So, you really are at that last second and still don’t have anything to put under the tree? These 6 downloadable books will do the trick.
Just go down to any of the grocery. book, 7/11 stores that sell a thumb key and put a book there wrapped nicely. And you’re good.
I tried covering everything from lighting, set-ups, gear and just general photography. Paid and free, I hope you’ll enjoy the list.
1. Photo Nuts & Bolts Series
This series is kinda a base-leveler for anyone starting on digital photography (I wanted to just say photography, but I don’t think many start with that anymore). Photographer Neil Creek is covering Photography Basics, Post Production & Tools and Techniques.
[$19.99 – $29.99 on the DPS store]
2. Home Studio Photography: Your Complete Guide To Building A Photography Studio At Home
Probably the longest name for an eBook on this list. It is our own love child explaining and showing step-by-step how to build a complete studio on cheap using materials from your local hardware store.
If you like tinkering as much as you love photography it is a great book for you (or your significant other 🙂 We cover softboxes, strip lights, snoots, reflectors and pretty much every light modifier you’ll ever need.
[$19.85 on the DIYP book store]
3. The Ultimate Guide to Water Drop Photography
If you love high speed photography and find yourself amazed with beautiful drop shots, Corrie White shares everything she knows here in this book. She goes from very low budget drop shots to high end expensive setups and materials. She also shares some of the lesser known trade secrets on water drop photography. (book review here)
4. Photographing the 4th Dimension – Time
This eBook from Master landscape photographer Jim Goldstein is all about time. This book is great if you are seeking to explore some creative ways to use your camera. The book covers a wide range of photography techniques centered around “shooting time”.
While it may seem that we can’t actually photograph time, Jim proves that there are many ways in which we can actually photograph it. The book has a bit of everything time has to offer, Light Painting, time lapse, shooting star trails, creating ‘moving images’ and more.
It even has a field guide at the end that you can print along and take with you on location for quick reference.
5. Lighting in Layers DVD
OK, so this is more of a DVD seminar than an old school eBook (funny, how I can say old school ebook so easily). If you are reading David Hobby’s blog, you know the tons of useful info he shares about lighting, and this series is not different.
This is not your usual do this-do that seminar, but rather a deep, immersive walk through of six shooting session in the non formal, non flashy, loaded with goodies style of Strobist.
It here, cuz even that the title says DVD, there is an instant download version either med-res or smartphone friendly.
(While you are at it, grab a copy of the lighting 101 PDF too – it is free and a trove of knowledge)
6. The Lightroom Workshop Collection v5
This collection from the fine folks over at SLR Lounge should be your entry point into lightroom. It covers everything from the basics to intermediate to (yea I know) extremes. I have watched it and though I am not new to Lightroom, there were still a great number of nuggets I picked up. Their site has the nice stats about the amount of material, from what I’ve seen it is a lot. a lot of useful videos and tutorials.
I am not sure if this part is the bonus of the beef, but this collection also includes the SLR Lounge preset system which is a great way to fast pace through the editing process.
There you go. File in the thumb drive, thumb drive in the box. Hope you will not need this list next year 🙂
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