Top 10 Most Popular Photography eBooks

The eBook industry has skyrocketed recently as more people acquire tablets and other digital reading devices. Many high quality photography eBooks are now available that offer extremely valuable information. For photographers they can be especially helpful for ongoing training because they are digestible on a computer and then can also be carried for reference on location via a mobile reading device. As we draw close to the end of the year I thought it would be useful to list the most popular eBooks consumed by our readers.

trick photography ebook

Trick Photography

1. Trick Photography and Special Effects

Description: A best-selling instructional eBook that explains how to do amazing photography tricks and photoshop effects. It is very detailed and includes extensive explanations of many complicated methods that are very fun to learn. There is valuable information here for photographers of any experience level. The 2nd edition was just recently released and has been well received by readers.

  • Author: Evan Sharboneau
  • Length: 300 Pages & 9 Hours of Video
  • Price: $67 (Currently 30% off, holiday sale ends Dec. 31)
  • It can be found here: Trick Photography eBook
seeing the light

Seeing the Light

2. Seeing the Light

Description: It is made up of three sections which cover the use of a flash, a reflector and natural light. The full explanations, rich imagery, and detailed diagrams make this eBook very useful to any photographer who would like to use light more effectively. PictureCorrect readers can receive more than 15% off by entering the discount code “PICTURECORRECT” before purchasing.

  • Author: Mitchell Kanashkevich
  • Length: 54 Pages
  • Price: $12 ($10 after coupon code)
  • It can be found here: Seeing the Light eBook
photo nuts and bolts

Photo Nuts and Bolts

3. Photo Nuts and Bolts

Description: A very popular instructional eBook for any photographer who feels that they would like to know more about how their camera works, and how to become more confident at using it to take better photos. By the end of it you’ll understand camera settings and be in a much better position to make decisions on how to best use them rather than just sit in Auto mode.

making light ebook

Making Light

4. Making Light I & II

Description: Takes an in-depth look at how to get the most from your off-camera flashes. The author takes you beyond sync speed and softboxes and gets into the details on working with multiple flashes, modifiers, and triggering systems. Learn how to fill in harsh shadows, balance ambient light, rescue fading evening light, or substitute for a complete lack of light.

  • Author: Piet Van den Eynde
  • Length: 63 & 77 pages respectively
  • Price: $8 for both
  • They can be found here: Making Light I & II
understanding post processing

Post-Processing

5. Understanding Post-Processing

Description: A practical guide to post-processing of photographs in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. The eBook briefly looks at the philosophy behind post-processing and aims to help you gain an understanding of those tools which are most relevant to making your images striking and powerful. From opening up the .RAW files to applying the finishing touches in Photoshop.

digital wedding secrets

Wedding Secrets

6. Wedding Photography Secrets

Description: Comprehensive instructional eBook package for aspiring wedding photographers and has guidance on virtually everything needed to start a professional wedding photography business. With 189 pages of information and many other materials such as shot lists and sample contract templates, there is immense value here for any level of photographer interested in wedding photography.

reliable flash photography

Flash Photography

7. 100% Reliable Flash Photography

Description: The ebook is all about gaining the skill and confidence you need to create great images with the most basic and available lighting sources. It starts off by familiarizing you with the necessary flash photo equipment and the camera controls involved. The most useful information is the extensive instruction given on most flash situations you may find yourself in involving indoor and outdoor lighting situations.

black and white ebook

Black & White

8. The Power of Black & White

Description: This eBook explores the black and white conversion options that Adobe Lightroom has to offer. Almost all of these techniques work also in Adobe Camera Raw, which shares the same processing engine as Lightroom. It also discusses certain useful plugins and how you can incorporate High Dynamic Range techniques into your black-and-white post-processing. This is a true technical master class that will keep you busy for a while.

portraiture ebook

Portraiture eBook

9. Taking Your Portraiture to the Next Level I & Volume II

Description: It begins with a look at contemporary portraiture and an explanation of five classic lighting patterns (short, broad, rembrandt, butterfly, and split lighting). The second part focuses on the fact that it is imperative for working photographers to differentiate themselves from others in order not to drown in a sea of competition where so many are producing work absent of any unique style or vision.

landscape photography guide

Landscape Photography

10. Landscape Photography Guide

Description: A popular comprehensive eBook guide designed to take your landscape photography to the next level. It contains very detailed explanations on the techniques professionals use to capture stunning landscape photos with vibrant colors, silky water and engaging compositions. Plus more than a dozen special tips & tricks which will help you produce effective landscapes.

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Up to 50% off for pre-orders of the latest Take Control ebooks (about OS X Lion, due out in July)

Over the years, I’ve bought many excellent ebooks from the folks at Take Control books. I’d highly recommend them to you. They’re as expert, up-to-date, clear and easy to read as you could hope for. Here’s the latest I got from them today. (I’m just about to buy their bundle at 50% off.)

