Digital Photography: A Basic Manual - Review

Are you getting a new camera for Christmas?  Maybe you have someone on your list that’s really into photography?  Perhaps you just want to take better pictures of your everyday life.  If so, Digital Photography – A Basic Manual by Henry Horenstein is the book to get!  

While the book states that it’s a basic manual, it’s really so much more than that.  Digital Photography starts off by teaching you about your camera and what each feature does.  The differences between types of cameras, the pros and cons of various styles, and why you might want one type over the other are all covered.   It then progresses into playing with your settings and how to use them appropriately.  One of the demos I found interesting was the series of photos that were taken with various light exposures that all turned out basically the same.  Of course, being a photography book, this is heavy on the pictures.

Once you get that down, Horenstein shows you how to play with lighting your subjects and the various effects that different light creates in your photos.  The book then moves on to editing your photos. Some of the effects that you can achieve with editing software are covered, as well as helpful tips that you rarely think about.  Calibrating your monitor and working in a dimly lit room are both tips that you probably don’t even think about!  The possibilities really are endless to change the look of your photos! 

After you’ve put so much effort into your pictures, you want to share them, right?  Of course you do!  Digital Photography has you covered, there, too!  The book walks you through printing your images yourself and having them printed via various methods.  It also helps you troubleshoot your photo printing, telling you what may be wrong and if it’s fixable or not!  How totally awesome is that? 

The book even tells you how to back up your photos so that future generations can enjoy them.  Wouldn’t it be a shame to lose all your great memories? 

When I was in college, I took a couple of photography classes.  I wish I’d had a book like this for those classes.  It would have made everything easier and so much clearer!  

• Title: Digital Photography: A Basic Manual
• Author: Henry Horenstein
• Publisher: Hachette Book Group
• Price: $29.99 US/$32.99 Canada