Best Digital Photo & Video Editing
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
With this video book, you'll learn how to instantly find any picture in your library, fix common photography problems, clean up your images, add pop to boring pictures, retouch portraits, make gorgeous prints, create photo books, and even edit your home videos. If you prefer reading, the book is concise and practical, and each chapter links to relevant videos when you want to understand a topic more deeply or see it used in the real world. You can learn more about Tony by following him on Twitter (@TonyNorthrup) or emailing him at tony@northrup.org.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A while later, and mostly out of curiosity, I also decided to get Tony's LR book, the predecessor to this one, and WOW, what a difference! Tony's speaking/writing style is conversational and, with the video parts, you just feel like you are sitting in the room with him while he explains things with hands on examples. In the ebook there is enough text to clearly explain the function Tony is teaching but also the examples are well done. Sure, it covered everything the previous book did but it also clearly notes and teaches the changes in LR6 so you don't sort of have to start over to find them. The original book (with those great, linked videos that double cover each point of learning LR) is reasonably priced, especially in comparison with a couple of the more popular LR books. This book is well written, covers LR very well in a knowledgeable but conversational style, AND has the linked videos. If Amazon let you use an occasional "Super rating" on maybe a 10 star scale, this book gets a 10 on quality, content, features, and value."
"Very informative!"
"It shows that from his previous career, Tony Northrup has developed the skill of explaining technical procedures in a straight forward and easy to follow manner."
"I don't understand what is the deal with the bad reviews but this book is really well written."
"The author did a pretty good job with the overall content of the book."
"Between the book and the included videos I do not see how one could not use Lightroom properly."
"His books and youtube videos are very informative, and they avoid useless information that would just fill additional pages in the books or minutes in his videos without any tangible benefits."
"They have no shortage of 5 star reviews but once you get started with one of their books you'll feel obligated to write another."
Creative professionals seeking the fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Photoshop choose Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a Book (2017 release) from Adobe Press. Conrad Chavez has provided education, training, and support for digital-media applications for over 20 years, originally contributing countless pages to the user guides for print, Web, and digital video products at Aldus Corporation and Adobe Systems Inc. Now a freelance writer and editor, Conrad creates books and videos that teach Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Creative Cloud workflows. His work includes the last three editions of Real World Adobe Photoshop for Photographers and the video Color Management for Photographers and Designers .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"how to create bokeh or the appearance of motion in a photo by fine-tuning the various types of "blur" available in the filters menu, (3.). how to combine a photo of a train taken at one angle with a photo of a bridge taken at another angle, and use the perspective tools to make it look like the train is actually coming right over the bridge at you... Believe me, reading about how to use vector-drawing tools to trace a photo and create a reusable logo from it is very different from actually creating the paths, subtracting one path from another, converting the paths into shapes, turning shapes into assets, saving color schemes along with your assets, and all the rest."
"Great asset for anyone rather new at Photoshop."
"If any of you have tried to self learn Photoshop, good luck. I bought because it was like the class I took it first wanted to explain what a pixel was."
"It gets the reader into the program to perform a number of keystrokes on an image file provided from the Peachpit web site. As stated above, the first chapter is intended to familiarize the user with the Photoshop work space and tools. Each chapter ends with some Review questions and answers designed to solidify the user’s grasp of the lesson matter. With this aid, the user just starting out in Photoshop can gain a picture view of a specific tool’s purpose. Going on from this point in the book, the authors take the reader on a learning journey through Photoshop’s other features by providing a project involving that aspect of the program. I have been a Photoshop user for a number of years going back to the early single digit versions. Having a “Classroom in a Book” in my earlier years would have made life and digital photography considerably easier for me. For those fairly familiar with Photoshop, this book will make an excellent refresher and reference volume."
"Sure, considering we live in the digital internet age it was hard at times to concentrate doing lessons in a book, but they do have good source files for you to work on so you can drill the program into your head."
