Tom Ang's Photography Tutorials Are Passionate and Artful

Digital Photography Masterclass ($21.91) and The Complete Photographer ($18.61)are two photography tutorial books that are more than just instructive they are also works of art. Done with a deep passion for sharing the techniques and art of photography they easily double as coffee table books with their inspiring and artful photos. The Complete Photographer builds on Digital Photography Masterclass.

The Masterclass is about learning to be a photographer who can capture that picture that speaks a thousand words. Its divided into 4 chapters: mastering your camera, developing your skills, the digital darkroom and advancing your photography. 20 tutorials make up these chapters which explores and teaches about controlling the camera, your part in providing a perspective, how best to process a digital image and advise about the type of photography you may be interested in from travel photography to fine art photography. Every tutorial is splashed with stunning photos, a few of which are chosen for in-depth analysis based on the tutorial. Furthermore the tutorials on photography themes include interviews of renowned photographers of that theme and also analysis of student assignments.

The Complete Photographer is about what its like being a photographer and ties it with advanced tutorial on photography themes: Portrait, Landscape, Fashion and Nude, Wildlife and Nature, Sports, Documentary, Event and Milestone, Travel, Architecture, Fine Art. The tutorials of this book revolve around 20 world renowned photographers, two for each theme. The intro to the themes include interesting vignette of history on important people and images that helped shape the theme. The images chosen for analysis nothing less than superb and the analysis is written with a professional in mind.

Both books leave no expense spared in formatting and presentation which make them versatile. You can buy it to advance your photography skills or to inspire a budding photographer of their potential. It can be a coffee table book to simply flip the pages for a break from the ordinary or as a conversation starter. They also make great gifts for all these purposes.

iphoneography PRO by Robert Morrissey

Camera phones have progressed lightyears from their early primitive predecessors on those Nokias with their small blurry screens. iPhone and Samsung now lead the way with the best possible camera they can fit on their smart phones with matching hi-res screens. The arms race that the two companies have engaged in pit the capability of their phone cameras among their main competitive feature. Just as important as the camera’s capability on the phone are apps that improve the versatility of those tiny cameras from which we have come to expect so much.

The photo and editing apps that can be downloaded to the phones greatly improve on the native camera functions and puts photo editing and special effects touchups at your finger tips. With the ability to take almost unlimited number of photos removing the requirement to download all the photos onto a computer to choose photos to keep or trash and play around with them is a big plus point of phone / pad cameras compared to point and shoots.

If you are looking to squeeze the potential out of the camera an iPhone puts in your hands iphoneography PRO by Robert Morrissey is just what you need. Not only does the book demonstrate the ability of the iPhone camera it also details a full range of accessories and apps you can choose for the iPhone that you would otherwise not know of and will probably have to spend a lot of time to ferret out and decide on. iphoneography PRO takes you through the entire learning curve of taking photos, editing them if you want and post production.

 

Lens add ons and lighting are main hardware accessories available for iPhones. 

This book doesn’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to the iPhone camera with chapters ranging from taking food photos to photos for your ebay auction items to selfies and portraits. From philosophy to app and accessory reviews this guide will help you take photos on your iPhone like a pro. You will also find out the limitations of the camera and why it cannot be a DSLR though it can still be used to create out of this world photos for  casual snapshots to commercial images. It has many example shots and how it was taken and manipulated with apps that are useful tutorials. iphoneography PRO was first published in 2015 so the information is up to date.

The Minimalist Photographer by Steve Johnson

I’ve been playing around with cameras since I was a kid–the days when you could only see what actually came through the shutter after a few days. It wasn’t a cheap hobby because you had to pay for even the junk photos. Through trial and error I learnt that simple point and shoot cameras could take just as nice photos as more sophisticated SLRs however then as now nobody takes handy point and shoot cameras seriously. To look like a serious photographer you just gotta have a wide camera strap on your collar connected to a DSLR. Running around with a point and shoot just doesn’t cut the right image as a photographer.

As a result there are rarely books on photography that are centred on point and shoot cameras. That’s why this work by Steve Johnson, The Minimalist Photographer is precious. Steve Johnson is a professional photographer and his advise to budding photographers–even successful pro photographers use point and shoots. Using a point and shoot camera is the best way to learn about the fundamentals of photography because you learn to work with and around limits. The Minimalist Photographer is a must read for anyone who would like to make the best of their camera even a camera phone. Steve Johnson advises that the most important other equipment you need to have with a point and shoot is a cheap tripod and he reminds us not to be tempted into getting expensive tripods since point and shoots are very light.

Here is an excerpt from the book that summarises Steve’s reasoning of the importance of minimalism in equipment to a beginner photographer: “Until the point and shoot is mastered the photographer should stick with it and only look to move on when he or she has developed a bit of an understanding about light, especially the concept that light looks very different to the camera sensor than it does to the human eye/brain combination. Also, composition should start to become second nature.”

