Digital Photography books - any recommendations?

[McJamweasel]

I've just bought myself a flash new camera (Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 for those that care) and feel like I should probably learn how to use the bloody thing properly. I can point, shoot and edit with no problems, its the composition and advanced settings (exposure, aperture, shutter etc.) that I need to look at. So - any books that you can recommend or shall I just go to amazon and buy the best selling?
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[swaffs]

I'll have a dig through mine and see what jumps out as memorable.
I personally found it best to just look for any photography books, don't just look at digital ones.
Most traditional theories apply to digital as well. The modes are all identical, you might have some extra bells and whistles but in all honesty it's best to try and learn t take great shots, then worry about 'special effects'

The way I learned was to just go out and play with it.
reading up on a few methods then going out, I used to goto Brands hactch when there were random trackdays on, you don't normally have to pay.
Panning is fun to learn and can be rewarding.
The principle sounds easy enough however the reality is something different.

ahem you could just type photography into your favourite p2p software.
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[Silver]

Don't know about books, but I found the information on this site very useful: https://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm

[G]

[Annabella]

I think Jon dilligently read his instruction manuels (personally I'm more of a fiddler and will poke and play until I know how it works) and looked through some glossy photography books for ideas.

We also picked up a free booklet from Jessops that had loads of really good basic pointers for digital photography in it, why and when to adjust different things.
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[Suzuki]

Each camera is different, moreso with digital cameras. I read the instruction manual cover to cover, and made sure I knew how everything worked.

Then I read up on general photography and applied my knowledge of the camera to their examples. Easy enough once you know how the camera works, since the theory of photography is the same for all cameras. Focal length, depth of field, aperture, shutter speed, etc ... they're the same for film as they are for digital.

A few things I tended to forget about when I first started with my d-SLR, were remembering to set the correct ISO and getting the white balance right. Other than that, the techniques are the same.

Best way to learn is to go out and play, see what works and what doesn't, and learn from your mistakes.

If you get to the point where you're stuck for ideas of what to take photos of, or fancy trying new techniques out but don't know where to start, take a look at somewhere like www.dpchallenge.com
They have a couple of free photography challenges each week, where they set a theme and you take a photo to match it. It's quite good fun.
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