, where as now Im just getting into making a hobby out of it).

I got this book because I wanted to know about the different aspects of photography like shutter speed and appature control (plus many other aspects to many to list but the above were the most common two). Prior to now I always used my cameras in auto mode if the shot worked it was OK if it didnt I would flip up the flash and try again. But since reading most of this book I am becomming more adventurous like putting the camera in manual mode and experimenting on different settings. I would read a section of the book and go ahh ok then pick up my new sony alpha SLR and try what scott was refering to. and low and behold Ive seen things I have never seen before, like getting a photo that has a blue tinge to it, which tells me my white balance is out of whack (hey does that mean I have just learnt something from reading a book? and I have never liked reading books my whole life. Who says ya cant teach a old dog new tricks).

What I liked about scotts book was his humour added to the book and his whole aspect of the book is set up. On page 2 he explains that the book set out out as thou its just you and scott out on a photo shoot and while you both are shooting you have lots of questions and he gives you a answer like as if you were mates, basically he is going to answer them in the book like he would answer them out there in the real world. {(straight and to the point, without teaching you all the technical aspects and behind the scenes technology of digital photograghy.}

Each page is set up as one aspect per page or in other words one question and answer per page. for expample on page 2 he writes {if we were out shooting and you turned to me and said, "hey scott, I want to take a shot where that flower over there is in focus but the background is out of focus. How do I do that?" I wouldnt turn to you and give you a speech about smaller and larger apertures, about how exposure equals shutter speed plus aperture, or any that stuff you can read in any book about digital photography(and I mean any book - its in every one). In real life, Id just turn to you and say, "put on your zoom lens, set your aperture at f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away."}

Thats how the whole book works basically. I also found his humour to be much like mine so it made it more a pleasurable read. What scott has acheived in this book is what my teachers back in school tried to get me to do many years ago..... Read more books. I hate reading or simply dont. but since reading scotts book I find myself going thru book stores and searching amazon.com for more books on the two most things (well you could call em hobbies at the moment) in my life now, Photography and cooking (not always in that order thou) so much so that I am thinking of going further than a hobby and trying to make money out of photography. and if I could incorperate the other things I love in life into photgraghy I'd be the happiest man alive......mmmmm thinking do you think there is any money in taking photos of sex or food???.....just kidding

Once I have got more experienced on the taking of photos side Im gunna try the other aspect of photography the editing side in photshop cs2. Which I hear scott is a excellent teacher of that too. Might have to get some of his books on that subject too.

This is simply the greatest "how to" book on photography ever written. Scott Kelby knows his stuff first of all. Second, he lets you in the club. Many of these techniques took me years to figure out on my own, and others I had to reluctantly pry out of other "master" photographers. Still others I just learned reading this amazing book. Scott Kelby tells you like he is your best friend. I have multiple copies of only 2 books in my home. The Holy Bible and The Digital Photography Book by Scoot Kelby.

This is a good book for all DSLR users, whether you are a pro or an amateur.

This is one of the book I would read over and over again. The way it's organized allows you to read any topic (or page) without any sequence. Of course, similar topics or techniques are grouped together in one chapter, e.g. photos for wedding.

Another good thing about this book is it doesn't go into a lot of of the technical theory aspects, it just tells you how to do it (or prevent it).

I highly recommend this book to my friends who own a DSLR camera.

As someone having over 30 years of experience as a photography hobbyist, I felt like I already had a pretty good background of knowledge concerning cameras and photography in general, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much more I could learn from this book. Beginners looking for in-depth discussions of introductory concepts should probably look elsewhere, but for anyone else looking for lots of great tips that will take their skills to the next level, this book is a gold-mine.

I did not read this book as soon as my order arrived. I should have, and would have returned it otherwise. If you have ever picked up a camera before (digital or film) buy something else.

This is basically a short book (one day read) that has quite a bit of useful information in it but, unfortunately, also contains lots of filler (should have been at most 1/2 the size). It is also more geared toward a DSLR owner than the owner of a digital point and shoot which I happen to be.

A newb, like myself, would be advised to look elswhere for a first book. It would, however, make a decent second choice book particularly if you own a DSLR. I read Amphoto's Guide to Digital Photography and preferred it.

This book has some good tips on photography for a beginner and covers a wide range of topics; however, the author's humor leaves a great deal to be desired and makes for extremely aggravating reading. If you would still like to read the book but receive the most out of it, do yourself a huge favor and skip the first page of every chapter (they have no value whatsoever). The asinine jokes are throughout the book, but the worst are on the first pages of each chapter.

If you're wondering what his "humor" is like, picture the goofy nerd in high school that had the top button of his shirt buttoned, thick glasses, and who would snort when he laughed at his own jokes - bulls eye - that's the author of this book and his tedious sense of humor. Dead ringer.

I have written four books and dozens of articles about teaching, self-defense, martial arts, and related subjects. After spending thousands of dollars hiring professional photographers to illustrate my works I finally decided that I'd be best off taking the pictures myself. The challenge was that I had no idea how to go about doing that. After reading this outstanding book, I not only know how to take my own professional-quality pictures but can do so time after time.

Kelby's advice is straightforward, painless to read, easy to understand, and immensely practical. No technical jargon and complicated explanations here, just simple, trouble-free guidance that anyone can take advantage of. I purchased this book for less than $12 and have already saved more than $2,500 in photographer fees. I am hugely grateful for this fine work!

