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Product Description

Scott Kelby, the man who changed the "digital darkroom" forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography--how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today's top digital pros use (and it's easier than you'd think).

This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here?s how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You d say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."

This isn't a book of theory?it isn't full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.

Here's another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There's never been a book like it, and if you're tired of taking shots that look "OK," and if you?re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.

About the Author
Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User and Layers magazines. Scott serves as training director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the technical chair of the largest Photoshop gathering in the industry, Photoshop World. He has written numerous best-selling creative technology books.

Customer Reviews

A great book
I've always been a "dabbler" in photography but 6 months ago I decided to take it a bit more seriously and treat myself to a Digital SLR. This will be my second photography book, the first being the "Nikon D40 Field Guide".

I really liked this book..........I guess you want to know why?

This book is a great "wide and general" book. The way it is written is as a series of recipies/advice on how you would shoot a particular shot. It is grouped together into logical chapters: weddings, sports, portrait, landscape. Each is a page long and focuses on one specific thing. The style is supposed to be as if you had asked a specific question: "how do I do....XXXXX". You get the answer. There's a drawback to that which I'll come back to.

To me, that is a great way to layout the book. You can - as I have just done - read through the whole book and pick things up. Then later on, when you have that specific question you can come back to 1 page rather than have to search through the whole book.

As I said, I'm an enthusiastic amateur. The book is certainly written in an amateur style - there's no myriad of complicated ackronyms or goobildygook. I certainly picked up a lot of good information from the book.

Things to note or beware of:

A lot has been written about Scott's writing style and humor (or lack of). Personally i didn't mind it. I didn't find it insulting at all. To me it seems like he's trying to breakdown the barrier of the super-elite techno geek - which no doubt he could be given his extensive experience. Apart from the first chapter it's not that prevalent: if you read Brien's review that's practically all of it that he's pulled out.

The main criticism for some will be that he doesn't explain in this book WHY you do X, Y or Z. I understand that criticism and it's true, but that would make for a much longer book. This book aims to give you a little bit of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects.

In my mind you need to balance this book out with 2 others: 1 book that is specific to what your camera can do (like the D40 field guide above) & 2 an uber-techie book explaining exposure.

The book is general and may focus on areas you aren't that interested in. The wedding photo section, or shooting flowers section or the sports section (where he starts by saying you'll need $$$$$$'s of gear to do sports well) will not be of interest to everyone. However it's still good to read those sections and understand a little bit more about photography.

This book is only 1 tool in your photographic arsenal. IMHO it does that job very well.

Great for beginners
I am a bit torn on rating this. My wife loved this and the second volume, but much of it (65%) was so basic for me that it did not add much value. The balance was very good. If you are brand new to the world of SLRs I would say it is a must have.

I Can See The Difference
I recently brought my first digital slr and was looking around for a book that would explain how to get the best out of my camera.Scoot kelby has written this book so well,he gets straight to the point.He gave me lots of tips that I would have never thought of.I've had this book for 24hrs and I can see the difference in my photography.I would be still clueless without this book.And as for his jokes,I don't have a problem with them.I actually think hes funny so if you pass this book up you'll be missing out on a lot.