Best book for dslr photography basics

[seiswirth]

Looking for opinions on photography books for digital slrs or matbe even just slr's.

[Liz]

These are "books" from the internet by Canon - the first one is brand new. You can print out the pages you want to keep. ;)

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

on this one, click on the Rebel XT

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/

Hope these help. It's worth a "shot" (pun intended)

Liz

Looking for opinions on photography books for digital slrs or matbe even just slr's.

[Mohawk]

I found this particular book rather good, "Understanding Exposure" Revised Edition by Bryan Peterson. It is a good beginner or refresher book for those of us who were away from photography for a few years. I found it on www.amazon.com for a reasonable price. I would highly recommend this book to a new dSLR or SLR user. An easy to read book with many photos as illustrations to get the point across.

Mike

[Liz]

I agree. I have this book - it is one of the best available. Great reading, and many photo samples.

Liz

I found this particular book rather good, "Understanding Exposure" Revised Edition by Bryan Peterson. It is a good beginner or refresher book for those of us who were away from photography for a few years. I found it on www.amazon.com for a reasonable price. I would highly recommend this book to a new dSLR or SLR user. An easy to read book with many photos as illustrations to get the point across.

Mike

[OldSchool]

Go to your local Barns and Noble (or other lark bookstore) and brows their photography section. Back when I started, I picked up a 'how to shoot wildlife' book that also covered the basics. This gave me a solid understanding to work from

I do have a recommendation for a nice (and large) general book:

The Book of Photography
By John Hedgecoe
DK Publishing, USA 2005
US ISBN 075660947X

It does a fantastic job of starting with the basics and then going into details of portraiture (including lighting setup), still life, moving people, kids, nudes, landscapes, wildlife, etc. In that this latest issue has just been published, it also covers digital cameras some.

The great thing about this book is that it is a very attractive picture-type book that you can leave on your coffee table. The photos are just gorgeous, and one doesn't need to be interested in photography to enjoy this book.

Cheers,
Tim

[seiswirth]

I'm trying to take indoor low light(flourecent) martial arts photo's without a flash. I'm not asking for much.

[OldSchool]

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...80371#poststop ?

It's actually not that difficult. Just set a custom white balance, dial up the shutter to around 1/400, set the ISO and f-stop to match, and shoot away.

Good luck,
Tim

p.s. I've attached another shot using the above method....

[seiswirth]

Your photos are great!
I guess I just don't know enough to use your advice.
I've figured out the custom white balance. I can set the shutter to 1/400. Then I should set the ISO to match the f-stop? I don't think I understand. Are you using a flash? I was told we can't use them during competition. Will that make a big difference?
Thank you for all your help.

[OldSchool]

To bad about the not being able to use a flash. This is what I'd do....

Since you have a digital SLR, I'd set it to Shutter Priority, Auto ISO, shoot RAW format, and then start off with a high shutter (like 1/400). Chances are, your aperture (f-stop) will be wide open with ISO maxed out (These will be automatically adjusted by the camera for you.).

Try and test shoot with other competitors (before your kids are on). Check out the histogram for exposure. If a tad dark, you can lighten it up in post processing. If too dark, you'll have to drop shutter speed.

Also zoom in to check focus and make sure you like how motion is portrayed. If motion is too blurry, you'll have to increase shutter speed. That will be your shutter speed trade off.

Again, take practice shots on others before your kids come on. The great thing about digital is you can get an idea whether it'll work right away.

I'd also turn sharpening to Off or Low because this sometimes increases the noise (not an issue if you are shooting RAW).

Good luck,
Tim

Your photos are great!
I guess I just don't know enough to use your advice.
I've figured out the custom white balance. I can set the shutter to 1/400. Then I should set the ISO to match the f-stop? I don't think I understand. Are you using a flash? I was told we can't use them during competition. Will that make a big difference?
Thank you for all your help.

[seiswirth]

Thanks,
I have printed out your suggestions and will try them at the next testing.
Thanks again

Scott