"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend...

[Corso]

...Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read." Groucho Marx, a legend.

There is a lot of useful information which is shared amongst the community here, but I was wondering what books people have read which have been highly influential on their photography or have been helpful with the practical nature of taking photos and processing them. I certainly need a digital photography bible which isn't too basic, but also not too advanced.
Just wondered which books people have enjoyed and would reccommend.
Corso

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Corso

a digital photography bible which isn't too basic, but also not too advanced.

Lovely idea Corso, but I'm not sure that such a thing actually exists. I have given up browsing through books on digital photography as I never found one that didn't start with chapters on "What is digital?" and "How to choose your first camera". And they all finish with chapters on home printing - something that I'm simply not interested in doing, and on-line photosharing - something that I can very easily work out for myself, thanks.

The content in between tends to fall into two categories:

1. Photography skills - exposure, focusing, composition etc. These things are exactly the same with a digital camera as they are with a traditional film camera so any decent photography book will do for these subjects. I still have several books that I bought when I first started to take photography seriously at the end of the 1970s so I can always go back to those if I need a refresher.

2. The digital darkroom - how to enhance, alter, generally muck about with your pictures once they're on the computer. Now this is where I could really use some help. Unfortunately the only image editing software that ever seems to get covered is Adobe Photoshop which I can't afford. (Even if i could afford it, I still wouldn't buy it - I'd put the money towards a D200 body ). I use Paintshop Pro for editing and while I think there may be some books that deal specifically with this product, I've never seen it covered in a general book on digital photography.

When I first bought my DSLR I also picked up a copy of Andy Rouse's Digital SLR Masterclass. This book pretty much follows the pattern out-lined above but was great for me at the time, when I still had questions like "what is digital noise?", "how do I read a histogram?" and "what on earth is RAW?". But I would include all those questions as "basics". If you're already comfortable with those things then I don't think there is a book that meets your requirements. It'd be lovely if another Wabber could prove me wrong!

When I first joined WAB (only in April - seems like longer ) there was a similar thread and the advice given then was to avoid books and look at magazines. I think this is good advice. I have subscribed to two different mags over the last couple of years and find them excellent.

Dave P.

[AnnMercia]

The One I Particularly Like Is Oe Cornish "first Light" Landscape Not Wildlife But The Man Is A Legend - He's Amazing With Light And Colour:d

[Corso]

I've got that one too (Joe Cornish if anyone's wondering) and agree its fantastic, worth getting not only for the photos but also for his photonotes/essays which go with them.
Corso