Book review: The Digital Photography Book Volume 2 by Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby, famous for his books on Photoshop, Lightroom and other topics has also written 2 very successful books on digital photography itself. The first one, The Digital Photography Book is one of the most successful books ever published on digital photography.
In this post, I want to review The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2, which was published in 2008 and which builds on the first volume, though you don’t have to read the first volume, to benefit from this book. It can also be read stand alone (actually, I’ve never read the first volume).

The book has nine 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”

As you can see, Scott covers many different topics. He does not cover nature photography, except landscape photography and some macro photography. But covering nature photography would probably require a whole book of it’s own.

In each chapter you find a lot of useful tips on how to improve your shots. For example, Scott explains why you should avoid the pop-up flash of your camera and how to use a dedicated flash unit to get much better results, for example through getting the flash off your camera.
Chapter 2 shows you how you can build a professional studio without spending all your money.
In the chapter on portraits, Scott explains how to use light that shines through a window, how to photograph groups of people and much more.
Another great tip I found in the book is in the chapter on landscape photography: “Find the Great Light First” is about finding great light first and then finding a subject to photograph. Many photographers always search for great subjects and then photograph them in mediocre light.

Other useful tips are what book to read next, how to shoot at night, how to choose a macro lens and much more.

I found the writing in the book very easy to follow, full of information and often very funny, too.

Who should buy this book?
If you are a full time pro, you may already know all the stuff in the book.
But if you are just starting with digital photography or already have been photographing for some time but want to learn how the “Pros” do it, then this would be a wonderful book to purchase.

Summary: For most beginning and immediate photographers, I highly recommend Scott Kelby’s book.

Buy if from amazon