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Author: David Pogue
Publisher: O’Reilly
Publication Date: January 2009
ISBN 10: 0-596-15403-8
ISBN 13: 9780596154035
Pages: 304
Price: $24.99 print, $19.99 e-book

David Pogue is quite the popular fellow. Newspapers love him, NPR loves him, Apple users love him, and apparently the camera loves him…or he loves the camera. David has written numerous books in O’Reilly’s The Missing Manual series, but he does seem to focus on photography and video. A few months back, I received a review copy of David Pogue’s Digital Photography: The Missing Manual, but it sat on my bookshelf behind a slew of other reviews I’ve allowed to pile up. But now that summer’s here and my camera’s out more often, I decided to check this out to see what tips David had for me this time. Ends up, I should’ve looked at this book sooner, because it may be the most practical Pogue book I’ve ever read.

That, of course, is not a knock on any others. But if I’m reading a book on iPhoto or iMovie, the usefulness of the book is limited to the software. Yes, David tends to include chapters on how to first film something good or shoot something good before you bother to learn how to edit it, but the focus of those books is rightly on how to use software. With Digital Photography David has more room to cover photography terminology, practices and rules you should know before you bother learning how to apply transitions or when to use the Ken Burns effect.

It’s actually a bit odd reading a book like this, because along with the freedom of not having to focus on one piece of software comes the fact that you also can’t focus on one piece of equipment. There are hundreds of digital cameras out there, a couple dozen of which are likely pretty good. So, what features should be covered? Is it worth talking about nighttime photography when so many cameras simply can’t handle it? Highlights warnings? Prime lenses? The answer here is obviously “Yes,” as David covers them all, albeit at different degrees. This is a book for beginners, after all, and…well, I’m not sure that’s a fair way to put it. It’s a book that helps you make sense of the technology, the capabilities, the limitations and the theories behind digital photography. Pretty much anyone can benefit from that.

To illustrate this point, here’s the table of contents:

Part One: The Camera

• Camera Kinds
• The Only Features that Matter

Part Two: The Shoot

• Taking the Shot
• The Ten Decisions
• The Anti-Blur Chapter
• How They Did That
• The SLR Chapter

Part Three: The Lab

• Camera Meets Computer
• The Digital Shoebox
• Fixing Your Photos

Part Four: Your Audience

• Photos on Paper—and Everything Else
• Electronic Photos

Part Five: Appendixes

• Where to Go From Here?
• The Top Ten Tips of All Time
• Photo Credits

As you can see, although you’re not likely to need every chapter, beginning to intermediate photographers are bound to find some use. When my wife and I decided to make the push into the world of SLR, I did enough research to know what to look for, but not enough to learn how to properly use what I bought. This book was wonderful at making the technology useful to me. Not only does it explain certain features and techniques better than the manuals do (of course), but it tells you when what’s appropriate, and offers tricks on how to get shots it would’ve taken me years to discover on my own (see Part Two, Chapter Five: The Anti-Blur Chapter). Would I have ever figured out how to create a makeshift tripod using string, a bolt and a washer? No.

Beyond such tricks, David does a great job of teaching you how to use your camera without actually ever talking about your specific camera. Unfortunately, this also means that he’ll detail some wonderful technique that can’t be accomplished with what you have, making you wish you’d paid that extra hundred bucks for the next step up.

And, of course, David does this with his normal flair. His writing is friendly. It’s accessible. He’s a great teacher. And when he echoes something you already knew, you’ll become his buddy. (Hey, David, I’m with you on turning off the flash. Nothing amused me more when I lived in NYC and I could see all those flash bulbs popping atop the Empire State Building at night…people trying to light up New York City from 86 stories up with the flash on their Kodak Disc Camera.)

Ultimately, then, this book proves useful at three different points. First, when you’re researching a camera to buy and need to know what to look for (hint, the megapixel count simply isn’t that important); second, after you’ve purchased the camera and want to learn how to take better photos; and third, after you have the photos and want to know what to do with them. That third bit is better served by books dedicated to your software of choice, but this book does cover some options to help you chose said software.

David Pogue’s Digital Photography: The Missing Manual is a fun read that makes takes the intimidation out of learning digital photography, and will correct you on the many things you’ve learned incorrectly over the years. If you’re looking to buy a camera, buy this first. If you’ve just bought a camera, buy this second. You (and the people who look at your pictures) will be better off for it.