Digital Photography Quicksteps 2nd Edition [BOOK REVIEW]

Digital Photography Quicksteps scores because of its layout: landscape rather than the usual portrait format — and it sure suits the instructional layout.

Some may feel there is no room for another book for digital camera newbies. Admittedly, there is a flood of how to books on the subject but as the number of ‘digi-devotees’ increases and the technology moves (appropriately) at the speed of light I figure there’s a need for tutorials that can keep people wise to the changes.

The author Doug Sahlin accepts this and in the second edition of this book moves to cover the lifts in camera resolution, larger file sizes and necessary memory card capacity as well as the “almost nonexistent” shutter lag in current cameras.

Overall, the essentials remain the same: you still need to understand the role of the various metering modes; lens apertures and shutter speeds; the traps in ISO selection; using flash successfully; the benefits of RAW format and much more. The book will win also many friends by its down to earth approach, lavish use of large full colour illustrations.

In recognition of the role software plays in the whole business the book is to be commended in its use of 90 plus pages on imaging software basing its instruction on the widely used Photoshop Elements and not fully-blown Photoshop.

There are some useful pages on creating images for Web use and how to make your own slide shows. Some may be disappointed to find there are only 2-3 pages allocated to printing images.

In spite of this, the book can be recommended for use by beginners — and the price is attractive.

• Author: D Sahlin.
• Publisher/Distributor: McGraw Hill.
• ISBN 978 0 07 148298 1.
• Price: Digital Photography Quicksteps is currently available new on Amazon for $11.55 (32% off).