I bought this book just prior to receiving my new Nikon D70s digital camera and cannot wait to utilize the valuable tips contained within. A well-written (often humorous) guide to getting better photos using time-tested techniques that the author advocates. Nicely illustrated with examples of just what the author is trying to convey in each chapter. A real must for those of us hoping to improve our photography abilities.

Kelby's book does a good, nearly great, job at teaching you (or suggesting as it were) how to take all kinds of different pictures. It's packed with good, illustrative photos and covers a lot of ground. The best thing by far though is that you, within minutes really, are capable of putting the information to use in real life. You don't need to read it from cover to cover. You can look up any subject that interests you and just read that one page and then you're off shooting. The size of the book also allows you to take it with you in your bag while shooting, which is a big plus.

It's not perfect though. Reading "The Digital Photography Book" I coulden't help but feeling that Mr. Kelby was paid by the word writing this book. There is a quite a lot of useless text in the book ("humour" as the author calls it), which really got on my nerves. This gives a feeling of the author "not caring" in a sense (he had a quota to fill, not a goal of giving the reader the best possible book).That space could have been used to give the reader even more photo advice (not that it's scarce as it is, but still).

However, if you ignore the "humourous" parts of the book it's really good. The quality of the advice given far exceeds its flaws. More than worth the price.

This book contains very useful and practical tips that will help anyone who wants to learn more about digital photography and how to take great pictures. He also offers suggestions on the extra accessories that you may want to purchase that will enhance the quality of your pictures. He adds humor onto every page which makes reading this book even more pleasurable. Definite a must have!

To begin with the quality and the applicability of Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book": in short, it is well-written, excellently organized, extremely informative and a great starting point for a knowledgeable beginner, who requires an overview of digital photography. Everything from achieving professional-grade photo sharpness, through an introduction to Photoshop retouching, scene composition, shooting macro photography, portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, sports, choosing optional equipment, exploiting some digital-specific features of D-SLR cameras and - finally - printing, is covered throughout the book. However, a total newcomer to the world of digital photography might not benefit from all that information as much as it would appear from the broadness of the material covered alone.

Firstly, the overall depth of the discussion is lacking. Perhaps even "seriously lacking". The Author's creative effort to shape his book into more of a photo-recipe -based instructional reference rather than one more unbearable theory textbook is a refreshing idea, but the methodology might have been taken a little bit too far. A reader will have to research fundamental concepts such as "a stop", "an aperture", "a focal length", or "a primary lens" somewhere else beforehand, as almost none of such terms are explained at all. Moreover, there is no gradual progression or cross-reference of conveyed knowledge across disjoint photo recipes. For example, a reader will not be instructed to any extent whatsoever about a working relationship between shutter speed and aperture, resulting in various modes of operation of D-SLR cameras, not even in the most of non-technical terms. A reader will not find answers to common, fundamental questions such as what follows: "Wait, how is an Aperture Mode different from a Shutter Speed Mode? Or a Program Automatic Exposure Mode, for that matter?" "How does this particular aperture relate to the entire possible aperture range? Is such a scale affected when I change focal length?" "Hold on, the farther I get from my lens being wide-open, the aperture numbers in my viewfinder actually increase?", "How does this particular shutter speed relate to, say, a boxing left hook?" "Can I go slower than 1/60th of a second when trying to minimize hand-held camera shake, or should I always follow the '1/focal length rule' and shoot an 18mm landscape at 1/18th of a second?" "Will I actually screw up my picture, when my camera stops at a particular, minimum shutter speed, but I keep decreasing aperture anyway to try to shoot an all-in-focus landscape?" "Oh, so the ISO-schmeeso thingy actually does fit into all this?" *** Thus, the context is entirely missing, making broad understanding of each photo recipe somewhat challenging without additional research - an annoyance for anyone who does not want to just blindly memorize everything. Which is a shame, since judging from the quality of the Author's other technical publications, his talent for passing on complex knowledge is obvious.

Secondly, when purchasing Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book", one is not buying a book at all. Considering the publication's page size, font size, per-page photographs, an index and the Author's verbosity, the entire contents could probably be compressed into a 40-page, dense pamphlet, or a 60-page, standard pamphlet. A very ambitious pamphlet, but still a pamphlet, rather than a book. The "filler" content is high quality, but not always very illustrative: a 1/3-page shot of a camera dial, a 1/3-page generic shot of a man carrying a tripod, no fewer than four (4) different 1/3-page shots of lens filters themselves (instead of "marginally" more instructive side-by-side before/after comparison shots). Some photography tips, even though awarded full-page presentation status, are so common-sense and addressed in such general terms, as to feel a bit as "filler" content as well, since almost everyone intuitively knows to look for unusual close-up angles, find level foregrounds for landscapes, or not to cut off limbs at weird spots in portraits.

Finally, the last but not least, a comment on the Author's humor. Yes, Scott Kelby is genuinely funny, most of the time. No, his humor bears no negative influence on readability whatsoever. I have no idea why more than a single, occasional reviewer (who forgot to follow his or her Xanax regiment that particular day) was so intensely annoyed. The humorous, thought-provoking tone of the book works even when the Author probably does not intend it to, especially when it comes to headlines such as "Hire a Model (It's Cheaper Than You'd Think)" ;).

