Good Generic Photo Book: My wife has a Sony HX200 "bridge" camera and is trying to learn the basics of ISO-SSpeed-Aperture and other basics of good photography. She's been taking (tons...

Bmarsh Loc: Bellaire, MI

My wife has a Sony HX200 "bridge" camera and is trying to learn the basics of ISO-SSpeed-Aperture and other basics of good photography. She's been taking (tons of) photos for years with point-and-shoot cameras but is trying to get better control of the camera.

I just bought a D7100 which isn't relevant except that there are a LOT of good books on learning the D7100 and also posing different situations and how to handle them with the D7100. Currently reading "D7100: From Snapshots to Great Shots" and it provides all of the above but is focused on using the D7100.

I have searched for a similar book on the Sony HX200 and there appears to be NO books covering that camera other than the droll users manual which we have.

Does anyone know of a good "generic" book that covers general photo shots but is not tailored to any one camera?

Thanks Bruce

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

It is not the camera but the mind that controls it...
User manual plus field guide or generic photography guide would do.

Photography isn't step by step....its about exploring the world and seeing it YOUR way...

Just because it has your camera name on the front cover doesn't mean that the lessons shown aren't relevant to your wife's camera. Unless she says so....:-( it just means that you may have to play with the settings a little...or not!

I have a book by TOM ANG 'Digital photography step by step' DK books isbn 978-1-4053-9103-0 that is packed with web sites and articles to support independant learning beyond the authors advice. Much better than an 'idiots guide' to a particular model.

Have fun learning

George

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Bmarsh wrote:

My wife has a Sony HX200 "bridge" camera... (show quote)

Go to amazon or Barnes and Noble and search for digital photography books. There are a ton of them. Just do a google search and you can find some downloadable ones for free. (usually in pdf format)
If you have the Nook or Kindle reader app on your computer or whatever look up "Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography" it is about $10 in nook or kindle and has links to video tutorials that are kept up to date. You want a hard copy, they are about $20 from B&N or Amazon.

Bmarsh Loc: Bellaire, MI

Thanks for the info... It seems there are a series of "From snapshots to Great Shots". And one of them is generic... It reads just like the D7100 book but deals mostly with photo situations and teaches the "triangle".

I think I'm all set until told differently... :-(

Thanks!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bmarsh wrote:

My wife has a Sony HX200 "bridge" camera and is trying to learn the basics of ISO-SSpeed-Aperture and other basics of good photography. She's been taking (tons of) photos for years with point-and-shoot cameras but is trying to get better control of the camera.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Understanding Exposure," by Scott Kelby. That usually pops up like a rubber stamp for questions like this.

Two suggestions: local library and Alibris. Alibris sells new and used books online. Camera models come and go, but the principles of light, composition, and exposure remain the same. It might not be worth the expense of buying a book. Your wife can probably get the basic idea by reading a book she borrows from the library.

http://www.alibris.com/?utm_term=alibris&utm_campaign=none&adpos=1t1&creative=65524894809&device=c&matchtype=e&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAjw25SoBRCMn7Gc97Knj0ISJAC7vaMrL3j_wim9RUEBlSuiGafXyVOF4B_nZPKzBfdV8yzK8BoCxGbw_wcB

There is also a lot of info available for free online. Once she understands the exposure triangle, she'll be ready to shoot.

This is an excellent site.

http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography/

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

jerryc41 wrote:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Understan... (show quote)

I too like Understanding Exposure but it's by Peterson, Jerry! You knew that... I've also got Kelby's series of books and Tony Northrup's Stunning Digital Photography. Northrup's book really got me a good start before I dove into the others and is on my Smartphone as a field reference. Good luck!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Mr PC wrote:

I too like Understanding Exposure but it's by Peterson, Jerry! You knew that... I've also got Kelby's series of books and Tony Northrup's Stunning Digital Photography. Northrup's book really got me a good start before I dove into the others and is on my Smartphone as a field reference. Good luck!

Sooo sorry. I recently read an article by Scott, so his name was stuck in my head.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

jerryc41 wrote:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Understanding Exposure," by Brian Peterson. That usually pops up like a rubber stamp for questions like this.

I corrected the name of the author above - Brian Peterson

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

jerryc41 wrote:

I corrected the name of the author above - Brian Peterson

Just one more little correction, Jerry... Brian spells his name with a "Y", as in Bryan.

The only reason I bring this up is because my son's name is Bryan with a y, and he gets very frustrated when he prints his name on the top of every school assignment, but the teacher still spells it Brian. :-)

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

mdorn wrote:

Just one more little correction, Jerry... Brian spells his name with a "Y", as in Bryan.

The only reason I bring this up is because my son's name is Bryan with a y, and he gets very frustrated when he prints his name on the top of every school assignment, but the teacher still spells it Brian. :-)

For goodness sakes, Jerry, will you get it right. The world of UHH is watching.

Seriously you remind me of me. I do the same thing occasionally.

Dennis

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

mdorn wrote:

Just one more little correction, Jerry... Brian spells his name with a "Y", as in Bryan.

The only reason I bring this up is because my son's name is Bryan with a y, and he gets very frustrated when he prints his name on the top of every school assignment, but the teacher still spells it Brian. :-)

You know, I went to the trouble of typing "Brian Peter" into Google to see if it was "son" or "sen." And Google showed "Brian Peterson." Going back to it just now and following through, it asked, "Did you mean Bryan Peterson." Well, I tried.

I guess it's the same with Stephen and Steven.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

mdorn wrote:

Just one more little correction, Jerry... Brian spells his name with a "Y", as in Bryan.

The only reason I bring this up is because my son's name is Bryan with a y, and he gets very frustrated when he prints his name on the top of every school assignment, but the teacher still spells it Brian. :-)

It amazes me that people often try to correct the names of others who have perfectly fine names, as is. I used to go into a Starbucks to get coffee and I would always tell the barista my name, saying the name, Dennis, and pointing out it is with 2 N's. Even doing that the barista would commonly misspell the name using one N. I stopped going to that Starbucks after one of their baristas corrected me and said most people spelled the name, Dennis, as Denis. I guess they were more interested in correcting my name than getting my money.

DeNNis

har1ey4 Loc: Long Island, New York

dennis2146 wrote:

It amazes me that people often try to correct the ... (show quote)

You should have spilled the coffee on KRYSTALL before you left....hahaha

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

har1ey4 wrote:

You should have spilled the coffee on KRYSTALL before you left....hahaha

That would have been great. Unfortunately I did not spend enough time there to begin with to learn any of the names of employees.

Dennis

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I really don't care how they spell my name as long as the check is on time and clears the bank.

As a 34+ year classroom teacher I have seen an amazing number of ways that people spell names.

Oh, did the scrawled nearly illegable "Denis" with 1 n make the coffee taste bad? Remember, you deal with one "you", that girl in Starbucks deals with hundreds of people per day and your spelling is not really a very important feature of her day. Or very many other people's day either.