Smile!
I got a new toy for Father’s Day. A camera, to be exact. And it seems to
have as many bells and whistles as, oh, say, the space shuttle. I know how to operate a simple
point and shoot digital camera, but I have long-wanted an SLR to play around with photography a
bit more. The only problem is that I know next to nothing about Digital SLR photography. All
I know is I want some awesome pictures.
So I’ve been collecting books on how to use my new toy for the last month and I actually
sorta kinda feel like I’ve got a handle on how to use it now. Here are the three books that
have helped me the most.
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Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies
by David D. Busch
The Dummies Series has been around for a long time and offers simple, smart help for
just about everything in your life and their guide to digital SLRs is no exception. It
assumes you know nothing about digital pictures and explains everything in terms that
are easy to understand and make sense. Lots of photos and diagrams to help you
understand your new camera.
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Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS Rebel XSi EOS 450D
by Michael Guncheon
This guide is for the exact camera I was given, but Magic Lantern produces guides for
every camera on the market. These books are like the instruction books that come with
the product, only better written and easier to understand. It breaks down the camera
and all of its functions and explains the proper way to get different kinds of
photographs. And it fits in your camera bag, so you can take it with you for when you
need a quick reminder.
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KODAK Guide to Digital Photography by Rob Sheppard
This book contains some of the same information that the above two contain, but it
offers plenty more on how to take specific kinds of photos. Action shots, portraits,
children, nature. Pretty much covers the entire spectrum on what you might shoot and
then offers suggestions in terms of lighting, shutter speed, aperture and other
techniques as to how to best turn out the best shots. I find a lot of the terms
confusing because they are new and this book does the best job at breaking them down
into simple, explainable terms and techniques that I can refer to when I want to take a
particular kind of shot.
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Now hold it right there and say "Cheese!" |