The author likes Cannon point and shoots for the same reason I do–good colour reproduction and doesn’t have too many rarely used bells and whistles in the manual settings. This is a good starter book for those contemplating getting into photography beyond taking casual snapshots. It will certainly help you make a good decision on what type of camera that will suit you best. You will find more photographer philosophy in the book than camera settings, though its there also, so get to know your camera well even if it is a small one  to get the most out of this book. Also lots of amazing photos taken with cheap and small cameras.

Here are some of my favourite photos taken with my favourite point and shoot the Cannon IXUS that cost me MYR 600.

Temple Tower

 Forest Floor Light

 Pristine Creek

A bright sunny day in a tropical rain forest

DSLR Photography for Beginners by Brian Black

Read DSLR Photography for Beginners before you sign up for a photography class or workshop. A camera is a small and complex piece of equipment that can do wonders and if you are looking to learn the art of photography from eminent photographers you best know their jargon. What does SLR, single lens reflex actually mean? White balance, ISO speeds, f-stop, depth of field, the rule of thirds, light metering, shutter speed are all important aspects to consider before pressing the shutter button. A pro photographer can weigh all these aspects and more in a matter of seconds and will be able to tune his camera to his desired setting to get the picture he can see in his mind.

Just like learning to drive a car it takes knowledge and familiarity with the equipment to get from clumsy to second nature. You can never hope to take super photos solely depending on a cameras auto and mode settings. To make the camera obey your eye and inspiration you have to switch to manual and change its settings to what you need. For this the manual your camera comes with is never enough. If you invested a lot of money on the camera and need a ‘cut to the chase’ manual that is worth every penny than pick up DSLR Photography for Beginners by Brian Black for just US$3.99 on Kindle or pdf.

This book is written and published entirely by Brian Black so the formatting is bare minimum. You will not find pictures of what the camera battery looks like or how to charge it, or a labeled picture of a DSLR camera that names its parts. His intro is about why digital photos are now preferred to analog photos and why SLR cameras take the best photos–because you can change the lens. Then he jumps straight into teaching about aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity, the three most important elements that make up all photos. After that he teaches about the different interchangeable lenses you can use, what they are called and what they do including light filters which I find is the most valuable part of this book.

This is really a book written for photographers who are deciding to upgrade from their phone or compact cameras to a DSLR. A very helpful feature I find in this book is Brian’s recommendation of what equipment to get from the camera to lenses and filters in the ranges of “for the budget conscious”, “In the middle range” and “Top of the line.” Brian's preference is Nikon and Cannon so the recommendations are for these DSLRs.

If you need to go one step back to the real basics of using your DSLR I recommend Getting to know your digital camera by Victoria Dye. Its only US4.99 on Kindle or pdf. Put together both these books will give you all the information you need for noodling with your cameras settings and to come up with your own unique photography philosophy or technique.

Getting to know your digital camera by Victoria Dye

This book by Victoria Dye is easy on the eyes. Putting her photography workshop tutorials into this manual gives you relevant information about improving your photographing skills quickly. The tutorial takes you through the basic anatomy of cameras step by step from the types of digital cameras to shooting modes, explains what they do and how your photograph is affected by it.

If you are wondering what that ISO button does and how you can use it to get the photo you want  you will find out very quickly from this book. You will learn the photography available to you with any DSLR camera from this book in less than 90 pages. Its quick, cheap (US 4.99) and hands on. In the first pages you will learn about the different types of digital cameras and their differences, however the author is biased towards single lens reflex (SLR) cameras so if you are happy with your phone camera or compact camera this is not the book for you. The book also doesn’t get into the philosophy of photography such as ‘the rule of thirds’ or framing a photograph but if you own a DSLR and are looking for a basic, quick and cheap but substantive guide this is a good book to have. It also makes for a good gift along with a DSLR to inspire a budding photographer in the family perhaps.

Turning your Point of View into Awesome Photos

Photography as an art form has always captured my interest since my father bought me the most simple film camera that shot 24 films in a roll. It was a kiddie camera but not a toy. It had no focus lens, the simplest ever point and shoot that nevertheless could take amazing photos albeit by luck. An amazing photo is just that–it stops you on your tracks, breath taking or pull on the heart strings so strongly it could open ones wallet to support a cause or decorate the living room.

Photography is modern art that has evolved since cameras were invented. How light is captured using a camera went through a golden age in the 1900’s as film technology and cameras became more sophisticated and less cumbersome to handle. The 20th century gave rise to the photographer greats whose philosophy shaped the art.

If you are wondering what it takes to capture a great photo learning to use the technical aspects of a camera like the aperture, exposure or ISO is not enough. 101 Quick and Easy Ideas Taken from the Master Photographers of the Twentieth Century
 shows how legendary photographers like Ansel Adams, Alfred Steiglitz, Julius Shulman and many more transformed their philosophy into amazing photos. You will get many tips about taking jaw dropping photos from this book and it will certainly help you in getting the best out of your camera and time spent with your camera. There are 37 chapters in the book, each dedicated to a legend in the photo world, altogether 220+ pages that will help you turn your thoughts about a person, place or moment into snapshot art.http://amzn.to/1SmIWjT