Best Adobe Software Guides
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
Best Photography
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
Best Graphics & Multimedia Programming
Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Game Nite ’s Editors’ Choice "… this book is considered by many to be the ‘bible’ of game design. … Much of the material has been updated … the introduction to probability … is a must read for aspiring game designers … engaging and thought provoking … a substantial book for someone looking to get serious about game design. … this book trains you to think as a designer …". ―James Portnow, Game Designer, CEO of Rainmaker Games, and Writer of Extra Credits. "This book was clearly designed, not just written, and is an entire course in how to be a game designer. "As indicated by its title, Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses uses many different perspectives (the titular lenses), which each prompt their own important questions, ranging from ‘What problems does my game ask the players to solve?’ to ‘What does beauty mean within the context of my game?’ These distinct points are interwoven throughout a step-by-step analysis of the design process that begins with the designer and his or her basic idea, and builds successfully from there. "Easily the most comprehensive, practical book I’ve ever seen on game design." "Jesse Schell’s new book, The Art of Game Design , is a marvelous introduction to game design by a true master of the form. " The Art of Game Design describes precisely how to build a game the world will love and elegantly crank it through the realities of clients and publishers. "Packed with Jesse’s real-world experience and humorous insight, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses is a tool chest crossed with a kaleidoscope. Like a chemistry set for making mental explosions, it’s an idea(l) book guiding the design process for both new and seasoned game designers. "On games industry desks, books tend to come and go, but they all seem to go on top of Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design , because that’s the one book that seems to stick around." "Ken Rolston, internationally celebrated game designer, recommends Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design both for smart people and for people who are learning how to be smart."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A great tool for checklist of elements and find some other issues, is not absolute, and depends more of the way of use, team and school of knowledge, frameworks one uses, but is it indeed effective, especially on Gamified Designs."
"Schell does a great job outlining the philosophy and process of game design."
"Best and most useful textbook to date."
"This is a great, straight-forward book on iterative game design created by someone active in the field."
"And he also covers methods that other entertainment industries use, giving anyone interested in designing games more options in creating better experiences."
"Fantastically good book on game design."
"This clear vocabulary is empowering, as it enables a designer to more easily think about the elements of their game, and in addition, to add to the foundation that Jesse has already put together."
Best Computer Graphics
Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Game Nite ’s Editors’ Choice "… this book is considered by many to be the ‘bible’ of game design. … Much of the material has been updated … the introduction to probability … is a must read for aspiring game designers … engaging and thought provoking … a substantial book for someone looking to get serious about game design. … this book trains you to think as a designer …". ―James Portnow, Game Designer, CEO of Rainmaker Games, and Writer of Extra Credits. "This book was clearly designed, not just written, and is an entire course in how to be a game designer. "As indicated by its title, Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses uses many different perspectives (the titular lenses), which each prompt their own important questions, ranging from ‘What problems does my game ask the players to solve?’ to ‘What does beauty mean within the context of my game?’ These distinct points are interwoven throughout a step-by-step analysis of the design process that begins with the designer and his or her basic idea, and builds successfully from there. "Easily the most comprehensive, practical book I’ve ever seen on game design." "Jesse Schell’s new book, The Art of Game Design , is a marvelous introduction to game design by a true master of the form. " The Art of Game Design describes precisely how to build a game the world will love and elegantly crank it through the realities of clients and publishers. "Packed with Jesse’s real-world experience and humorous insight, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses is a tool chest crossed with a kaleidoscope. Like a chemistry set for making mental explosions, it’s an idea(l) book guiding the design process for both new and seasoned game designers. "On games industry desks, books tend to come and go, but they all seem to go on top of Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design , because that’s the one book that seems to stick around." "Ken Rolston, internationally celebrated game designer, recommends Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design both for smart people and for people who are learning how to be smart."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A great tool for checklist of elements and find some other issues, is not absolute, and depends more of the way of use, team and school of knowledge, frameworks one uses, but is it indeed effective, especially on Gamified Designs."
"Schell does a great job outlining the philosophy and process of game design."
"Best and most useful textbook to date."
"This is a great, straight-forward book on iterative game design created by someone active in the field."
"And he also covers methods that other entertainment industries use, giving anyone interested in designing games more options in creating better experiences."
"Fantastically good book on game design."
"This clear vocabulary is empowering, as it enables a designer to more easily think about the elements of their game, and in addition, to add to the foundation that Jesse has already put together."
Best Darkroom & Photo Processing
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
Best Photography Lighting
It provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects, such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and portraits. All new chapter titled "Setting Up Your New Studio" A re-vamped and expanded chapter 8 now titled "Making Portraits" New appendix of reliable photo gear sources Over 100 new photographs and informational sidebars Updated information about advances in flash equipment, LED panels and fluorescent lights. has over twenty years of experience as a commercial photographer specializing in portraits, still life, photomontage, and digital manipulation. He has been honored with awards from Communication Arts, Graphis, HOW Magazine, and Adobe, who have also included his work on a Photoshop 'extras' disc to inspire other photographers. Paul has written and produced educational and training material in a variety of fields including law, public safety, history, science, and the environment.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book is a bit technical and I will need to read it again... slowly... so that I can digest everything. But the level of detail is a good thing and totally worth the effort if you truly want to understand lighting for photography. It covers photographing different types of subjects... reflective, clear, black, white, etc. In addition to explaining the science of why you need to light a certain type of subject a certain way to produce a certain result, it includes photos to illustrate these points. PROS: - Detailed explanations that help you understand the science of lighting."
