National Geographic Complete Photo Guide: How to Take Better Pictures

I dabble in photography on the side, but am a teacher by trade. I am also the yearbook adviser for my school. This book is by far one of the best for helping in improving my photography techniques.

good product

National Geographic Complete Photo Guide by Heather Perry informs the reader about many photography aspects. Ms. Perry is a professional photographer from Maine.I have to say that his book was a fantastic surprise. I’ve seen many books and lectures about photography, but I felt that this book ran the gamut from history, to amateur, to professional.I’m just sad that I didn’t get this book before our big summer vacation across the American mid-west.National Geographic Complete Photo Guide by Heather Perry talks about techniques, from professional cameras to smartphones, as well as a primer on editing software. I am not a professional photographer, but I have worked with several during my career and am well aware of the work done on a computer before the final product is presented.The author also peppers throughout the book examples of photos she loves, and clarifies why she does. I felt that looking at photos from her perspective taught me a lot about what to look for in my own pictures. The book also features commentaries, specifically from other published photographers.Ms. Perry keeps repeating that one must always tell a story. This is certainly something that I found important after we take a big trip. When looking backwards at the multitudes of pictures I took, I choose the ones which are memorable (I figured 1 out of 10 is a keeper, and 1 out of 100 is printable – so I take a lot of them).Much like other National Geographic photography books, this one is choke full of excellent photos in premium format. The book is divided into easy to find sections to flip around, for me it the section about taking photos with a cellphone, as well as HDR, were a must.

I my opinion, it is not really a photo guide. All the topics are barely mentioned. The book doesn't delve into much detail. It's mostly a collection of photos and tips.I remember a different edition of this book from the 1990s which was very well done. It's not this one.Too bad!

If you want any sort of detailed or useful advice regarding technique or how-to, look elsewhere. Full of general, obvious advice with maybe two pages per subject of shallow and vague advice that just didn’t seem worth writing the book at all. I don’t understand the rave reviews about how it made them a better photographer - I can’t imagine how unless they are somehow technically proficient enough to need no actual instruction about photography but also have never given a single thought to composition or style or approaching people to photograph them…. Honestly, it’s all just so vague and obvious that I really feel cheated. Waste of money. There are so many better books that will teach you so much more. This is just National Geographic making money on their name without any real benefit to the reader. Disappointing. There are some beautiful photos here and there throughout, but don’t expect any details about those photos, like settings or how they were created - just vague info about why someone liked it, at most. Not that this isn’t interesting, but I would like actual instruction as well as a discussion of its merits etc.

Bumper-to-bumper subject coverage. Well-written, exhaustive content.

Mu daughter enjoyed the book and found it to be useful

Not only was this easy reading but picked up a lot of information I either didnt know or forgot.

Good book