The New Manual of Photography

"The New Manual of Photography" by John Hedgecoe is another winner in a long line of books that have made picture-taking more enjoyable, satisfying, and fruitful. Whether you are a total beginner interested in learning photography or an advanced amateur, John Hedgecoe's book will serve you well as a reference and learning tool. John Hedgecoe is a renowned photographer recognized internationally for his photography skills, teaching ability, and writing style. Like all his books, "The New Manual of Photography" is profusely illustrated with photographs and drawings that give beginner and amateur photographers a clear, practical, and concise guide to better photographic techniques. What makes John Hedgecoe's books so great is that they are easy to read and follow. "The New Manual of Photography" does not target any one specialized field of photography, but it does give the reader an overall idea of what he or she can accomplish with their camera and equipment. Hedgecoe's writing is practical, with a gift for making even some of the more complex photographic concepts seem simple to accomplish - it is amazing how much information he is able to store in a 399-page book. Hedgecoe covers everything a beginner needs to know to make his or her picture taking experience more enjoyable. This is a treasure trove for beginners who can jump right into topics such as what a camera is, the differences between film and digital cameras, the differences between SLRs, rangefinders, twin lens reflex, small, medium, and large format cameras, and so on. He then zooms in on using aperture and shutter speed settings, film, filters, flash, tripods. . . . Hedgecoe devotes a good number of pages to what I consider some of the most important aspects of photography: lighting, color, and composition. Hedgecoe discusses natural and artificial light, changing light, white balance, and color temperature. Hedgecoe states that "[e]quipment and techniques . . . are just the beginning. It is the photographer that matters most of all". With this in mind, Hedgecoe writes about developing the creative eye - one of the most important aspects of photography after learning the fundamentals. He talks about looking at the subject from all angles, how to compose or frame the subject, how to control the lighting, background and foreground using depth of field to emphasize the subject, and much more. Again, "The New Manual of Photography" is not meant to be an all-encompassing work on photography; it is, however, a very worthy book for beginners and advanced amateurs. It gives the reader a taste of just some of the many fields in photography like portraiture, nature, animal, still life, architecture and so forth - Hedgecoe even lays out the foundation for a well-equipped studio. As all his books, John Hedgecoe`s, "The New Manual of Photography" is a worthy addition to anyone's photography book shelf.

If you already own one of Hedgecoe's previous books, you will find lots of repetition in this one. However, this one is well organized and is a good reference book when you need to go back and read up on a particular topic. If you don't already have a Hedgecoe book, THIS is the one to have. It is the best photography book on my bookshelf! Be careful to get the right one, many of his books are named very similarly.

I thought this book was great! I learned so much from it. It really made me understand all the things you need to take into account when taking a picture and it taught me what everything is. Most importantly, Hedgecoe did a really good job of explaining how ISO, Shutter speeds, and aperature affect your pictures. And he kept everything separated and didn't mix all the topics up together. Very nicely laided out and written without fluff and he kept to the point on each topic.

John Hedgecoe is a great and thoroughly proven photography teacher. I have been shooting for many years now and relied on his books when I first got started. I still love going back to them to be inspired by the amazing breadth of his work. I can recommend this book to anyone looking to learn the basics of photography, and I also recommend it to anyone looking to take their photography in different directions.

I searched long and hard for a book that struck a balance between digital and traditional film, yet focused squarely on the aspects required to understand how a camera works in order take a great picture rather than spending time in the digital darkroom.This book has delivered on both counts, and more.Printed on beautifully thick and glossy paper, this book walks you page by page through all aspects of photography. Each page contains beautiful, full color photographs to illustrate the concepts being discussed on the page. Furthermore, each sample photograph details the focal length, f/stop and shutter speed used for the shot so you know exactly how the results were achieved.If you're looking to move beyond point-and-shoot to take advantage of the creative aspects of your camera and willing to invest a little time to understand how your camera works, then I strongly recommend you grab this book. It is perfect for anyone looking to move from consumer to amateur, or from amateur to prosumer.