Readers Preference Reviews

While too basic for the experienced photographer who already understands the interplay of focal length, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings, this is an excellent primer on these subjects for the new photographer.  As the title indicates the focus is on teaching the reader how to work with light and exposure to get the results they want, and the results can be stunning.  Harold Davis is at the top of his game as a master photographer with this book.  For the new photographer who wants to move up the quality of their work from the photograph category to the art category t

For the person with more time than money this book provides specific low-cost methods to make your own ancillary photography equipment.  That being said, I should point out that the projects focus almost entirely on lighting and include softboxes, reflectors, and diffusers.

"Hacking" has a different meaning to the photographer than it does in the computer world. This book is about hacks the way it is used in the world of photography and not the way it is used in the world of computers. When a picture doesn't come out quite like a photographer intended they often make changes in the darkroom via masks, burning, and other techniques. This is photographic "hacking" - enhancing and changing your digital photographs in ways you may not have thought possible to achieve the results you want.

A short flip through the pages of this book and it soon becomes obvious that Bill Fortney is undoubtedly a master photographer. Inside "Bill Fortney's Great Photography Workshop" you will find page after page of sound photographic advice complete with illustrations and examples. While it is a technical presentation in many aspects, he also clearly shows that great photography is every bit as much an art form as it is a technical knowledge.

If you have ever wanted to try your hand at creating panoramic photographs but just didn't know where to start or have had a hard time getting it right then this book is for you. It details the process from how to compose and shoot the pictures, digitize them, assemble, and retouching them to create your final composition. Some of the examples include unique point of view projects like “Urban Sphere” where the 360 degree panorama appears as the surface of a sphere. You should be warned that all the techniques illustrated are done using Adobe Photoshop software.

This book starts with the basics of working with digital photography and a basic guide to digital cameras. The author does a particularly good job of discussing both the similarities and the differences in film and digital camera techniques including dealing with sensor artifact repair and sensor noise. As the leading professional digital photography software most of the examples are detailed using Photoshop. Using this product Stephen Johnson discusses how and why to adjust tone and contrast, color correction and editing, changing hue and saturation, and photographic reproduction.

Finally, there is a book on GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) that I can recommend without reservations. Personally, I love using the GIMP program for image manipulation and find that it has always been able to do everything I have ever needed. However, most of that knowledge has been gained through a long process of trial and error. Beginning GIMP is a treat to read through and explore the different techniques and effects that are possible with the program.