Barbara London

The basics have of photography have not changed because we have all gone digital - composition, exposure, light, and seeing creatively are constant in a technologically changing landscape. If you were to take Photography 101 at many schools Photography by Barbara London, Jim Stone and John Upton is the required text for good reason. That said, it is not dry and academic. Subjects are presented in bite-sized 4-ish page chunks. The first time I read it I did not race through it. I read one show more subject at a time, digested it for some time and often went back and read it again. I leaned more about seeing and appreciating light itself from about 10 pages in this book then I have got from any other book, lesson or interview. If I want to review something technical this is the book I still go back to.

My copy is old and pre-digital (it's now in it's 9th edition I think). It is expensive new (probably over-priced) but you can pick up a previous edition for much less than the latest version if you don't want to spend $100. As I said, the fundamentals have not changed from film to digital. This book does not just hand out superficial information. This is not a book you can just flip through with the TV on in the background. It requires concentration as it does take time and effort to read but it is worth it. show less

This is a textbook so it has fairly shallow coverage of many topics related to photography. Having picked up photography in bits and pieces throughout the last few years, some parts were really useful and other parts more review. You could probably get a lot of the same information without reading a full textbook, but if you enjoy reading textbooks, getting the wide perspective this book gives is useful.

The one thing I have mixed feelings about is that, since this is an older edition of this show more text, it covered both digital and film photography. The sections on film photography were interesting, but I mostly skimmed them because, realistically, I'm never actually going to do it. show less

It's amazing the revolution in photography in the last 15 years. This is one of the best textbooks on the subject and is used as the basis for teaching in colleges and institutes across the country; and in 1998 there was only a single chapter about digital photography. What's fascinating is that the principles and practices espoused in this book are still so relevant despite the major shift in the technology. I think this might be changing, though, as an entirely new aesthetic is starting to show more emerge based on the unique properties of digital. show less

I've borrowed and bought a number of photography books in my lifetime but this book, recommended by my photography instructor, is hands-down the best reference available on the subject. It has excellent and easy to read chapters with plenty of supporting photos and illustrations to help demystify the technical aspects of photography. Particularly useful are the chapters on exposure and processing.

Naturally, when I find a good book I like to purchase it. I did so with this title. My only show more complaint is that it had a hefty - and I do mean HEFTY - price tag brand new!! I had to settle for a gently used copy that was still a bit on the high side. But it was well worth the investment, for people like me who want to learn more about photography. show less