Digital Photography Essentials: A Practical and Inspiring Guide That Will Take You from Beginner to Confident, C

by Tom Ang

In the fast changing world of digital photography, no other partnership has been as successful at keeping up with current trends and developments as DK and Tom Ang. In his new book, Digital Photography Essentials , DK's richly illustrative design and Tom's clear writing and direction blend together to produce a strong combination of practical instruction with visual inspiration. Providing a strong combination of practical instruction with visual inspiration, Digital Photography Essentials , covers the basics of photography, different ways to approach a subject, how to develop projects, and image manipulation. With its fresh, contemporary design, beautiful images, and jargon free, yet highly practical text, Digital Photography Essentials , is a practical and inspiring book that will take beginners to confident, creative photographers.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Reference

360 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2011

About the author

Photographer, author, traveler and academic. An early pioneer in digital photography, I have written over 30 books on photography as well as on video. This work was recognised by the award of the HIPA Content Producer Award in 2019. I also won the Thomas Cook award for best Illustrated Travel Book for my coverage of the Marco Polo Expedition.

I was senior lecturer in photographic practice at the University of Westminster for over 12 years (1991–2004) and created the MA Photographic Journalism course. For over 10 years I photographed in Central Asia, traveling in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. I led a Know How Fund project that helped equip a radio studio for radio students and which reformed the journalism curriculum for the Kyrgyz Russian Slavonic University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

I have written over thirty books on photography and video including Digital Photography Masterclass (now 3rd edition), Fundamentals of Photography,Tao of Photography, Digital Photographer’s Handbook (now 7th edition), Picture Editing (2nd edition), Eyewitness Companion: Photography, and Digital Video Handbook, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything.

I presented the BBC series ‘A Digital Picture of Britain’, first transmitted in 2005 on BBC4. A second series, entitled 'Britain in Pictures' was transmitted in 2007. I also presented an 8-part TV series for CNA (Channel News Asia) in Singapore which was broadcast in August 2009. This took a Bronze at the New York Film and TV Festival the following year.

I have served on juries of Hamdan International Photography Award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, World Photography Award, Czech Press Photo.

I am a Sony NZ Digital Imaging Ambassador.

Reviews

[Brittany McCann · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I am trying to hone my craft, I have read a few photography books every month to find anything that can help me do and be better at photography in general and editing.

This book couldn't decide if it was for beginners or advanced users. Parts of it would break things down to the point that it became tedious to read. I liked that it was laid out in color-coated sections, but I truly didn't get all of the "google this" parts that then listed items for the reader to Google. Should the reader learn from your book or not waste their time and just google the crap out of photographers and buzzwords? Some of the items were "hanging pictures, delicious" I was sitting there thinking, what in the crap kind of search terms are these?

However, my biggest complaint was that most of the photos trying to show how a picture looks on different settings were 1: not a good photo to begin with and 2. pictures of different things that couldn't possibly show the relation between ISO or exposures...

In fact, many of the pictures seemed very low-grade and not something that someone would want to duplicate. This confused me because Tom Ang IS a brilliant photographer, so why were these photos used? He does excellent work; these examples could have been taken mainly by my 5-year-old son.

I loved the theory of a lousy photo example and telling the reader of the problem in the photo and then listing some solutions, but the actual delivery of it fell flat.

I dropped this book from a 3 to a 2-star rating while writing the review as I realized everything that bothered me about this book. Come on, Tom Ang, you can do better. Don't just ride on the shirttails of your success.....

[Edward Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the best book I've ever read on photography and all of its aspects. This edition was printed in 2011. Were there to be a revised edition, I'd claim this book to be perfect.

[Kelvin Poon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very basic

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

How-to books about photography are not exactly a rare species (and I will not pretend to have read even a fraction of the available options), but I believe Tom Ang's work speaks for itself among a horde of competitors. Comprehensive, informative and beautifully-presented, Digital Photography Essentials offers exactly what its title suggests: essential information for composing, shooting, editing and managing digital images. The beginner will find examples, definitions and explanations of key terms; the more experienced photographer will find new tips and expert advice as well.