"I am a self-taught photographer wanting to learn more about how to craft studio light."
"There are a few minor errors when the authors push their understanding of physics a bit too far, but those do not detract significantly from the overall excellence of the book."
"This book is fabulous!!"
"This is a no nonsense, no girlie picture, book about the concepts of lighting."
"If you have to read just one book about lighting in your life, this is it - it's all you're ever going to need, seriously."
"My studio lighting teacher required this for her class and when I found the first chapter was a good walk through with the physics of light, I knew it was no ordinary photography book."
"Excellent technical resource."
Best Photography Equipment
Understanding Exposure has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography. BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, best-selling author, and founder of The Bryan Peterson School of Photography at www.bpsop.com.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Buy this book first."
"Since it was first published, Understanding Exposure has provided a friendly, easy, and accessible way for everyone to learn to use their cameras to create beautiful images. I've been in the photography business for almost two decades and this book has always been my first recommendation (more than any classes or any other book) when pressed for help with cameras. It's for a very good reason that the book has been so successful over the last decade - Peterson makes it easy to put away the camera manual and get the most important basics down to start taking consistently good images."
"He talks around it for the whole book like it's some magical thing but I had to go to Wikipedia to get an understanding of the what the triangle is and how to use it in a practical way. Try searching Wikipedia for "Exposure Value" or "Law of Reciprocity" under the "Science of Photography"."
"I picked up my first camera and this book at the same time."
"This book completely revamped my passion for photography and improved my photos tremendously."
"I bought this latest version for my daughter, the only real difference is the last chapter deals with flash usage."
"If you are used to your camera's Auto-something feature, forget about it, because this will really change the way you will set up exposures, leveraging your creativity."
"Easy read and very informative without being overly wordy."
Best Color Photography
Completely revised and updated throughout, Bryan Peterson's classic guide to creativity helps photographers visualize their work, and the world, in a whole new light by developing their photographic vision. His trademark use of color and strong, graphic composition have garnered him many photographic awards, including the Art Director Club's Gold Award and honors from Communication Arts and Print magazines.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"When i was reading the book it all seemed so basic and I thought I wasted my money, but after reading the book, and applying each lesson individually when taking pictures I can confidently say the book helped me grow as a photographer!"
"Interesting read, strong writing and great examples."
"The book prompted me to view things and people differently."
"I have all of Bryan Peterson's books."
"I am reading it through the second time now."
"This book has opened my thinking to different ways of composing, and in general really helped me to see the bigger picture while shooting."
"Concepts are easy to follow."
"Very informative."
Best Flash Photography
NEW: Updated November 2017 to include the Nikon D850 and Sony a7R III! With access to over 20 HOURS of online video, this book helps you choose the best equipment for your budget and style of photography. In this book, award-winning author and photographer Tony Northrup explains explains what all your camera, flash, lens, and tripod features do, as well as which are worth paying for and which you can simply skip. Tony provides information specific to your style of photography, whether you're a casual photographer or you're serious about portraits, landscapes, sports, wildlife, weddings, or even macro. For the casual reader, Tony provides quick recommendations to allow you to get the best gear for your budget, without spending days researching. If you love camera gear, you'll be able to dive into 200 pages of detailed information covering Nikon, Canon, Sony, Micro Four-Thirds, Olympus, Samsung, Leica, Fujifilm, Pentax, Tamron, Sigma, Yongnuo, Godox, and many other manufacturers. You can learn more about Tony by liking his Facebook photography page at http://www.facebook.com/NorthrupPhotography, following him on Twitter (@TonyNorthrup), viewing his photography portfolio at www.northrupphotography.com, or emailing him at tony@northrup.org.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book was last revised in 2016, and while newer equipment is not featured, it is still up to date enough to be useful."
"I believe in 2016 and 2017 a lot of gears hit the market as well, I believe Tony should update the book with the latest gears available."
"I was going to buy a flash unit that was 8x more expensive than the one I actually bought because of the recommendation this book made."
"He provides a fair and seemingly unbiased approach with plenty of great insight into the inevitable "Canon versus Nikon" debate, as well as every other major manufacturer's products. Tony provides extensive hyperlinks throughout the text to both Amazon's offers on certain products, and to the manufacturer's site or other retailers for additional product information. The Manfroto carbon tripod Manfrotto MK293C4-A0RC2 4 Section Carbon Tripod Kit with Quick Release Ball Head (Black)_item just replaced the more expensive Gitzo on my got-to-have list."