To summarize: think about "The Digital Photography Book" as either a well-illustrated pamphlet, or a well-annotated photography album, but a book - it is not. Regardless, excellent work, Mr. Kelby. Come on, give us a 1,000-page "The Digi Tapp Photography Bible", will ya? We know you have it in you :).

If you are new to photography you probably would like to have access to a professional photographer who could tell you things like, "No, don't do that. Do it this way." It would be great to be able to ask questions about the things that you really want to understand about photography without having to wade through pages of information about depth of field and stops and exposure.

Of course, you have to know something about these concepts if you want to excel in photography, but if you are anything like me you learn best when you are shown the basics by example and then are able to explore and expand from there.

That is why I like this book. Scott says that this book is designed as if the two of you were out on a photo shoot together and you needed to know how to do something. He wouldn't go into a discourse on the history of the camera and Matthew Brady and Ansel Adams, he would simply give you a few pointers on some settings and tell you the expected consequences of using them.

That is exactly what this book does.

Through simple, half-page tips, topped by helpful photographs, he moves you through the concepts that puzzle those of us that are getting started in the often mystical and mysterious world of digital photography, though you could use this book whether you are shooting digital or not.

What equipment should you really have with you? What is the best equipment? What if you don't have a lot of money to buy this stuff?

How can you get sharp pictures? What camera settings can you use? Are there certain poses, techniques or tricks that can help eliminate camera shake? What are some good ideas for shooting weddings? Portraits?

If you don't have a lot of time this is your book. Take it with you on a flight or browse through it while you are waiting for the doctor, etc. You can digest one of the tips and put it to use within 5 or 10 minutes easily.

Now, if there is one thing I would say about this book as a warning. Scott thinks he is funny. Most of this ummm... `humor' is at the front of the book but if the Dummies books and their corny humor bothers you Scott's attempts at humor will as well. However, I think his editors (and maybe he knows it too) have caught on to the fact that he can be annoying sometimes and so they have limited his antics to the book and chapter intros. If you just read the tips you will find lots of info without being annoyed to the point you want to rip the book up.

I read the reviews before I purchased this book and chose to ignore the negative things that were said because I was excited about how he said it was written like we were on a shoot together. I finished the book in one day and felt that all I learned was that Scott really likes to use a tripod. I can't use a tripod because I shoot weddings, children, etc. and if you take the time to set a tripod and move it around 500 times you miss the shot. It was apparent that his talent is not in people photography but in nature. If you want to understand how to make your photos professional read "Understanding Exposure". Scott just wants you to use photoshop instead of getting it right when you take the photo and doesn't help you learn how to figure out what settings to use in different situations. He does go over some but not the ones I need- you can't always have that perfect overcast outdoor wedding, in fact, it is rare. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

There's no doubt that Kelby knows Photoshop inside and out, and that he's got a lot of good general photo tips. But he spends so much time making jokes in this book that it quickly becomes annoying.

At one point, he literally spends an entire page with a convoluted explanation, only to say afterwards, 'I was joking.' Thanks for wasting my time, Scott.

This is not a bad book, but there are other, better ones -- and ones that are less about the writer's ego and more about taking good photos.

This book is full of basic, common sense ideas for even the most amateur photographer (myself included). If you've never picked up a camera, this book might serve its purpose for you, but if you've experimented at all in photography, you might want to skip this one!!

This is a great little book that is easy to read. It is full of little tips that Scott and other pros use in their daily work. Some are "common sense" tips but many are really, really good. Scott also makes product reoommendations by brand which is helpful.
Great little book to pick up and read every now and then.

This is a simple book but never dumb. Anyone at almost any level can learn easily from this book. It's not overtechnical. It's a lot more intelligent than it looks..

I am sure I take better photographs having read it.

It's a also a fun read with a lot of the author's warm personality injected. Everyone I know who borrows it buys it.

Scott spends too much time on his jokes. Not much useful info here. I can get better info on line or in photography magazines. Also he advertises for other businesses in the back of the book.

What Shrunk's classic "The Elements of Style" did for English grammar, Kelby's book does for digital photography, and it's a lot more interesting! 90% of this great little book is solid, direct tips on how to make the best photo in each situation. The other 10% is lame jokes from Kelby. Groan when these jokes show up, then push on to the incredibly useful stuff.

The style here is as if he's a friend of yours standing next to you while you're about to take a shot. There's not a lot of theory, just practice "hey try this and I think you'll get the best shot." This is a small book, but one you can keep nearby so it's handy to review; mine sits on the edge of my desk.

He covers most every type of photography you can think of, from weddings to sports to landscape. He also gives tips on gear, software, paper and everything else related to digital photography. His first chapter on Getting Really Sharp Photos will improve the quality of your photos tremendously, even if you've been taking photos for a couple decades as I have. He's a pro and so he talks about using pro gear but he also gives ideas where you can make do with something cheaper.

Finally, this book is the best bargain you'll ever find in photography, so you should just go to the top of this page and click the One-click Ordering right now. Then come back and say you liked my review! :-)

This book takes a light, fun, and easy approach to teaching novice photographers on how to get good results with thier digital camera. I use it as a reference and find it very useful. It motivates me to go beyond point and shoot which results in your having to settle for so so photos.

Scott Kelby does not disappoint with this great book. He explains the digital camera in very easy to understand language. I've been a big fan of all the kelby books, and this book is no exception. I've read it a few times cover to cover. Thanks Scott.

