Quick eBook Review: How to Take Great Photos!

Quick eBook Review: How to Take Great Photos!

on Dec 1st 2010 with 8 comments

Today saw the announcement of a new book from Rockable Press and Envato entitled, How to Take Great Photos! (with whatever camera you got). Written by freelance photographer Peter Tellone, the book aims to do exactly what it says on the cover, help beginners make a start in the world of digital photography regardless of the camera they own.

Today we’re going to offer a quick review of the book, and showcase what you’ll find inside.

Book Overview

The book carefully guides the reader through the basics of digital photography, with the focus being firmly upon the photographer and their technique, helping them to get the best out of whichever camera they are using, catering for different types of digital cameras (e.g. point and shoot compacts, hybrid cameras and DSLR’s).

photography beginners book

Each chapter carefully introduces key aspects of photography, working through the basics of light, exposure, ISO, shutter speed and composition using easy to understand bullet points and excellent photographic examples. Through the chapters, you’re gradually introduced to camera shooting modes, types of lenses, the use of flash, and editing, before closing with a very useful chapters on printing and sharing your photographs.

Throughout the book are enlightening tips on how to use these new techniques in creative and artistic ways to help enhance your shots and put your new skills to best use. There are also great little ‘Tech Term’ balloons in each chapter that explain terms and phrases that might be new to the reader or need a bit of clarity.

Stop Taking Snapshot, Start Taking Photographs

One of my favourite sections of the book is the opening challenge to the reader in how they approach photography, which Peter labels as “Stop Taking Snapshots, Start Taking Photographs”. He wants the photographer to take time to think about not only how they use their camera in a practical sense, but also to consider what they are capturing, the subject matter and the creative element involved.

He continues this into chapter three, discussing a photographer’s vision and developing an eye for light and composition, giving practical tips on how to move on from taking snapshots and start taking photographs!

photography beginners book

It is evident that Peter Tellone is a professional who has a great breadth of knowledge and experience at his disposal, and it is to his testament that he has written a book so readily approachable for those just starting out in the world of photography.

photography beginners book

Conclusion

The most crucial thing to understand about this book is that it’s for beginners—people picking up a camera for the first time, looking to understand how it works and wanting to make a start in photography. If that’s you, then this is a very sensible purchase, and a great introduction into the world of photography.

photography beginners book

If you’ve already mastered the settings on your camera and are beginning to understand concepts such as composition and light, then you’re probably best off looking for something slightly more advanced.

If you’d like to buy a copy, you can order one through eJunkie for $19

Full Disclosure: Obviously, this book is published by Envato™, the same company that runs the Tuts+ network. This review is our honest opinion of the book, and we think it’s a fantastic introduction to photography for beginners!

 
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Simon Bray is a freelance photographer from Manchester, UK. He recently graduated from studying for a degree in Music at Manchester University, where he won Manchester Student Photographer of the Year. He previously worked at Manchester Photographic, a gallery and photographic school in the centre of the city, sharing his passion for photography alongside professionals and beginners and is now pursuing freelance photography work.  

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  • ed

    no way!
    there’s lots of photography books already – all from PRO photographers!!!

    envato should have concentrated on web related technologies, maybe mobile and tablet design & development books are very few.

    :(

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard
      Staff

      This is another great choice though, from someone I’d certainly consider as a seasoned professional. Peter has written some fantastic articles for this site, and having a complete introduction to photography in a concise book format is pretty handy!

      • Michael Owens

        I agree, but – with so many sites offering the same advice for free, the price of $9/£6 is a bit steep.

    • http://www.danielsone.com Daniel S.

      I support David in the decision to have this photographer provide a beginner’s guide. I went through Tellone’s online portfolio and he has the technical skills and vision to authoritatively write on the matter.

      Tellone’s artistic forte is landscape and scenery. His HDR is — how to put it gently — yummy. Unlike a lot of HDR I’ve seen, which usually looks like an acid trip, his is on the money — subtle and to the definition.

      His portrait work drops off, but that is only in comparison with his landscape. Alone, it’s pretty good. Each photographer has their strengths and weaknesses. Smart/Good clients, editors, and A.D. know this and will choose accordingly.

      On one hand, there are countless beginner’s guides out there. On the other hand, there are countless beginner’s guides out there. Tellone’s will be another one of them through another publisher. His approach to the same situation or his educational tone is going to be different from another author.

      Also, the phrase “freelance photographer” doesn’t imply that they’re not a professional or professionally skilled. Being freelance is just one’s chosen method of contracting oneself for work.
      I’m a freelance photographer. So is Joe McNally, James Nachtwey … the list of masterful freelancers is LONG.

  • http://prodigalconcepts.com/ rod rodriguez

    For me, I think Envato has been consistently bringing us educational materials may it be Web technology, design, coding or Photography and I’m sure they hand picked the author of this book and a lot of experience comes with it.

  • ed

    i know he is a pro also and i just visited his site and i liked his shots.

    what i mean is there is too much of photography books already – from pros, experts, name it.
    i mean if you search amazon for photography books – there are hundreds of results already.
    i got at least 3 photography books already – and it’s the same. :(

    what’s “in” now is apps dev’t.

    i hope envato comes up with a “rocking” app dev book.

    mods can delete my comments here. i just want to share what i think and mean no offense.

    i love envato sites, we actually bought rockstar wordpress book.
    we are waiting for the mobile web dev’t or app dev’t books. (when do you make one?)

    • http://rockablepress.com Rockable Press

      Thanks everyone for their comments and feedback!

      Rockable aims to create books for all in the web, media and creative industry – even if they’re just beginners or enthusiasts – there’s room for all types and topics.

      This book aims to provide those who are NOT photographers with a simple, straight-forward book covering the basics of photography. Writing a book of any kind is no easy task, and Peter Tellone did a great job!

      We’re working hard to keep pumping out the titles, and we hope to release another book about app development next year, but in the meantime, if you haven’t seen David Appleyard’s book called “iPhone App Entrepreneur” yet, then definitely check it out. (http://rockablepress.com/books/iphone-app-entrepreneur/)

      Thanks again everyone!

      -Naysan

  • Dario Mendoza

    I wanted to do a beginners point-of-view review about this book, so I bought it as a gift for my younger brother who has no experience at all and always used his camera in auto (he currently owns a DSC W350). During the weekend he was taking some pictures and even he could notice some improvement, mainly in composition (beginners tend to take pictures of objects by putting them in the exact middle of the photo).

    Then I starting reading some parts of the book and was quite pleased to find explanations about the different settings of the camera and how they work, even though a lot of people say there are tons of books with this, but also at the last chapters there are also some advices of how to improve the result of your photos using software and some tips on how to print them. Personally I find it very nice to find all of this info in the same book.

    You can see its index by downloading the sample content.

    Overall I’m pleased with this book, I recommend it for beginners or as a gift for people who wants to introduce themselves into the world of photography, and it’s quite cheap too!