Good book covering technical aspects of photography

Hi all,

Firstly I want to say that I am really impressed with the tutorials you have on this site. I'm just in the process of buying my first DSLR camera (a Canon 1000D) with the aim of getting into photography. I've also brought Tom Ang's 'Digital Photography Masterclass' which, while interesting from an artistic/composition point of view, is rather short on technical details.

I'm a technical person (maths/physics/computing background) and have found your tutorials great for explaining the inner workings of a DSLR and the (often mathematical) relationships between the different concepts. I was hoping someone would be able to recommend a good book which includes more of this kind of information? I think it would be a good complement to the Tom Ang book that I already have.

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

Hi esuvs,

First off, before I forget, welcome to the CiC forums.

The other moderator, Colin, is what I'd call our librarian, he'll be back later with some advice on book(s).
I just wanted to say "Hi" and that I agree with your view on Tom Ang's book, I too have that one.

One question that will arise soon enough is whether you are limiting yourself to the camera side of things or including Post Processing (PP), which is (I feel) an essential part of the digital photography production line.

What book you need for that side of things depends what software you use for PP?

One other question, do you have a first name we can use?

Thanks and welcome,

Hi, sorry, it's David. I've padded out my profile a bit but don't see anywhere to add that. You'll just have to remember :-)

In terms of post processing software I have limited experience with The Gimp for general editing tasks. I've also played briefly with Hugin as I'd quite like to make some panoramic photos. So generally free/open source software when I can find something suitable. I guess I'll also get some software with my camera when it arrives but I'm not sure what yet.

While post processing is important I believe that books aimed at particular software packages are likely to get out of date more quickly as new versions come along. But of course, similar concepts (layers, filters, etc) apply to all versions/packages so a book which covered those (and how to use them for particular effects) would also be useful. So far I've just ben using tutorials I've found on the internet and in magazines.

Books on cameras seem more likely to continue to be relevant, though I'm sure there is continuous progress here as well...

David

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson would be a good place to start. Scott Kelby is another popular author. There are so many. Dave's right though. Colin will direct you far more expertly than me. :)

I've just had a look on Amazon and 'Understanding Exposure' does look good. The Scott Kelby books look like they are more practical and don't cover much theory - I've already got the Tom Ang book for that.

Does anyone have Michael Langford's basic and advanced books?

Basic Photography on Amazon
Advanced Photography on Amazon

From the 'Look Inside' feature they look quite promising.

David

Hi David,

There are lots of technical books out there - possibly one of the problems is working out just which aspects of photography you'd like more technical detail on though.

To be honest, I think that the depth of technical expertise here is probably a good resource to consider tapping in to first - unlike many of the technical books, we can interact with you and help you resolve some of the many "in theory" and "in practice" type conflicts (exposure being the classic example - one set of techniques for normal dynamic range scenes - another for those with extreme contrast - another for those with specular highlights and/or backlighting).

I'd agree with Colin on this. The technical stuff on this site is second to none on the web. Plus the amount of "old pros" here to ask questions is amazing. I quote from here on a regular basis and send people here from flickr all the time.

Bryan Peterson has a youtube channel of free photography videos:

Bryan Peterson's Youtube Channel

Picture Perfect School of Photography

I learned photography from the 1971 edition of the US Naval Photographer's Mate 3 & 2. I did a quick search and found more recent editions through the US Government Printing Office:

Navy photographer’s mate training series. Module 1. Naval photography

Navy photographer’s mate training series. Module 2, Still, motion picture, and television photography

Navy photographer’s mate training series. Module 3. Laboratory procedures, processing and printing B&W and color materials

Plus these are also a great resource:

The Camera by Ansel Adams

The Negative by Ansel Adams

The Print by Ansel Adams

Quote:

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Originally Posted by esuvs

Hi, sorry, it's David. I've padded out my profile a bit but don't see anywhere to add that. You'll just have to remember :-)

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Hi David,

To be honest I can't add anything of value to Mark, Colin and Steaphany's replies.

I'm not too sure about the longevity of books regarding PP software vs cameras though, I actually think the camera technology dates more quickly and radically than software as mostly the later develops incrementally over many years. Nah, I've thought again, they both date as quickly as each other. :eek:

Cheers,

Thanks for all the input guys! I'm going to have a good read through the tutorials on this site (I've already read some and am very impressed). I'll see what other web resources I can find.

I will probably still get a book (somethimes reading a website just isn't convienient) and I think the Michael Langford and Ansel Adams ones look promising. I'll head to a book shop an see if I can find one to flick through.

David

Photography is photography! It doesn't really matter if you are shooting with an old glass plate camera such as was used during the American Civil War, shooting with a modern film camera or shooting with a DSLR. Some of the technical aspects of photography and most of the artistic aspects remain the same.

However, on the other hand, digital photography is advancing at such a rapid rate that print material just cannot keep up with the advances - especially the technical advances.

You can find most of the technical and or artistic material you will need by doing Google searches on the Internet. Use the search parameters "technical aspects of photography" and you will find a plethora of free and up-to-date material available at the mouse click.

I would recommend Bryan Petersen's "Understanding Exposure" and "Understanding Shutterspeeds". His books are wonderful easy to follow with practice examples within for you to try.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081...pf_rd_i=507846

Just a quick note for UK members. I see that The Book People are selling one of Tom Ang's publications at a knock down price. Don't know anything about that book, although his previous books have been good for beginners.

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

Just a quick note for UK members. I see that The Book People are selling one of Tom Ang's publications at a knock down price. Don't know anything about that book, although his previous books have been good for beginners.

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Actually that's where I got my copy from :-) They drop some books off at my work from time to time and I thought it looked interesting. It's a good book.

David