Mac Computer
A Few Book Recommendations
September 25, 2008 08:00 AM
QUESTION: I am looking for a book that addresses how to take and edit digital pictures. I don’t know an f-stop from a truck stop...lighting, ISO settings, and just looking at a camera with a dozen various adjustments is very intimidating. -Kenny
ANSWER: For a general photography book, I recommend "The Digital Photography Book Volume 2" by Scott Kelby. I reviewed it on my website earlier this year. It's a very good book, plus it's one of the cheapest at $16.49 at Amazon. Make sure you get Volume 2. It is the new one.
If you're using a Mac, I would recommend iPhoto (free) and then Adobe Elements 6 for Mac for at $79. You can check out my review of Elements. It's the best deal when it come to photo software. It includes a Raw image converter if you need it, Adobe Bridge for organizing and Elements for photo editing.
iPhoto does a fine job with most stuff if you're a Mac user. If you have a PC, you can get Elements 6 for PC but you could wait for Elements 7 for PC which should be out soon. They always take longer to get the Mac versions out.
Again, I would go with another Scott Kelby book for "Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers" or the "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book" if you have Photoshop.
If you want to stick with iPhoto, which is a fine choice for most needs, I would highly encourage you to get either “iPhoto 08 Visual QuickStart Guide” by Adam Engst or “iPhoto 08 The Missing Manual” by David Pogue and Derrick Story. Both are excellent references and will help you get the most out of iPhoto 08. The Pogue/Story "Missing Manual" is more expensive but has more information. -RL
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