A great book for those of use whose digital cameras ability to take great photos seriously outweighs our knowledge of how to take them.
Get past the unusual attempt at humour, the book is crammed full of quick hits on how to get results.
Works for me!

A little research about this book and you find Scott wanted to write a simple "how to shoot better pictures book" without all the techy stuff getting in the way. He hit the target right on.

Not many reasons why to do this or that, just straight forward suggestions for taking get shoots. He talks(writes) just as if you where standing next to him getting ready to take the shot. No lectures just suggestions to improve the shot you are about to take.

Is the book for a pro? of course not, wasn't written to be. It is for the casual shooter wanting to do more or the point and shoot person that wants to do better.

But beware point and shoot people, you will want a SLR by the time your done reading. You images will be better but you will want more.

Great book and a fun read.

If you lost your instruction book for your camera - buy this book, This is a poor book for anyone who wants to gain a thorough understanding of digital photography -

I would say that different people feel differently from Scott's humorous writing. In the beginning, he already highlighted that he is talking like a friend. The fact is I feel that :)

First chapter is a bit... following chapters start to go into the topic with advise that really help out for beginner. We may have heard but we tend to forget; we may have looked how the pro does but we tend to overlook.

I give 4 stars in beginner's point of view.

C'mon folks, have some fun! Sure, Scott's humor is incessant and sometimes over the top, but his advice and writing is, as he would say, "tack sharp." I have several of his books and find them all terrific, allowing for the fact that they would be much shorter without all the humor.

For the Digital Photography Book, about half the ideas are things that I have already thought about or are parts of my routine, so the validation value is good. Most of the rest of the ideas and pieces of advice are really valuable to me. He says that the premise of this book is that he and the reader are on a photo shoot together, and he is providing advice on-the-spot. I found this a very useful approach. He acknowledges that with this book, he is not providing theory, just practice. It works for me.

There were a few things that I probably will not follow, but I found it worthwhile to think things through to figure out why something won't work for me, so additional value added.

If you read the reviews of his books on the Amazon site, you will find a lot of discussion going back and forth about his humor, and, somehow, I suspect that he enjoys this controversy. One of the great reviewers of Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, etc., Conrad Obregon, has some great reviews focusing on the content.

If you are not adverse to being entertained in an albeit flaky manner while you learn, I think you'll find this a valuable and fun read. Good luck and keep shooting!

Many other reviews have described the layout of the book so I won't repeat that here. Let me just say that it's a great book for beginners. In addition to all the useful picture taking tips, there are also great tips on gear. Just beware, if you take all his advice on gear, it'll set you back a few grand. One caveat: this probably shouldn't be your only digital photography book. You should also probably get a more traditional one as a supplement, one that discusses principles of compositon, f-stops, aperture, light, exposure, etc. But sometimes (often) you just want someone to tell you what to do instead of having to apply what you learned from a book. This is where this book comes in. He just tells you the answers. He'll say "don't do X", or "use these settings", "the best focal length and aperture for portraits is..." and other no-nonsense practical tips. It's a fantastic supplement for anyone getting started in digital photography. Highly recommended.

This is actually a very easy book to review. Here's how to know if you want this book. First, its basically a series of one page tips on photography. Each page follows the format of Headline, Sample Picture, and then a paragraph or two of explanation. For example, one tip is "If You Are Shooting Wildlife; Aim at the Eyes". Then, there is a picture of a leopard cub (I think). Under that, there is a bit of explanation about why you aim at their eyes and why it will make your picture better. The next page is a completely different tip. So how do you know if this book is right for you? Easy:

Pages 2-21 Tips for Getting Sharp Photos
Pages 23-34 Shooting Flowers Like a Pro
Pages 37-58 Shooting Weddings Like a Pro
Pages 62-90 Shooting Landscapes Like a Pro
Pages 94-110 Shooting Sports Like a Pro
Pages 114-127 Shooting People Like a Pro
Pages 130-143 Avoiding Problems Like Pro
Pages 146-156 Taking Advantage of Digital Like a Pro
Pages 160-175 Taking Travel and City Life Photos Like a Pro
Pages 178-193 How to Print Like a Pro
Pages 196-209 Photo Recipes (Steps to shoot a photo like the one on the page)

Remember each page has one tip. See enough tips about the kind of photography that interests you? Then buy it.

P.S. I don't do much wedding or sports, but some of the tips in there can be carried to other photography too. Overall, I felt there were enough quick ideas that it made it worth the price and spot on the bookshelf.

This book is a very good compilation of practical photography tips especially for a novice like me. It is very easy to read, understand and apply in real life. In no time I am starting to shoot good photos and post-process them. It is not filled with photography jargons that would intimidate a beginner; rather it will make the novice (and seasoned alike) become inspired and excited with digital photography. I speak from experience.

I have read most of the reviews for this book and must agree with the overwhelming majority--this is a great book for anyone wanting to learn digital photography. There are a few of the 300+ reviews that seem to think that unless it is written like a textbook, complete with a dry style, information/facts only, and filled with formulas and theories, it cannot be of any use.
Kelby's style is to give you what you need in the real world. He doesn't spend much time giving you the theory behind what this or that button does and how it effects some arcane aspect of composition/exposure. Instead, he tells you, "put it on this setting and do this and then take the picture." Once you have some experience using "default" settings you can then branch out on your own.
I guess some don't like his humor but I think it's great.
If you don't mind a stuffy, textbook style, down and dirty, just the meat kinda book then you will like this one. If not, you should call your local university and ask for the professor that still refuses to use digital and ask him for a recommendation.

