Product Description

This attractive boxed set includes:
The Digital Photography Book (ISBN 0-321-47404-X)
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 (ISBN 0-321-52476-4)
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3 (ISBN 0-321-61765-7)

Scott Kelby, the man who changed the "digital darkroom" forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, shows which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and hundreds of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get budding photographers shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with their digital camera every time they press the shutter button.

Scott 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). Each chapter is packed with plain English tips on using flash, shooting close up photography, travel photography, shooting people, and even how to build a studio from scratch, where he demystifies the process so anyone can start taking pro-quality portraits today! Plus, he's got full chapters on his most requested topics, including loads of tips for landscape photographers, wedding photographers, and there's an entire chapter devoted to sharing some of the pro's secrets for making your photos look more professional, no matter what you're shooting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #578 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

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, and has been the #1 computer book author for five straight years.

Customer Reviews

Tips and tricks 'from a friend'
In the usual Scott Kelby style he write these books as a collection of pointers to a friend photographer. Every page in all three books are written with one pointer or tip on each page. As Scott writes in the prelude:

"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 would 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 being said, this also means that he doesn't dwell deeply within each tip or pointer explaining _why_ everything works as it does. This is for the reader to find out researching the topic further in other reference books.
Surprisingly to me, this works very well! I thoroughly enjoyed reading these books and I would say that I have become a much better photographer reading through all the tips.

Book one is quite general in topic, spanning from how to create really sharp photos to a description of wedding photography. This book is, according to me, a must have in every digital photographers bookshelf. This book is also clearly aimed at beginner photographers.

Coming to book 2 and 3 they differ a bit, especially of how they are written. These books also have the 'pointer and tip' layout, but more detailed information can be found here. Book 2 for example describe thoroughly which gear to use when using flash and how to set up your mini-studio and book three goes even further on how to shoot specific subjects.

This box set offer any digital photographer a helicopter view of how to use your digital camera in the best way to get 'professional' photos. Primarily these books - as all Scott Kelby books - offer small insights of what to think about when shooting digital photos. Kelby also does this with a huge amount of humor, making all his books a joy to read.

Great book format ... but
I have rated this book set at 3 stars. If you tear out the first seven pages of volume 1 without reading them, it becomes a 4 star set. If you then hand someone a thick black Sharpie and have them read them for you, blacking out all the nonsense, sarcasm and irrelevant sentences, you will have a 4.5 star set of books for your photography library.

The author starts out in those first seven pages by trying to convince the reader that the books he/she is about to read were written by a socially challenged ten year old. He then has three volumes to try to climb out of this hole and just when he appears to be succeeding, he manages to slide back in. Had I been reading this online, I would have aborted the effort by page 3. Given the long list of acknowledgements, it is surprising that none of these people have been able to convince the author that he is neither funny nor witty. Isn't that the publisher's job? Hint: When you feel the need to apologize for your wit or tell the reader where the funny parts are...

If you can get past this nonsense, this three volume set is an excellent reference for those of us who don't take pictures professionally (i.e. daily). Each page has a picture and text demonstrating a specific point, categorized into chapters by subject (wedding, travel, portrait, etc.). This makes it easy to read the first time, and provides a quick refresher on a specific subject you are about to photograph. The author focuses on quick glimpses of what to do when presented with a situation without the supporting explanation of why you want to do it that way. Scientists may find this approach disturbing (lack of proofs), but it has its value. It does make the quick review process just that.

Good info for DSLR Beginners
These books are aimed a novice DSLR users. If you've done much photography or read up on the subject, you won't find much real new material in here. Fortunately, Scott Kelby avoids the traps of getting bogged down in the operational specifics of the equipment he is discussing (this is not a rehash of the Owners Guide). The books are to the point, light hearted and fun (with lots of the usual Kelby humor).