Good Books/Sites for learning Photography

[cartigayane]

Hi,
I am a newbie trying to learn photography. I have canon powershot S3 IS camera. I am experimenting taking photos with that.

Could some people give me some pointers(web site links / books) etc, which would help me learn/understand the concepts and do good photography.

Thank you very much.

[jypsee]

Henry Horenstein "Black and White Photography; A Basic Manual"
Horenstein's book is more than a text on how to do BW photography. It also teaches you about various cameras, relationship of aperture and shutter, exposure and metering. In short, a good technical explanation of what goes into making a photo whether you're using an analog or digital camera.

For a more aesthetic read, there's a new title by Michael Freeman, "The Photographer's Eye; Composition and Design For Better Digital Photographs." It's full of good examples of ways to "see" photos and make the photo you see.

[halesr]

First read your camera manual and get familiar with how to operate your camera.

Here is a book on exposure.
Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) by Bryan Peterson (Paperback - Aug 1, 2004)

If you are working with Photoshop, anything by Scott Kelby is good. Match your choice to the version of Photoshop you have. If you are using Photoshop Elements, there are books on that software as well.

I like on line classes from http://www.betterphoto.com./online-phot ... ourses.asp They have 4 and 8 week courses for beginners to advanced users. check out where you might want to start. This link takes you right to the information on the courses. Quite a few pbase folks have taken classes here.

You might also want to check out courses availble in your community from local colleges or clubs. And, then if you are toatally hooked, you might want to sign up for a workshop.

HTH--Rene

[frkrafcik]

My first post, so take it for what it's worth...

Written well before digital photograph was a glint in the eye, Ansel Adams wrote three books: "The Camera," "The Negative," and "The Print." The first one should be a good place to start (and, frankly, the other two should also be required reading, in my humble opinion.)

On the other hand, if those that aspire to become authors should read, read, and read some more, aspiring photographers should look at as many photos as possible, too! Jim Brandenburg could be a model for outdoors photography; Atget, Doisneau, and Sudek are classic examples of urban photographers; Stieglitz, Adams, and others all shine with b&w.

So read and observe in tandem. Look at a photograph, then try to apply the "book learning" to figure out how the photo was made. Try to figure out what different apertures, shutterspeeds, ISOs, or even different angles would do.

Again, these are just my suggestions and, as I've only uploaded two photos so far, take them for what they're worth!

Cheers,
Fred

[marxz]

actually, if I may, I'll throw my question in here rather than a new thread....

anybody recommend a good book on composition? I won't say I have the technical side of things nailed but in the balance of things it's my compositional skills that are my weakest spot

edit.. ah just noticed the first respondent posted one on that, any others appreciated

[evledstudio]

actually, if I may, I'll throw my question in here rather than a new thread....

anybody recommend a good book on composition? I won't say I have the technical side of things nailed but in the balance of things it's my compositional skills that are my weakest spot

edit.. ah just noticed the first respondent posted one on that, any others appreciated

One of my photographers just created this handbook for modelphotography :
http://www.pbase.com/honnybeejoy/image/89230565

Grts
Joy

[atkelley]

Hi, Another vote for Understanding Exposure.

Also I wanted to share that 2 peas is offering a free 12 week photo howto course. Here is a link if anyone is interested: http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/photography.asp

[prinothcat]

First read your camera manual and get familiar with how to operate your camera.

Here is a book on exposure.
Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) by Bryan Peterson (Paperback - Aug 1, 2004)

HTH--Rene

I agree with this completely. Further you can look at http://www.bythom.com or http://kenrockwell.com, as they both have a selection of useful reading material. I would give you direct links but I'm away from my base and haven't got access to them.....