I recently made the jump from point-and-shoot to prosumer and I wanted to find out more about the business of taking photographs. I therefore (i) spent a lot of time reading DP sites on the web, and, (ii) bought three books: this book, Miotke's Betterphoto book, and Tom Ang's DK book.

This is the only book of the three which I'd rate as excellent in all respects (on Amazon, Miotke's book has a higher rating than this book; I have no idea why).

If you buy one book about digital photography, make it this one. There are eleven chapters:

(1) Getting sharp photos, (2) Shooting flowers, (3) Shooting weddings, (4) Shooting landscapes, (5) Shooting sports, (6) Shooting people, (7) Avoiding problems, (8) Taking advantage of digital, (9) Travel & city life shots, (10) Printing, (11) Photo recipes.

Each chapter consists of a number of (usually one page) topics which are easy to read and quite addictive (I read the whole book cover to cover,
excluding the last two chapters, in one sitting). Some examples include:

Turn off vibration reduction, Don't wait for rain --- fake it!, Formals: Who to shoot first, Become married to your tripod, Shooting on cloudy days, Pre-focus to get the shot, Which aperture to use, Cold weather shooting means extra batteries, Change your ISO on the fly, Showing movement in the city, and so on.

This book contains nearly 200 tips. It's fun to read. The advice is clear and very, very specific (down to tips on which pieces of equipment to buy). I'm going on holiday to Australia in a few days and this and the camera manual will be the only two camera books I take with me. Please believe me: this book really is that good! Buy it!

I am an experienced photographer who took a break from it and having got going again recently made the switch to digital. This is an excellent book that covers a lot of the fundamentals in a lighthearted but thorough manner. It reminded me of much and taught me some new wrinkles. So much so that after reading it through the first time and simply enjoying it...I went back and read it again with a notebook. All Scotts suggestions triggered ideas for things I needed to round out my photography kit plus a few Photoshop techniques I just had to master.

This is definitely a keeper.

If you arew looking for a book to give you "step by step instructions", then this is NOT the book for you ... But if you are looking for the best tips on taking pictures under certain circumstances, what equipement you should have to get the best photo...and how to set up for a particuliar shot..then this is the book for YOU !This is a book for every semi pro. I love It !!!

I had just purchased a Nikon D80 and found myself way over my head trying to understand how to operate this camera in anything but full auto. Scott Kelby wrote this book in a very user friendly manner. His humorous banter through out the book make the reading very enjoyable. In additon, his manner of educating is clear, understandable and and, once again, a pleasurable read.

Have fun!

I bought this book as a gift for my 15-year old sister to go with her first pro-sumer digital camera. Figured she'd learn a few things. Being a semi-professional photographer myself, I did not plan on reading this nor did I expect to learn anything. Instead, I flipped through it and decided to take it to work with me. It was her gift, but I read it from cover to cover in a matter of hours. It's a great book with tons of tips and tricks. Sure, some of them make you say "duh" but then others make you say "duh, why didn't I think of that?"

It's short and simple but I highly recommend it for anybody interested in digital photography.

I'd like to be tack sharp even if this is just plain text... this book is literally awesome.

It blew my mind, the ease of some hints contained in this book made my photos fly... it is a MUST_HAVE book for any passionate photographer who wants to make the step ahead!

The shooting tricks mentioned by the author are very easy to understand and can be learn quickly.The book covers on how to shoot landscapes, flowers, weddings, sports, people and travel shots like a pro.The author also highlighted the importance of tripod and filters as they are some of the factors that makes the difference between snapshots and pro shots.I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into digital photography.

This 220 page, full color guide to digital photography can help everyone take better digital pics. Each page of this book offers professional tips to make it easy for you to succeed. It covers everything from getting sharper pictures, shooting flowers, weddings, landscapes, and all other types of pictures you'll want to take. It makes it easy for you to you succeed. You'll want to keep the book with you when you shoot !! One of the most colorful and helpful books I have found.

Scott Kelby has a long-standing reputation for books which encourage digital photographers: his latest The Digital Photography Book is a top guide to taking pro-quality photos using the same tricks digital pros use - but it doesn't hold the complexity of similar-sounding guides which try to pack in too much detail for relative beginners. From which button to push to how to achieve more dramatic results from scenes and settings, this book should 'be in the box' of any new digital camera owner.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Scott Kelby makes fun of his own lame humor however, in an approximately 200 page book, you don't need 25% in lame humor, making fun of lame humor and repetition of his pontificating.

While there is some good information here, there isn't much that one can't find in the most basic references or for free online.

I've never read one of Kelby's books before and looked forward to getting this one due to his reputation. However, if his style is consistent with this edition, I won't be reading or purchasing any others.

This book has one photo "hint" or recommendation per page. If you are a pro or very serious amateur in digital photography you will get little out of the book. Hence it may be of only a one or two star value. If you are an intermediate photographer you have probably heard much (if not most) of what is in the book. Hence it may only be a three star value. If one is only a novice to digital photography this book has plenty of good advice. Hence for that group it would be a four to five star value. It someone has intermediate to serious film experience (but not digital), the book will provide some useful advice (i.e., equipment, equipment costs, characteristics of digital vs. film) but 3/4 of "hints" are regarding general photo technique (i.e., dawn and dusk best time to photograph landscapes, etc.) and this group should know most of this. Hence for these people this book would have a two to three star value. One minor weakness in the book is that the author spends too much time attempting to be humorous (and mostly fails). His attempts at humor expand the book size by a good 20%. He should reduce humor and save reader's valuable time as well as some trees.

