fjrwillie Loc: MA

I am considering the following books:

Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography

The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression

Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera

All based on some searching on books worthy of reading.

It is my gut that Tony Northrup book while great by itself, the subject material in the other 2 may cover what is in his book and maybe should hold off ordering

Opinions on the selections I have made or which ones would you order. Help me save some money if possible. Or if I have forgotten a great one. let me know

Willie

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Brian Peterson's "Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition" is probably the best photography book you can buy. After all, exposure is what photography is all about. Good luck.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

No question. If the exposure is wrong nothing else matters.

bparr1 Loc: Carthage, TN

Hands down, Brian Peterson's book, "Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition", is top notch. If you could have only one book on photography, that's the one. Reading it gave me the confidence to go full manual on my D600 Nikon. Tear the back pocket off of your jeans getting to your wallet and order it.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I don't know the other two, but have to echo the other responses about "Understanding Exposure".... Find it, buy it, read it, study it, learn it, apply it. Should be required reading (with a tough pass/fail final exam) before anyone can post questions to photography forums!

Doesn't matter what you shoot or how long you've been shooting, Peterson's book will give you some new tools to work with. Newbie's will learn the basics correctly and experienced old farts will get a refresher course on the things they've forgotten along the way.

BTW, "going full manual" is way, way over hyped. Yes, there are times when M is the best way to get the shot and it pays to learn how to use it. But there are other times when you simply won't get the shot without one of the auto exposure modes and really need to know how to use those well, too. Reread Peterson's book. Much of it is devoted to getting the best out of your camera in the auto exposure modes, as well as when those modes will work better than M.

loveandpeace Loc: Southeast Iowa

I teach Brian Peterson's Understanding Photography in my photography classes. It's the best book for learning the basics, with many tips and illustrations. You can't go wrong with it.

TonyNorthrup

Full disclosure: I have more than a bit of bias... but with that said, I have read Peterson's book and love it. I've also worked with thousands of beginning photographers, so I have a pretty good sense for what people need to learn to make great pictures.

Peterson's Understanding Exposure book is a deep-dive on camera settings (with good information about lighting, but mostly camera settings). He has a whole series of books on topics that are, in my opinion, more important--composition, portraiture, travel.

But many people just read "Understanding Exposure" and consider their education complete when the understand the exposure triangle and can get sharp, well-exposed pictures. Please dig into his other books as well.

So, do read Understanding Exposure, but please don't stop there, because studying subject, mood, storytelling, composition, posing, expression, etc., are what I've seen take photographers from the level of technically perfect (but perhaps boring) pictures to really striking, artistic photographs. A photographer who studies those subjects will often get better shots with a smartphone than someone with a DSLR and a mastery of exposure.

Re: overlap, Chapters 3 (Lighting), 4 (Camera Settings), and 11 (HDR) of my book partially overlap with UE.

Note that Peterson and I have very different styles, so we teach the same topics quite differently. For example, a large percentage of beginner photographers are confused by the Exposure Triangle (and I'm offended that it omits light from the equation), so I created a completely different metaphor, and as a teaching tool it's working better for me than the exposure triangle ever did. With that said, my more technical students have no problem with the triangle, so you might not, either.

After I released the first edition, I worked closely with readers to understand what still confused them. I added videos to reinforce lessons people had questions about, quizzes to help knowledge transfer to long-term memory when people forgot topics, and social forums to give people encouragement and to answer specific technical problems. It's the most efficient teaching machine I can build right now (but I'm always open to suggestions).

But honestly, if you're the type who learns well by reading technical books, any book that covers the content will do.

Peterson's book is both practical and theoretical, whereas my book is mostly practical. Peterson definitely covers the topic of camera settings in far more detail than I do, though I believe I provide enough coverage for most photographers.

Beyond Chapters 3 and 4 (and maybe Chapter 11), I don't think there's much overlap with Peterson's book. I go into troubleshooting, portraits, weddings, wildlife, landscapes, night photography, macro photography, and underwater photography at a deep enough level to get you taking great pics in any of those disciplines.

I haven't read The Art of Photography book (but I should).

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I'm sure these are fine. The Peterson book is a classic. But if you haven't yet discovered the Craft and Vision ebook series, you ought to check them out. The are written by well regarded pros, inexpensive, easy to understand. Some of them are free.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

The Tony Northrup book is good but I'll second the post here about Bryan's book...that would be my first choice.

fjrwillie Loc: MA

Thank you for a great reply...going to Amazon now
:lol:

Willie

RetiredPhotog Loc: South West Ohio

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I am extremely happy to see you here. I am going to buy from you because you gave me a warm and fuzzy regarding how much you care for photography and photographers. I hope we hear from you more often.

HowardPepper Loc: Palm Coast, FL

I will add my voice to the chorus over Brian Peterson's "Understanding Exposure 3rd Edition". I've read it cover-to-cover twice, and I learned new things both times. Will re-read it again in the near future.

I also have and read Tony Northrup's book you listed. It's pretty good, but I would suggest reading it only after digesting Peterson's book. Northrup's book is more of a "how to" book for different types of photography.

I also have "The Art of Photography" book, which is in my queue to be read, probably after the one I'm reading now.

Definitely get Understanding Exposure first, and read it through, and if you can, do the exercises Peterson places at the end of each chapter.

djenrette Loc: Philadelphia

I certainly agree with your choices.

I know that many photographers take photographs mainly around sunset or sunrise -- and I can see why and you can, too. But that seems to make the rest of the day unimportant -- and you can also have too much of a good thing. I recently saw (in the bookstore) a collection of outdoor photographs that were ALL sunrises or sunsets. I found it boring.

A few years ago, OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER had a contest and five of the six big winners were ---guess--- sunrises or sunsets.

Well, Michael Freeman has a new book out in which he explores getting good photographs at any time of the day or night with any kind of light. For me, it was the most refreshing photography book I have seen in a long time. His other books are worth looking at, too: The Photographer's Story, Photographer's Mind, Photographer's Vision, Photographer's Eye, and Perfect Exposure.

Of course, none of these are worth anything until/unless you are out there with your camera --at all hours of the day, night, sunrise, sunset, dawn, dusk, high noon, rain, snow, sleet, etc.

anotherview Loc: California

Skip them all. Save your money.

Avoid the reading of the history and the philosophy of photography which most books offer as filler instead of practical, factual, informational guidance in doing the craft of photography.

If you still feel the need to buy books, Scott Kelby books talk strictly in terms of photographic craft. I can recommend his books.

Further, you can search the Internet for tutorials and writings that help explain and guide the beginning photographer.

Try learning as needed when needed by using the Internet. This Web-site offers tips and techniques regarding photography: www.photo.net. Click the Learning tab. Plenty of other Internet sources exist, too.

Good luck.