Digital Photography Essentials is a book that really benefits from its large format and glossy pages, the kind of thing that publisher Dorling Kindersley is so well-known for in the youth market. The book's organization is straightforward and flows naturally from concept to concept, while the images themselves, taken by Ang and his wife Wendy, are uniformly clear, workmanlike and illustrative of the topics presented.

This is not just a rewrite of an older book on film photography, either; it seems written from the ground up as a handbook on digital techniques, and very little of it has gone stale as yet. That's partly because it's a very new book anyway (its first American edition was printed just this month—June, 2011), but also due to its focus on techniques rather than (for the most part, anyway) on specific software, services and devices. I was especially taken with the photography exercises ("Briefs"), which come in sidebars to most of the chapters; each one includes a setup and specific suggestions about technique, as well as some "Go Google" search terms for additional research.

There are some bits that are probably not going to survive for long—an extensive list of websites in the back, organized by topic, is probably already out of date—but in general I think this book is relevant to photographers, and is likely to remain so for quite some time.

[Larraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've become a fan of Tom Ang's books. This one is particularly well-named. It is a book that is packed with so much information, it can be dizzying. Still, I'm glad I didn't read this one first. I'm not sure this book is for the absolute beginner. Still, I did learn a lot. The book covers a wide range - from "Quick Start" to "Making Movies." The section about "Manipulating Images" can be confusing to a beginner who doesn't have the basic knowledge about a program like Photoshop Elements. Still, it's a great book for someone who is, if not absolutely new to digital photography, is still trying to grasp the essentials. I like his common sense approach to things like lenses, for instance. He made it a lot easier to understand the basic differences in lenses than anything I had read when I was just starting out. This is a serious book for the serious amateur. I borrowed this one from the library. However, I'm thinking very seriously about adding it to my collection.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love photography and a few years ago, my husband bought a DSLR camera for my birthday gift. I am constantly reading magazines and books to look for inspiration and guidance in digital photography. My daughter purchased two Tom Ang books for me for Christmas one year and I love them. He gives great examples and practical, easy-to-read advice.

Then I saw this book in the library. I LOVE it. I think I need to own it! Not only does he address composition, light, camera mechanics and processing; but, he provides advice on problems encountered and possible causes and each chapter has an addendum with additional topics/professionals/examples to "go google" for supportive references. Very cool! It was impossible to explore everything offered in this book during the 3 weeks borrowed from the library. This book would make a wonderful reference gift for any novice or experienced photographer. Highly recommend.

[Brian Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a relative beginner in digital photography, having taken a couple of courses and been working at it for about a year. I've seen some books that claim to explain digital photography, but are really updated film photography books. Tom Ang's book is the real deal: it provides a relatively easy-to-follow introduction to the key concepts in digital imaging, then proceeds with two comprehensive chapters on photo-technique and applying techniques for particular subjects. After that, it switches to post-processing, covering workflow, image enhancement and manipulation, not just explaining how to do it but WHY. I really liked his inclusion of mini-tutorials, illustrated step-by-step instructions, and periodic deconstruction of selected images where he shows what he was trying to accomplish in working with the image. Lots a helpful, practical, and current advice. And of course, the book itself, is well designed and beautifully illustrated. Highly recommended.

[AJ Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really informative book on digital photography, running the gamut from how to take photos of all sorts of things, to photo editing, movie making, and hardware and software. A really great book, with tons of examples and explanations on how to achieve the results you want in photography.

I'm not sure it is the best for the very beginner, camera right out of the box photographer. However, once you learn a little about terminology, this is a great book for learning about taking and editing your photos.

The author uses tons of examples on every page, and goes over common mistakes and how to correct them, and even gives readers phot challenges every few pages to give you a mission in getting better in certain aspects of photography.

I recommend it!

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great -- that sums it up.
Clearly written along with informative illustrations and photographs.

[Laura Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, masterfully laid out, and well-written. This is an exceptional guide to all things digital photography for the serious hobbyist photographer.