Kelby's book has useful information for those just beginning to explore Single Lens Reflex (SLR) photography - though targeted at Digital SLR (DSLR) users, it has useful information for all.
The style of writing is rather condescending - the sense of humor makes fun of the target audience - those who picked up this book to learn the basics.

Pluses
1) Useful information, accessible to those learning basics of photography
2) Easy to follow, details on how to make photographs in certain styles

Deltas
1) Condescending style of writing
2) Makes fun of the target audience itself
3) Repetitive

Even though the first review (by Brien Malone) on this book gives 4 stars, Brien's tone really made me think twice about buying this book. I'm so glad I bought the book and ignored Brien's review. The author, Scott Kelby, wrote a book and there are a handful of pages where he makes some jokes -- big deal. The bulk of the book is chocked full of great tips that are very useful and very practical. The author makes very clear when he's kidding and when he isn't -- and the bulk of the "kidding" happens in the first 6 pages when the reader has just begun. Don't let Brien's review fool you, this is a great book. Those who chose not to buy this book due to Brien's review should revisit their decision.

I was almost thrown off by a couple of bad reviews here. I'm glad I decided to give it a look. I received this book this evening once I got off work, and by the end of the night my confidence as an amateur photographer has taken leaps and bounds. There are so many great tips and tricks in here for the amateur photographer that you'll be itching to get out and shoot some subjects using your newfound knowledge.

Yes, the jokes at the beginning of the book are lame, but they accomplish what the author sets out to do with them: build a friendly rapport with the reader and get the sense that you're getting camera tips from a trusted buddy. If you're already a pro, you probably have no business buying this book, except to hand it to your friends who are asking you for tips.

This book is a can't fail launching-off point for any budding photographer who might not yet understand exposure theory, but wants to hit the ground running. I intend to use it as a primer for each outing until I get so comfortable with the material that I no longer need it.

My first stop this weekend: The Oregon Coast in Seaside, Oregon!

Thanks for the great book, Scott! I feel like my trip will have some measurable purpose now, and I won't be just aimlessly shooting.

_The Digital Photography Book_ is NOT the be-all end-all knows-all book of digital photography or even digital SLRs. But it is a really great book if you are like me and want to get one or two steps beyond "letting autofocus do its thing, pushing the button, and hoping for the best" but DON'T want to take a month-long course on how the f-stop mathematically relates to this or that and the difference between convex and concave lenses and so on and so on.

I love taking pictures, but I am by no means an expert. Especially when it comes to SLRs and the thousand different settings you can make -- and potentially screw up. I just recently got my first digital SLR camera (a Pentax K10D) and was looking for a book to help me get beyond taking it out of the box, putting the lens on it, and taking a couple test shots of my parents' living room.

I found that book in _The Digital Photography Book_ by Scott Kelby. It has a very nice easy-to-read conversational tone, and it doesn't get bogged down on technical detail. Yet, it had ENOUGH technical detail that I got a much better idea of how f-stops and focal lengths affect my pictures, and how that in turn is influenced by what type of lens I use.

The book has details about lenses, f-stops, aperture speeds, macro shooting, landscape shooting, portraiture, some brief notes about sports shooting, recommendations about what camera setting work best in which picture settings, discussions of tripods and tripod mounting schemes, the uses of the monopod, and all kinds of other useful information.

I can also say that _The Digital Photography Book_ has whetted my interest for more detail and made me a more adventurous photographer, so I probably WILL one day sit down for a month with a book about the more technical aspects of SLR and DSLR shooting. When I do, it will be in part because of Kelby's message that great pictures ARE achievable without a doctorate in lens and camera mechanics, you just need to get out and shoot and here's how. Thanks, Scott.



I do feel obliged to add a couple of side notes: Scott focuses mainly on Canon and Nikon cameras, as they are the most popular DSLRs out there. Still, most of his information was also directly applicable to my Pentax, and likely to any other brand of DSLR as well. Also, the book does not have a whole lot of information on flashes and flash ratings and flash types.

One of the other reviews complained about the guy's sense of humour. I must admit in the introduction chapter he lays it on thick and it has nothing to do with the idea of the book at all. Just flick through that and get to the detail.

Personally I really liked this book. It breaks into practical chapters (taking pictures at weddings, taking landscape pictures, taking portraits, taking sports pictures) the exact things that people like me are interested in taking better pictures of. That is what it does, it tells you tricks to get better pictures. He suggest some essential items, some straight forward tips, helps you understand why sometimes you're not getting the pictures you want.

This is for a beginner to SLR photography. Not for an experienced photograper. But it's easy to use, easy to read, broken into small sections with a few tips. You will get better pictures after using this book.

He leans a little heavily on Photoshop, but if you really want to take this serious then I guess Photoshop is going to become your best friend anyway!

Now i'm ready for a more advanced book, but this was a great starting point for me.

There are some good tips in this book, but only for the beginners, the rest are simply worthless. I have nothing good to write about this book. It is a waste of time/money to read this book. I would not recommend anyone to buy this book.

