Continuing  the series’ trademark “Pro over your shoulder” style, Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book Volume 3 picks up right where volume 2 left off (flash photography), offering beginners and enthusiasts a hefty dose of solid tips, tricks and equipment advice all in Kelby’s affable, and on occasion, corny style. Substantially more focused on the more practical and behind the scenes aspects of photography, volume 3 lacks the first two volumes ample “set your camera to “X” for a perfect sunset” type tips, but it still offers a good deal of value, especially if we assume you’ve already adapted what you’ve learned in the first 2 books. There are chapters covering flash photography, improving your studio, choosing lenses, followed by a series of chapters on shooting product, outdoors, people, and sports. The last section of the book is a bit like walking in a pro’s shoes with tips on getting better photos, avoiding photography related problems, and finally a chapter of “recipes” for getting number of different shots. All of this is accomplished with just the right amount of brevity, and readers can be assured that there won’t be any moments of “eyes glazing over” technical talk. Mind you, if there’s fault to be had with volume 3 (or any volume in the series) it would be there is no technical or camera theory discussed, but that isn’t the point of the books, so readers looking for in-depth technical explanations will need to look elsewhere. Instead Kelby is skilled at speaking to the layman in ways that allow the information to sit on top of the brain, where it’s likely to be used. Indeed, even though I’m not a total beginner, and pretty knowledgeable about most things related to photography, I find this series offers a certain level of clarity to things I already know, and of course it’s always interesting to know “what the Pros do”, even if you might already be doing it. Finally, another real benefit is Kelby’s willingness to tell you exactly what to buy. Peppered throughout the book, you can see what Kelby uses himself, whether it be his camera system, studio set up, or lighting equipment, and he’s good about remembering we aren’t all authors of best-selling photography books, which means you’ll frequently be presented with affordable alternatives to equipment purchases, and cost-saving advice.

While clearly intended (and labeled) for beginners, I “Highly Recommend” Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book Vol. 3, but only if you’ve already got the first 2. It’s an easy, yet informative read that will have you taking better pictures while providing a good handle on some distinctly more complicated and sophisticated photography. If you’re looking for technical know how, or are entirely uninterested in flash, studio, and product photography, you might consider passing on this one, as those topics cover about a third of the book. But for eager beginners, curious enthusiasts, and yes even adept photographers, you’re likely to enjoy this book.

Get The Book

• The Digital Photography Book Volume 3 by Scott Kelby, at Amazon for $13.49

Also consider getting the first two volumes, both excellent.

• The Digital Photography Book Volume 2 by Scott Kelby, at Amazon for $16.49
• The Digital Photography Book Volume 1  by Scott Kelby, at Amazon for $16.49

Harald Mante has a new book out titled “Photography Unplugged” from publisher Rocky Nook. The book is intended as both a catalog of Mante’s work and as an example of working in an unedited, untouched way, more “natural” way. From the book’s description:

© Harald Mante

Harald Mante is regarded as one of the outstanding contemporary photographers in Germany. He started out as a travel photographer whose work was published in numerous magazines and books and later taught photography in the tradition of the Bauhaus school of design, applying image and color composition concepts to photography.

This book is meant to present the wealth of Mante’s photographic work and at the same time to advocate a pure, straight approach to photography, untouched by digital image editing tools — uncropped and unmodified captures of scenes as seen through the viewfinder.

Photography Unplugged is meant to sound a voice which is singing to a slightly different tune than the digital photography choir.

Harald Mante’s photographs, all captured on Kodachrome’s legendary slide films, will inspire beginners and expert photographers alike, and will reveal the beauty and magic of masterfully composed photography.

Of course I put “natural” in quotes, because I don’t necessarily agree with this approach. Not to say it isn’t a valid one, it certainly is, but it seems to me that there’s nothing “natural” about the photographic process, and simply stopping the series of artistic decisions or lack of at the point of capture seems somewhat contrived to me. If you’re going to do “something”, then why not do “something” else too?

Of course the book isn’t just a philosophy pounded into your head, it’s also chock full of Mante’s work, which true to form are indeed frequently well composed.

Curious what some of the readership might think?

Resources

• Mante’s website
• Some of Mante’s portfolio

Availibility

• Harald Mante’s “Photography Unplugged”

In Store Front: The Dissappearing Face of New York, photography duo James and Karla Murray document in beautiful fashion the remainders of an era quickly being replaced by big box stores. Using 35mm, the two have captured the color, the uniqueness, and on occasion, the faces of yesterday. Looks to be a real nice book. Available at Amazon for $40.95, Store Front features over 200 photographs, some in large fold out format.

For a taste of what’s offered James and Karla Murray’s website is here.

In Mikkel Aaland’s Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure, author/photographer Aaland does a nice job of teaching readers the fundamentals of Lightroom 2. I know there’s several Lightroom guides out there, but what makes Aaland’s book interesting is the road testing of both Aaaland’s methodology and the application with a gang of photographers as well as some of the Lightroom development team in Tasmania. In effect you learn and problem solve in virtual real-time with actual photographers dealing with a myriad of different situations. Lightroom 2 Adventure would be ideal for the photographer just learning how to use Lightroom, but may not cover enough new ground for those already familiar with Lightroom. Still Aaland does thoroughly cover each of Lightroom’s module with real-world examples while saturating his excellent book with fantastic imagery. If you’re new or beginning at Lightroom, get this book.

From Amazon.

Angela Faris Belt’s new book starts with the premise that photography begins and ends with 4 priciples that constitute Belt’s grammar of photography. The 4 pieces of that puzzle include frames and borders, focus, shutter speed (time and motion), and finally materials and processes. Belt provides plenty of photographic references in the form of actual artist’s imagery to demonstrate more clearly what she means by the explored concepts, a visual text book if you will.

Mind you the focus in this book is more “artistic” photography so straight photographers might want to take a pass. Additionally, Belt works on the assumption that you already know how to use a camera, but perhaps haven’t mastered the actual functions. Suffice it to say, The Elements of Photography will help the aspiring photographer learn how achieve the results he or she intends both in-camera and in photoshop, and thanks to her 4 grammatical concepts, provide a more logical and meaningful way to improve your photography. It’s very well illustrated with plenty of portfolio examples exploring a wide range of styles, and aesthetics. If you’re creative with your photography, you’ll likely enjoy Belt’s well written, well done book.

Buy Angela Faris Belt’s The Elements of Photography: Understanding and Creating Sophisticated Images

Yep, this will be another good one. Welcome to Oz, A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop CS4 by Vincent Versace is up for pre-orders now at Amazon.

I’m guessing this will be pretty informative. I’m determined to figure out this whole strobe thing this year, and McNally is pretty good.

Preorder The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally.

Night & Low-Light Photography by Jill Waterman looks to be a really good book. Via Photoinduced:

As told from the perspective of 30 different photographers, the book is laid out in a very easy to consume format with sections on Equipment, Lighting Techniques, Weather, Night time subjects, The Color of Night, and more.
A lot of the info comes at you in a page or two, so once you’ve gone through the basic overview sections, you can flip through and perhaps see what images catch your fancy. You’ll get the advice from a pro on achieving that look, in a straightforward manner.

-Photoinduced

I’ll take all the help I can get when it comes to night shots.