Question: Book recommendation for photo editing beginners

[wangliuqing]

Hey everyone, 

 

I just started to learn about photo editing. I found myself facing a problem: even I know those tools, when I see a photo, I don't know where to start. I just feel the photo doesn't look good but I don't know what's the problem or which direction it should go. I need to learn those basic concepts. Is there any book/resource you guys would recommend?

 

Thanks!

[gdenby]

Don't know about any specific books. But do a search on "Ansel Adams zones." It will lead you to many articles related to classic analog photography, but the introduction to how and why to get the greatest range of contrast is a great starting point. It is relevant to any graphic art.

 

Also, search on "white balance." It is less of an issue in over all image making, but is crucial to realistic photography.

[tcarisland]

It's not really about photo editing, but the most useful book I ever read on Photography is one titled "Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting" by Fil Hunter and Steven Biver.

 

There are so many books on photo editing out there and they all seem to touch on the same boring old stuff you can read about in any magazine (too bad the magazines are more expensive than actual books these days). The more interesting books on what you can do with a tool like Affinity Photo and Designer are the ones on digital painting techniques, so you could look there.

 

And if you're really prepared to bite the bullet and learn how to work with images on a more basic level, Andrew Loomis wrote a whole series of great books on illustration, composition and drafting techniques.

 

Other than that, I've found that learning how to use tools like Affinity Photo and Designer is way easier from youtube tutorials and the likes of it.

[DesignEbookCover]

Hey if you look to learn about photo editing then book is probably not the right direction.

I am not sure what software do you want to use, but i will recommend using photoshop.

When i learned it in the past i used https://www.lynda.com/they have great tutorials for many different subjects.

It's screenshot tutorials so you what what they do and learn, probably the best way to learn that way.

Surly there are also many youtube videos to learn the basics if you are looking for something free.

[DavidMac]

Hey everyone, 

 

I just started to learn about photo editing. I found myself facing a problem: even I know those tools, when I see a photo, I don't know where to start. I just feel the photo doesn't look good but I don't know what's the problem or which direction it should go. I need to learn those basic concepts. Is there any book/resource you guys would recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

The difficulty with books and tutorials of this kind is that they tend always to be written around a specific app. They tend to focus on specific techniques rather than general photographic principles. If you want more general principles then, as already been suggested, search for articles and books on traditional analog photography. 

 

I do have one really excellent book in French on the general artistic and technical aspects of digital colour photography by Michael Freeman. It is Published by Evergreen who are a division of Taschen who publish a whole range of excellent books centred around the arts. Looking inside the cover I see it is also published in English under the title "The Digital Photography Expert, Colour". You could go to www.taschen.com and see if you can track it down.

 

That being said, if you are posing the question because you already have Affinity Photo, then their basic tutorials will also help you grasp some basic principals of photo adjusting. https://www.lynda.com/ also offer tutorials on Affinity Photo by the excellent Steve Caplin.

 

 

Hey if you look to learn about photo editing then book is probably not the right direction.

I am not sure what software do you want to use, but i will recommend using photoshop.

When i learned it in the past i used https://www.lynda.com/they have great tutorials for many different subjects.

It's screenshot tutorials so you what what they do and learn, probably the best way to learn that way.

Surly there are also many youtube videos to learn the basics if you are looking for something free.

 

 

This might be considered by some to be an inappropriate forum in which to be recommending Photoshop .......  ;)

[DavidMac]

It's not really about photo editing, but the most useful book I ever read on Photography is one titled "Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting" by Fil Hunter and Steven Biver.

 

There are so many books on photo editing out there and they all seem to touch on the same boring old stuff you can read about in any magazine (too bad the magazines are more expensive than actual books these days). The more interesting books on what you can do with a tool like Affinity Photo and Designer are the ones on digital painting techniques, so you could look there.

 

And if you're really prepared to bite the bullet and learn how to work with images on a more basic level, Andrew Loomis wrote a whole series of great books on illustration, composition and drafting techniques.

 

Other than that, I've found that learning how to use tools like Affinity Photo and Designer is way easier from youtube tutorials and the likes of it.

Light Science and Magic is very specialised on all aspects of lighting but not much else. It is entirely studio based and does not touch on exterior photography at all. Within the studio It is confined entirely to tabletop, still life and close up portraiture. If those are areas that interests you it is indeed a truly exceptional source of very comprehensive explanations and detailed worked examples. Lighting (for cinema and TV) is my profession for over fifty years and within the slightly specialised fields described above I can thoroughly recommend it. 

[jer]

Hey everyone, 

 

I just started to learn about photo editing. I found myself facing a problem: even I know those tools, when I see a photo, I don't know where to start. I just feel the photo doesn't look good but I don't know what's the problem or which direction it should go. I need to learn those basic concepts. Is there any book/resource you guys would recommend? Thanks!

 

My suggestion would be to look at the top right of this forum screen and use the Search Box. Enter PHOTO BASICS in the search field. When I did that a moment ago this was the result:

 

Your search for the term photo basics returned 19 results.

 

There are many other word choices you could use for additional results. In the year that I have been using this forum I have seen a number of requests like yours get posted and a number of great responses. Consider reviewing those responses for additional suggestions relating to your need.

 

Apparently, you are looking for help learning to diagnose photos for what types of editing would improve them. And in what sequence (order) should you make the edits. It may be difficult to obtain that knowledge from one book. It might be more helpful to consider (1) a community college course on basic photography, (2) take a lot of photos, and (3) pester the instructor (in person) asking/offering what might improve each photo. Emphasis on (2) & (3) the hands-on approach. A lot of training can be had on the Internet but it is more quickly instructive to have back-and-forth conversations with an instructor in person. IMHO. :)

[DavidMac]

 It might be more helpful to consider (1) a community college course on basic photography, (2) take a lot of photos, and (3) pester the instructor (in person) asking/offering what might improve each photo. Emphasis on (2) & (3) the hands-on approach. A lot of training can be had on the Internet but it is more quickly instructive to have back-and-forth conversations with an instructor in person. IMHO. :)

Excellent advice!  :)

[wangliuqing]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your guys' help.

[Scungio]

It all depends on what you want to do with Affinity Photo. I can tell you what I have been doing in terms of books. I loved Katrin Eismann's books on Photoshop, her Restoration and Retouching books.  Even though they are quite old now and they were written for Photoshop CS2 and earlier, it does not matter because what she covers is still relevant.

 

I am trying to duplicate what she did in Photoshop by using Affinity Photo of course. She covers basic stuff but goes into detail of what is happening when you use Layers, or Curves or the Clone Tool, etc. She even had a section on using Apply Image and Calculations and sure enough that is available in Photo so I am eager to see if I can replicate her examples.

 

The important thing to remember is that it does take time and effort to 'translate' a book dealing with Photoshop and apply it to Affinity Photo. I love Bert Monroy's work and have some of his books. He does this photorealism and he uses Photoshop (and some Illustrator) and he is just a master. 

 

Again, it all depends on what you want to do or learn, or how you want to use Photo? To do retouching? Create, paint photorealistic works? To do texturing for 3D work, games?