Book suggestions...

[Nyreth]

Do any of ya'll have a favorite book or books on techniques you would recommend to a beginner?

[Trevor Ash]

I recommend going to a local book store and reading all the instruction books on the shelf. Then purchase the ones you think are the most interesting

Any books on the technical aspects of cameras (how they work), Light (how light works), Composition (the rule and why's of the rules) would be the best place to start.

I would ignore for the moment any books that focus on specific subject matter like portraits, landscapes, etc.

[kernix]

I have two suggestions - what kind of camera do you have? If you have a popular SLR, but a Magic Lantern guide to learn how to use THAT camera and for some insight into how to shoot in general. Composition is key - I highly recommend "Photographic Composition" by Tom Grill and Mark Scanlon.

[WesternGuy]

Nyreth, it depends what type of book(s) you are looking for. If you want one that covers digital photography from start to almost the end, then Digital Photography for Dummies is one I would strongly recommend. There are also variations on this one that attempt to cover all aspects of digital photography.

After that, you basically have two major types of books: those that specialize on a type of photography, e.g., landscape, wildlife, macro, portrait, etc, and those that empahasize the more technical aspect of photography: exposure, composition, etc. You should know that there are literally dozens of books on any of these various topics and for me to recommend one or more to you I need to know what aspect of photography you are interested in reading about. If you can give us some more information, then perhaps people can recommend more specific reading for you. :thumbsup:

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Nyreth]

Thanks for the feedback guys!
I don't have my camera yet. But it's more than likely going to be an Olympus E-something. Either the E-420, 510, 520 or I may decide to save up some more money and jump for the 620. I am facinated with the E-P1 but it's just too much and I want a viewfinder. I'm going to play with a friend's Canon XTi today just to make sure I don't want a Rebel.
First I need just a general overview on the technical aspects first. I'll worry about fine tuning a certain type of photography later. I suspect I am going to be taking pictures of a little bit of everything.

[JamesV]

A few books that have been mentioned here before. You should be able to find at Borders or Barnes & Noble to read and see if these are something that might help.

Author, Bryan F. Peterson
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-...032358-4438419
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-...032358-4438419

Author, Scott Kelby
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photog...ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photog...d_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photog...ref=pd_sim_b_6

Author, John Hegecoe
http://www.amazon.com/New-Manual-Pho...8182683&sr=1-1

Author, Freeman Patterson
http://www.amazon.com/Photography-Ar...8182770&sr=1-1

I have the first two Scott Kelby books and one Bryan F. Peterson

Hope this helps,
James

[Nyreth]

Thanks for the suggestions James! Actually it's really funny, my best friend is in town this week and she gave me the first of those Scott Kelby books yesterday as an early birthday present. I've thumbed through it a little and I really like it so far. I like that the author has a good sense of humor that seems to come through in his writing. The reading is a lot less dry than I feared it would be with this type of book.
I still want to find another couple books to supplement it. I'm kind of a bookaholic and I don't think it's possible to have too many. Thanks for the links and to everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

[JamesV]

No problem.

That was the reason that I also purchased his first 2 books and will his third when it is released.

Good luck and have fun.

James