Comments on: Complete Digital Photography by Ben Long – Book Review

By: Teri-Sue Thompson

Teri-Sue Thompson — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:29:12 +0000

Just read your review on Ben Long’s “Complete Digital Photography.” I’m in the middle of the 3rd Edition now (recently ordered it “used,” not realizing it was an earlier revision at the time). I was delighted to find it so helpful to me (so much more so than other widely-known books I’ve been reading in this genre) that I returned to Amazon site to order the newer version … and … discovered that his BRAND NEW 5TH Edition is to be released September 10, 2009. I, too, suggest to anyone who is looking for a comprehensive treatment of digital photography … jump on this one! :-)

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By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:19:40 +0000

Thanks for the tip. I need some new reference material since my digital skills need some work. All my shots that have any motion never work out.

By: Thomas RenÃ© Sidor

Thomas RenÃ© Sidor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:31:10 +0000

Matthew – I agree; it’s hard to teach creativity or the ability to pay attention to detail through reading. It really depends on experience and your thinking I guess, but hopefully some key techniques and insights can be made from reading about composition, color theory, lighting, etc.

Thanks a lot for the recommendations – I’ll definitely have a look at some of Michael Freeman’s work (especially the one on color and light and lighting) and “Learning to See Creatively” from Bryan Peterson.

By: Al Jurina

Al Jurina — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:38:27 +0000

Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson is an excellent read for someone who feels confident with the mechanics, but wants to understand how to approach photography from an artistic and creative perspective. Its a little dated, but the principles are excellent. Bryan is also the author of Understanding Exposure, so you can be assured that his stuff is pretty credible if you liked that one.

By: Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:36:18 +0000

Thomas — I think I’d characterize what you’re asking for as “beyond basic”, not necessarily “beyond intermediate”. I don’t think any book is really going to take you beyond intermediate. (And I say that with all humility as a very intermediate photographer myself.)

I really recommend Michael Freeman’s books on photography from Lark Books. He has a “Complete Guide” book, but the various “Mastering ____ Photography” books are the better ones as they go into more detail. I particularly recommend “Mastering Color Digital Photography”, which I found very insightful and helpful. It covers everything from the practicalities of colors paces and theory of color to psychology, culture and meaning of various colors.

My only complaint is editorial — there are more editing errors than one would like, and there’s a strange tendency for the really meaty information to be in the fine-print (and long) captions on the pictures rather than in the main text.

By: Richard B

Richard B — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:14:08 +0000

I’ll add my recommendation to this fourth edition of Complete Digital Photography. I just got it this week and have already seen some real improvements in my digital photography. I really like the way that the author explains concepts using the film camera language. Very worthwhile book – nice review.

By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:30:31 +0000

Thomas – I think this book might suit your needs. It is certainly heavier (not only in actual weight) than the other books.

By: Bessy

Bessy — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:26:50 +0000

when you reviewed understanding exposure I almost left a comment that I thought this one was better. I have had a copy of both the first and third updated version – #4 sounds great!

Interesting review.

I’m seeing a lot of books for the beginner and intermediate photographers in here, and as I am such, I’ve bought Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson and The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby upon recommendations from various posts here at DPS.

Those are both great books and Iâ€™ve enjoyed them a lot, but now Iâ€™m beginning to convince myself that Iâ€™m moving beyond the intermediate level â€“ I know how aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity affects my photography and all that â€“ and thus I would like something more in depth.

I would love to read about composition, the technical nitty-gritty of optics â€“ why does the DOF get smaller when using larger apertures, exactly what do 70-200mm mean, etc. â€“ color theory, etc.

Can anyone recommend some reading that covers these â€œbeyond intermediateâ€ subjects?