I’ll admit right up front that I am not a great digital photographer, so I am always looking to take better digital photos. I can take some great shots from time to time, but there are many times I look at the pictures and think, “what did I do?” It is all part of the learning process – I learn by doing not by taking classes. If I take a bad digital photo I always like to analyze why the photo didn’t work out the way I had intended.
A few months ago I received a gift: a boxed set of digital photography books. I have owned many different digital photography books in the past, but these books were different in the way they were written. The books made digital photography, and photography in general, easier to understand to the point where I started to take more good pictures than bad ones.
Learn to Take Better Digital Photos the Easy Way
In case you were wondering, the boxed set was called: Scott Kelbys Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3. If you would like to become better at taking digital photos, I highly recommend that you purchase this set of three books. Regardless of whether you are new to digital photography, or experienced, you will find learn new as you read through these books, and then be amaze at how you have learned to take better digital photos.
The one thing that makes these books stand out is that fact that they aren’t long-winded. Each page is short, contains a photograph of the topic at the top, and a few paragraphs that explain the topic. Each page covers a single topic, and is very easy to read. Scott doesn’t go into confusing details about how to take a great photo – he just tells you how to do it. Many books would go into detail about setting the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for taking a specific photo, but Scott would just tell you what settings you should use without the extra long-winded explanation, so you learn to take better digital photos easily.
Scott also tries to add a little humour to some of the topics to keep the lessons interesting. While it isn’t over the top, it does keep you wanting to read more. At the end of each book, there are example shots that he has taken, and below each picture he explains – in step-like-form – how he took each of the shots. This allows you to understand what you need to do to take a similar photo.
Very large books have been written to help with understanding digital photography. Scott’s books, however, are just over 200 pages each. Since each page isn’t very long, it won’t take you long to read through each one. Another reason there are three books is because he covers many different subjects throughout all three books. Everything from portraits, group shots, weddings, sports photography, and photography equipment are explained through the three books.
3 Volumes That Explain how to Take Better Digital Photos
The first volume sets the stage for the next two. By starting with volume one, you begin to understand the basics of digital photography. The first chapter doesn’t go into introducing you to apertures, shutter speeds, or equipment, but rather how to get tack-sharp photos – something everyone who takes photos would probably like to learn. The chapters for the first volume are self-expanatory:
- Pro Tips for Getting Really Sharp Photos
- Shooting Flowers Like a Pro
- Shooting Weddings Like a Pro
- Shooting Landscapes Like a Pro
- Shooting Sports Like a Pro
- Shooting People Like a Pro
- Avoiding Problems Like a Pro
- Taking Advantage of Digital Like a Pro
- Taking Travel & City Life Shots Like a Pro
- How to Print Like a Pro and Other Cool Stuff
- Photo Recipes to Help You Get “The Shot”
As you can see there are many topics discussed in volume 1 alone, and set the basis for allowing you to take better digital photos. Volume 2 continues to build from that with the following chapters:
- Using Flash Like a Pro
- Building a Studio from Scratch
- Shooting Portraits Like a Pro
- Shooting Landscapes Like a Pro
- Shooting Weddings Like a Pro
- Shooting Travel Like a Pro
- Shooting Macro Like a Pro
- Pro Tips for Getting Better Photos
- More Photo Recipes to Help You Get “The Shot”
Between the first two volumes, you can easily see that there are many topics discussed – many topics that you would probably be interested in learning to help you take better digital photos. Still, there is one more volume that covers the following:
- Using Flash Like a Pro, Part 2
- Using Your Studio Like a Pro
- The Truth About Lenses
- Shooting Products Like a Pro
- Shooting Outdoors Like a Pro
- Shooting People Like a Pro
- Shooting Sports Like a Pro
- Pro Tips for Getting Better Photos
- Avoiding Problems Like a Pro
- Yet Even More Photo Recipes to Help You Get “The Shot”
While many topics may seem to be repeated throughout several of the books, each one provides even more tips to help make you a better photographer.
If you would like to take better digital photos, and you would like a straight-forward approach to doing so, I highly recommend you pickup a copy of Scott Kelbys Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 if you want to take better digital photos.