"This book is an excellent start for gear recommendations, although each version is outdated very quick, as anyone can imagine."
"This book is comprehensive enough to get anyone started in the current world of creative photography, as it exends beyond point and shoot vacation and memory recording."
"I have their other books as well, which I highly recommend to everyone who is trying to learn photography ( and no they don't pay me to write this review,lol)."
"Definitely buy this book before you buy a DSLR camera."
Best Photography Reference
Understanding Exposure has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography. BRYAN PETERSON is a professional photographer, internationally known instructor, best-selling author, and founder of The Bryan Peterson School of Photography at www.bpsop.com.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Buy this book first."
"Since it was first published, Understanding Exposure has provided a friendly, easy, and accessible way for everyone to learn to use their cameras to create beautiful images. I've been in the photography business for almost two decades and this book has always been my first recommendation (more than any classes or any other book) when pressed for help with cameras. It's for a very good reason that the book has been so successful over the last decade - Peterson makes it easy to put away the camera manual and get the most important basics down to start taking consistently good images."
"I picked up my first camera and this book at the same time."
"This book completely revamped my passion for photography and improved my photos tremendously."
"I bought this latest version for my daughter, the only real difference is the last chapter deals with flash usage."
"If you are used to your camera's Auto-something feature, forget about it, because this will really change the way you will set up exposures, leveraging your creativity."
"Easy read and very informative without being overly wordy."
"It had been 30 years since I picked up a DSLR and this book was perfect to refresh memory and get me going again."
Best Photography Handbooks & Manuals
The newest edition of The Backyard Astronomer's Guide includes the latest data and answers the questions most often asked by home astronomers, from beginners to experienced stargazers. Telescopes for Recreational Astronomy features assessments of a wide range of new telescopes, from models for beginners to those for veteran astronomy enthusiasts, with special emphasis on computerized telescopes and how they work. [Review of earlier edition:] Excellent introductory text ... completely revised... it is lushly illustrated in color throughout. [Review of earlier edition:] If an amateur astronomer could afford one book, this would be the one to get ... one of the most attractive practical astronomy works ever produced. [Review of earlier edition:] Lively, accessible style; is comprehensive; and is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs, diagrams, and charts... highly recommended for any library. [Review of earlier edition:] Few books capture the spirit of the hobby so well -- the pleasures and the pitfalls of the equipment you might need, and the simple joy of watching the universe go by. I recommend this book for anyone who is contemplating buying a telescope, has one but does not quite know how to use it, or wants to learn more about accessories and fun activities to supplement his or her stargazing. If you teach observational astronomy, run a public observatory, or conduct community stargazing classes, put this magazine down and order it right now ... [Review of earlier edition:] This book is an indispensable tool for any serious naturalist who wants to understand and experience the full expanse of the world and universe around us. I fondly remember haunting my favorite bookstore as a college student in the early 1990s, ogling the big, full-color astronomy texts, when I happened upon The Backyard Astronomer's Guide. Now in its third edition, Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer have completely rewritten large sections to keep in lockstep with the evolving trends. Immediately from the first chapter the authors' fluid writing style draws you in, casually introducing you to the pursuit of the night sky. As in previous editions, the flow comfortably builds with each page, easing you into progressively challenging subjects without missing a step. The text builds though each successive chapter, describing today's plethora of binoculars, telescopes, mounts, eyepieces, and other accessories. Complementing the informative text are hundreds of colour photographs and illustrations as well as a 20-page, full-colour atlas of the Milky Way that includes 10 charts.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great addition to my library."
"If you have, or are interested in getting, a quality telescope this book is great."
"I Love looking at the Star's and This book help me to know which Star's I'm looking at, Name them."
"We are new to star gazing using a telescope and I wanted a book that would help us learn more about space and what we were seeing. If I were going to buy a telescope, I might start by purchasing this book prior to purchasing a telescope."
"I just love this book."
"Not quite as captivating as the original Nightwatch, but a good publication nonetheless."
"I am a beginner in astronomy as a hobby so I have looked at all the resources I thought I needed like internet sites and forums, reviews and the like. The Backyard Astronomer's Guide is the best investment a beginner in the hobby could make it should be your very first purchase even before any equipment."
"This book will serve as a reference guide for I am constantly returning to the pages to learn more exciting information about this fascinating subject of astronomy."