Customer Rating:
Summary: Great starter manual
Comment: This is exactly what I was looking for, a book which taught me the basics then applied them to different situations. I feel a lot more confident playing around with the settings on my camera and my photography has improved as a result. I like the way he has taken a photograph for each subject and then explained the settings on the right hand side. After reading the first two chapters I was able to cover up the settings, look at the photograph and predict what he had used. In no time at all I was grasping the logic and gaining confidence. A lovely book for beginners. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I also like the fact that he has explained commonly made errors in composition and lighting and illustrated the flawed results on the same page. I am starting to think about composition in a new way too. My photography skills were in a rut, this book has changed that.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners and enthusiastic amateurs!
Comment: This is great if you're keen but need a bit of practical guidance and some inspiration. This books shows you some inspirational shots as guidance and shows you the set up (eg where to stand, where to place your subject etc...) and tells you the ISO, aperture, shutter speed etc... for many of the pictures. It is jargon-free, easy to read and split into useful chapters, including portriats, moving objects, taking pictures of children, close ups, night shots, etc...

People criticising this book have missed the point; it is MEANT to be simple, it isn't aimed at people who are already pretty proficient at photographs, it is aimed at people like me who are moving on from a compact and need a bit of guidance to get the best from the camera. If that's you then this is the book for you.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Digital Camera Gem
Comment: At last! someone has written a book for the compact and DSLR camera user, who are just getting to grips with their camera. This book gives a good basic knowledge in how to use the camera successfully without the technical jargon, and to consentrate on taking photos. There's plenty of books that can give you the science and technical knowledge, I feel the author has met a much needed market. It is a beautifully structured and illustrated book. It is a delight to look through the various styles of photography and see how you can improve your technique. Then after each session the author gives you the basic setup to take successful pictures. He goes through the basic modes of the camera, so that you can concentrate on your photography. I use it in our photography workshop to get beginners used to using their camera's, and also to learn techniques in taking photos. This book is aimed at the beginner, or anyone who wants to improve their photos. DK always produce excellent illustrated books, this one is a gem!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: OK for beginners.
Comment: This book is very well presented with a consistent easy to follow layout.

This book really does cover almost every photographic subject you could wish to shoot. Some of the illustrations are amazing and has some nice compositional suggestions.

On the downside, it has very little detail on the technicalities of shooting these subjects and for the enthusiast photographer, it will just state the obvious over and over again.

Digital SLR users are probably better off with a DSLR specific book, as this book mostly demonstrates photographing with a compact camera and it's various preset shooting modes (i.e Landscape mode).

For someone new to the joys of creative photography this book is a perfect starting point. The enthusiast however may be better off looking elsewhere.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Usefull
Comment: This book is well composed and laidout with various sections on how to take that particular subject. It goes from explaining the basic on most new cameras and how to use them. It then moves on into how to take various photo's in a wide diversaty of subjects and events. I would recommend this book to people who like photography and are just starting out like myself.

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