The book is written for people who do not want to know about the technical details of taking good pictures but rather want to know some pracitcal examples of how it is done. This book does not teach theory or help provide an underlying knowledge of photography or the principals that go into taking great pictures.

However it does help get your feet wet. It does give you a few pointers. In fact it does exactly what it says it will, and that is talk to you as if you were a friend asking for tips. It is more of a tip book than a guide on taking great photos. But it does teach through use of tips some of the basics and even some of the more advanced techniques used by seasoned experienced photographers.

I recommend to anyone who is not looking for technical detail but rather for a simple to understand easy to read tip filled story about what he would do under a myriad of circumstances.

This compact book is a gem of a find. It would be advantageous for the novice as well as a seasoned photographer. Scott Kelby is knowledgable and has a great sense of humor that makes what normally is boring stuff really fun to read. This book is chock full of excellent, no nonsense, highly applicable information. I find myself going back to it time and again. Mr. Kelby has included not only technical photographic instructions, but includes websites and other sources that are helpful. He includes his own monthly web cast information that to me, has more than paid for the book. I have recently purchased his new "Lighroom" book and find it is excellent as well.

I wish I had seen this book before I bought the others. Finally a Digital Photography Book that get right to the point. Not the boring technicial manuals like most that by the time I've finished, I have no idea what I just read..... I swear most authors must think you need allot of words to describe how to take a photo. He's direct, to the point and most of all I get what he's saying. Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You!!!!!!!!

This book was disappointing. It should be titled "An Introduction To Digital Photography". An example would be that halfway through the book 2 pages are dedicated to why one should use a filter and a lens hood. I was hopeful that there would be some tips or tricks that were not rudimentary but there were none to be found.

I just recieved my book based on reviews and I have a hard time putting down the book. I read 70 pages in couple of days and I don't want it to end.
Every page has one tip, which makes it easy to just pick up and read whatever shot you are trying to do.

I really really like it and it is nicely designed with all color.

This is my first ever book on Photography...I have always "taken pics" but I never had a good camera, to take real PHOTOS!...Now that I have a brand new D-SLR, this book was amazing! I have since bought 3 more of his other books, he writes wonderfully. And unlike someone else's comments that they did not appreciate his humor, I LOVED it! I read the book over and over, before I even opened my Xmas gift of my DLSR! SO, before I ever had my 1st nice and fancy camera, I knew the proper way to take flower shots perfectly!

Scott is great on all his photoshop books, but there are so many better books on Digital photography. (Bryan Peterson's books for example)
This is a very quick read and very little on how to get the photos shown in the book. Also Scott's style of being so full of himself really comes across in spades in this book.

Save your money!

I must be the stick-in-the-mud professor, but I found the book filled with so much useless gab as to be really debilitating. The humor might work on the lecture circuit, but not in print. Each page has its lovely color photograph, but the other half -- the text -- is half fluff. So there is perhaps a sentence or two at most on each page that is useful. There must be better books out there.

I have read several specialized How to/mastering Guides on lighting, posing, composition, photoshop elements and nature photography. This book was a nice review and also included several tips not found in any of the other materials I have read.

Short and to the point---with most major tips/tricks included.

Thanks Scott Kelby for another great resource.

I found this book useful and was a very quick read. It is basically a bunch of photographic situations and advice on how to deal with them. Overall I was pleased with it and am glad I bought it.
However... his humor is really a waste of time. Whole paragraphs are devoted to not letting a bad joke die. If you were to strip the photo's and the jokes out of this book, it would be 25 pages long.

Like several other reviewers, I find the author's attempts at humor to be mildly annoying. But having said that, this book is still well worth reading and good value for money, particularly for the novice to intermediate Nikon or Canon DSLR user.
The book is simple and easy to read with a number of very worthwhile tips on a wide variety of digital photographic issues.
Just remember the tips and forget the humor.

It seems that only Brien Maloney read the same book I did. No one was helpful enough to say when the silly Cxxp ended and the serious helpful meterial bagan. You have 39 reviews and 38 of them are so far off center that I have decided to end the plans for a review area on my own retail web site.

I buy several hundreds of books a year and have not been this put off since Richard Condon ruined himself with me by the unnecessary merder of a bull fighter many years ago.

This book stinks and those who rated it high throw their IQs into doubt.

The book is a definite keeper.

In small book, author succeeds to cover almost all of the aspects of photography while keeping it friendly and fun.
Author doesn't go too much into "why" question nor he goes into the technicalities, never the less author covers each and every topic in more then sufficient depth without putting the reader to sleep :)

Author shares a lot of his experience in very clear and easy to understand manner. I picked tons of tips and knowledge.
This book is organized in a very topic independent manner - that no matter at which chapter it's been opened, reader can go from there without feel of lucking of details from previous chapters.

I think this book will benefit any level, and everybody will be able to pick a thing or two from it. I've been reading and rereading it multiple time, and even so I own a lot of "serious" photography book, this book beats them all.

Highly recommended.

This is exactly what I wanted Short sweet and to the point I give it 5 stars & kudos to Scott Kelby.

I'm not big on trashing an author or CD or a book but I'll have to say that I have to agree with some of the people who shared their reviews about this book: author is slightly irritating in the way he writes (lame jokes throw you off - they don't belong in the book). Book offers some of the tips that I personally found helpful but not to the point of what I expected. There are more tips on what weather to shoot in (cloudy, sunny) and what angle to choose better when shooting flowers than how to do so practically, which is what I personally was looking for. Nevertheless, i did find some of the tips helpful (you learn something new everyday). To sum it up I thought book was a bit overpriced for the information you get.

