Need book reccommendations

[gevans]

Hi everyone!

I love photography and am on a mission to be a self taught photographer. I wanted to know if there is some really good reading out there (books or online) where I can learn and understand the really important basics of photography---light meters, f-stops, shutter speeds, ISOs, etc. Easy-to-understand reading would be a plus

Thanks for your help!
Gale

[brian.austin]

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is widely regarded as an excellent first book on photography.

[gevans]

Thanks, Brian! Great work, by the way...the babies on your site are too cute.

[Onetallmama]

That book is fantastic! It was ordered along with my camera. Very good resource.

[kimapali]

I read The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby, The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography by Jim Miotke, and I'm slowly chipping away at Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively, both by Bryan Peterson. Lots and lots of reading, but it's all good!

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by kimapali

... and I'm slowly chipping away at Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively, both by Bryan Peterson. Lots and lots of reading, but it's all good!

Anything by Bryan Peterson is good. His portraits book is excellent, too.

For REALLY basic stuff, broken down into "lessons", Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography is pretty good, too.

[AlexisG]

Light Science and Magic by Fil Hunter and Paul Fuqua is a good book to read if you want to understand the principals of light and how light works. It's more than just a how to book - more like a textbook. I found it very informative.

[gevans]

I'm gonna see if I can preview any of these in Google books...thanks!


On another note, has anyone read any of Matthew Jordan Smith's books?

[infocusstudio]

I have a great book recommendation for you. Studio Lighting Made Simple by Scott Smith. This book is super.Scott covers everything in simple easy to understand (the hardest part of learning was F stops. Larger f number, smaller apature, small F number, larger apature! It was like a foreign language to begin with). You can go online to Scott's web LightingMagic.com. There's a ton of information on the site. You can e-mail Scott and he will contact you by e-mail or phone. I took the course with NYInstitute of Photography but it didn't hold a candle to Scott's books. When I began, I used a doll in the studio and shots LOTS of film. I know the lab thought I must have a doll fedish.