Shooting Digital: Pro Tips for Taking Great Pictures with Your Digital Camera

Author: Mikkel Aaland List Price: $35.00 Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price ISBN: 0782141048 Publisher: Sybex (03 July, 2003) Edition: Paperback Sales Rank: 7,705 Average Customer Rating: 4.11 out of 5

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Customer Reviews

Make sure the lense cap is off
Make sure the camera batteries are charged
Make sure the attached supporting equipment is properly connected.
Etc
Etc
I hope the rest of the book has something,anything, useful to say to help get me out of this purgatory.
I will dutifully follow up with another critique if this book begins to show value.

Shooting Digital is probably a must-have book for anyone taking digital photography seriously. It is 270 glossy pages of in-depth useful information garnered from an extensive list of professional photographers.

Mikkel Aaland himself has been a professional photographer for years and it appears that he really knows his stuff.

I like the way that the book describes the differences between film and digital photography and lays many of the myths associated with the value of one against the other. He manages to explain these differences simply enough for newcomers to the field, yet with enough technical information for long term SLR experts. The book does not assume that everyone has a professional quality camera and the abilities of a variety of cameras is compared.

Sensible advice on use of filters and accessories could save the reader a lot of money and heartache, and the setting up of simple studios and use of alternative light sources is extremely useful.

A lot of time is spent teaching how to work with a subject, whether animal or human to create brilliant portraits. This includes really useful diagrams of lighting setups and use of equipment and how to make the most of what you have available, as well as what sort of tripods, lights etc are needed. These sections are named Accessories That Make a Difference, and are scattered throughout the individual chapters. Also scattered are Know Your Camera, and Software Solutions, and these are sort of shortcut sections which are really useful.

Many other photographers have contributed works and information for the book so it is not just one man's view. Digital is here to stay and a lot of professionals are changing over, and are contributing real information in the fields of their own expertise, from portraits to action to minimovies and even how to get the most out of working in different situations and lighting conditions.

There is a whole section on interior and exterior photography and the information gained is invaluable. Use of natural and artificial light is something that is approached the whole way through the book, and this makes a lot of sense.

There are a lot of differences between the way that images are taken using film and digital and these are highlighted and explained all along the way. This is important if you are a film person moving to digital because, although a lot of the same terms are used, they do not necessarily equate to each other in the way you would expect.

If you are just using digital then it is best to ignore the differences and go for what your digital camera can do for you. Each shot is shown with the make of camera used and the settings involved, which gives a good insight into what sort of camera you buy and how you use it.

Obviously software is important for getting your digital images to their maximum, and this is well covered too. Including good information on use of filters and techniques, but this information is mainly a light introduction to clean up and lightly enhancing techniques. I think this is a good idea, because the book sets out to show proper photographing techniques to help you create the image you want with the minimum amount of re-touching. If you want to know more about the software you want to use, then other books are available for this.

If you want to see a sample chapter http://www.shooting-digital.com/book/ is the page to start from.

Every aspect of getting the most from your digital camera seems to have been explored and discussed. This is a very useful and informative book by people who know what they are talking about. If you are interested in taking good photos, or have already started and want to take better ones, then I would recommend looking here.

The book is not the sort of book you need if you want to know how to use a particular software program, it is just the sort of book you need to get the most out of your hardware though.

Tim Skyrme
http://www.artzend.com

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