I'm just confirming what the previous reviewer stated. This book is set up in a straightforward fashion and has many excellent tips, but his corny sense of humor seriously detracts from it's overall information. He waste 1 page on average for every chapter that he writes on his jokes and teasing. I'd probably be willing to pay the same amount of money for the same book MINUS the humor.

I bought this for my wife who wants to learn to use something other then an instantmatic type camera. I had bought her a Z6 and she didn't know where to begin with all of these functions, but didn't want to be shown by me or anyone else how to use it.

The book has helped a lot, now she looks up how to do something and feels she has learned a lot about taking pictures. A lot of practical information without dwelling on theory.

This is a great book for those new to the digital SLR world or just photography in general!!! If you're looking for HOW to do something then this is your book. This isn't recommended for those looking to know the INs and OUTs of photography. This books shares some great techniques. I'd recommend it to a newbie!

I purchased this book to make better use of a Canon EOS 5D full frame digital camera I purchased. The book is straight to the point, it has practical and executable instructions on a variety of items, for instance: how to shoot portraits of large groups of people. How to shoot children. A quick and simple Photoshop workflow. Recipes for the most varied settings like travel photography, portraits, children, marriages. I believe a professional photographer would not be impressed with how simplistic some explanations are, but a beginner to intermediate photographer will appreciate both how simple the recipes are, and how intuitive they are, once you grasp some basic concepts.

The book is so good I am now going to purchase a similar title from the same author for Photoshop. Not that the contents can't be found on the internet, but for the summary of the recipes. Great investment!

I love this little book. It's packed with lots of little details a hobbyist like me can forget very quickly. I love the chapter with tips to take sharper photos. There's just a number of things you can't learn without the help of an expert, so this section alone is worth a lot. I love the way each topic has been separated, and without being too technical, it gives enough information to go out and start shooting and having fun. The only negative is that its pages are starting to fall out. The material used for the pages seems to be of good quality, but it doesn't hold together for too long. It still gets 5 stars, though.

I just bought this book last Saturday and I have read completely through it and it was very good. I would rank myself as a advanced amateur and there were a lot of tips and simple explanations that will come in very handy.
I probably wouldn't advise this book for a professional, but he makes it clear that's not really who this is for.

I found this book very helpful. His humor is slightly annoying at times, but makes for interesting reading. The tips are very good and easy to understand. There is a whole chapter on wedding photography which is awesome. He gives several tips throughout the chapters, and I've already put some of it to use. I would recommend this book to other beginning photographers.

Short and concise articles on hundreds of topics dealing with the SLR camera using as examples the Nikon and the Canon (with more emphasis on the Nikon). Even so, the tips and tricks are to the point and very doable for both of these cameras. Eleven chapters with a tip on each page within these chapters. The amateur gets to try setting up the camera, shooting portraits, landscapes, using the camera when traveling as well as hardware advice...what to buy and what we can probably live without. It should be in the library of everyone who has recently purchased a digital SLR camera.

Whoa, what a book! If you know someone who's just getting started in photography, get them this book. I bought it for my teenage daughter and wound up reading it first. Not a photo be-all-and-end-all, but a great foundation for anyone's learning. Kelby gives the steps for many techniques without diving into theory or techical jargon; he even calls some procedures "recipes". I've been shooting for over thirty years for fun and pay and I got a couple of priceless tips. Common sense delivered in a pleasant, conversational tone. At this price, it's a total bargain. Great Photoshop tips for novices, too.

This book is awesome! Scott Kelby wrote everything you need to know to become a pro photographer. He didn't just write about common sense of digital photography, but he wrote how a cap can be useful for photography, faking rain, and using cable releases. If you want to, but don't know how to get rid of lens flare, shoot people, stitch together panaromas, take pictures of dirt bikes flying through the air, get rid of red-eye, use a flash, take a picture of a flower and make its background in focus, what type of printer to use, what type of paper to use for your printer, what type of tripod to use, how to make your pictures "tack sharp", and tips for taking waterfalls, this book is right for you! This book also includes fake headlines (the first couple of pages), how to talk "professional", and what gear to buy depending on your "type"(budget person, willing to spend more person, or a rich person). If you want to become a professional, earn a living with your camera, or just learn some tricks the pros use, this book is definitely what you need!

Scott Kelby's attempt at humor throughout the book remains an area for improvement, but the great tips he reveals throughout the chapters are worth their weight in gold. Covering diverse topics such as shooting people, weddings, the city, landscapes, flowers, and a few others, you'll learn a number of dirty secrets which the pros use consistently in their daily routine. Even after a quick read, I found myself looking differently at photographs in magazines, and when I take my own. It's an easy read, and it's well worth your time!

Great book at a great price. It's an easy read, and I picked up a bunch of small tips to improve my photography. I would recommend this to the hobbyist - you are sure to pick up some pointers.

A very basic and well written book! For those who want to step into the world of digital photography, you couldn't choose a better first book. Covers about every subject that is essential to understanding the digital approach to photography. And it contains a few good tips in using Photoshop to improve your shots further.

This book is excellent if you are looking for a quick guide/tips style photography book.

It is quick, light and interesting photography book that you can complete it in one or two reading sessions.

The book also includes sample images of the writer which are really prof