The two guys over at http://lightenupandshoot.net/, Michael and Andy, just came out with their ‘V-Book.’ I just finished going through it and I really enjoyed it, especially for the price ($9.76).
There are some other big names in photography that you can pay up to $300 for one of their instructional photography DVD’s! I guess I ‘ll never know what’s on those kinds of DVD’s but maybe it’s worth it, who knows? People with a spare $300 know, I guess.
Anyways, LightenUpAndShoot’s V-Book comes as a 68 page, 1.4 GB, PDF with embedded video files.
It’s a great overview of some of the fundamentals of photography and not too technically overwhelming. They stay true to their philosophy of ‘lighten up and shoot’ with their teaching approach by keeping the video light hearted but to the point.
Veteran photogs might not get much out of it but a refresher course, or at least, see how you can lighten your gear load and still take great photos. I personally took away several key things to consider when I shoot: Two of them are what they call D.O.F.E, which is about the depth of light, and the Genius Square, which is about exposure.
Example of what their embedded flash videos look like in the PDF.
Basically, this was well worth the money to at least support two guys who share some good informational gems of photography with you in a way that is accessible.
One thing that seemed redundant to me was that after each video there was text describing what they just finished describing in the video. But, maybe that’s a good way to get key concepts ingrained into your mind.
I recommend this book/videos and give it a 47.5 out of 53 (I like making up my own rating scales 🙂 ).
This is what is covered in it:
CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- Backpacker’s Studio
- Light Modifiers
- How Does Light Work?
- The Variables of Flash Exposure
- The Genius Square
- Example Shoots
- The Approach
- Composition
- Natural Light
- Camera Settings
- The Histogram
- Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom Techniques
- Shooting Diagrams
- Bonus for preordering: Shooting Cheat Sheet
PS – Don’t pirate this pdf! These guys were cool enough to even address this on their website to say:
Please do not pirate this ebook, we have tried to lower the price to what we consider fair.
If you are really that strapped for cash and you need the book, just email us and we’ll see what we can work out!