Apple_-_os_x_lion_-_the_worlds_most_advanced_desktop_operating_system

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Apple is poised to release OS X Lion at some point in July, and our authors have been burning the midnight oil to help you get started with Apple's latest big cat. But there's no reason to wait for Lion to ship to start preparing for the upgrade, and to that end, we have Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Upgrading to Lion" available now, with Matt Neuburg's "Take Control of Using Lion" available for pre-order so you can get a bundle discount. Or you can buy either ebook singly at a discount, since you own a previous edition of one or both of them. Use the quick links below (the discount will show on the first screen of the cart), or read on for details.

 

20% off "Take Control of Upgrading to Lion" - $8: http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-to-lion-discount

20% off "Take Control of Using Lion" (pre-order) - $12: http://tid.bl.it/using-lion-discount

50% off both (limited time offer!) - $12.50: http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-using-bundle-discount

 

**Take Control of Upgrading to Lion** -- You can begin upgrading to Lion now by joining best-selling author Joe Kissell for the necessary pre-upgrade check on software and hardware compatibility. You'll also benefit from Joe's expert advice on making the best type of backup in case of an upgrade disaster and clearing the decks of useless cruft so you can start using Lion with plenty of room. In particular, you'll learn how to:

* Part with Rosetta: Understand and work around the fact that PowerPC-based software will not run under Lion, given the absence of Rosetta.

* Handle your hardware: Thoroughly check your hardware for Lion compatibility. Also, get ideas for new hardware - it might be time for more RAM, disk space, or other peripherals, particularly a Magic Trackpad.

* Deal with duplication: Learn what a disk duplicate is, why having one is essential before installing Lion, and how to make one easily and affordably. Also, get help with backing up a Windows volume, should you be running Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp.

* Verify that all systems are go: Test your Mac to be sure all the hardware and disks are running properly - better to discover and correct a problem now than on upgrade day - and find advice on clearing extra files and software off your disk so that you get a fresh start with Lion.

* Consider a few geeky details: If you secure your data and documents with disk encryption now, or would like to under Lion, get advice on what to do before you upgrade and learn how Lion's much-improved FileVault will operate. Also, read about what Joe thinks of partitioning and what you might want to do about it before installing.

The 1.0 version of "Take Control of Upgrading to Lion" is currently 66 pages long, and as soon as our non-disclosure agreement with Apple lifts after Lion ships, we plan to release a free 1.1 update that will cover full installation details, required post-upgrade tweaks, and troubleshooting tips in case your upgrade doesn't go smoothly. It will also tell you how to migrate to a new Mac running Lion, install Lion Server, and use the new Recovery mode.

Save 20% when you upgrade to "Take Control of Upgrading to Lion" (you pay $8 instead of the $10 list price) using this link - click the Buy Ebook button and look for the discount on the first screen of the cart:

http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-to-lion-discount

 

**Take Control of Using Lion** --  In "Take Control of Using Lion," author Matt Neuburg has revised his essential "Take Control of Exploring & Customizing Snow Leopard" to look deeply at important new features in Lion while also discussing older features and third-party options that may work better for you, all with the goal of helping you understand Lion's benefits, learn new habits, and get back to work quickly after your upgrade. Major topics help you to:

* Understand Auto Save, so you can let Lion save for you with confidence.

* Learn how Resume works, and how to disable it when you want a clean start.

* Figure out how to navigate Lion with the new Mission Control feature.

* Enter and leave full-screen mode, and switch among full-screen apps with Mission Control.

* Set up and use Launchpad, and get ideas for additional ways to launch apps.

* Memorize useful new trackpad and Magic Mouse gestures for controlling your Mac.

 

"Take Control of Using Lion" also answers many key questions about Lion, such as: 

* Where did my scrollbars go, and how do I get them back?!?

* How do I make the text in my Finder window sidebar larger?

* Where did my user Library folder go, and how can I access it easily?

* How do I sort items in a Finder window, and what does "Arrange" mean?

* What is this All My Files entry in my sidebar?

* Where have the Appearance and Accounts system preference panes gone?

* What is the fun new way of entering accented characters?

* How do I change the size of my mouse pointer icon?

* Is there a way of zooming just a portion of the screen? (Why yes, there is!)

 

You can save 20% when you pre-order "Take Control of Using Lion" (you pay $12 instead of the $15 list price) using the link below - after clicking the link, click the Buy Ebook button and look for the discount on the first screen of the cart. This pre-order "ebook" is only one page long; it's a placeholder that you can use to get the full "Take Control of Using Lion" once it's available. We plan to publish it as soon as possible after Apple releases Lion and lifts our non-disclosure agreement. Ideally, this will be the same day Lion becomes available.

 

http://tid.bl.it/using-lion-discount

 

Or you can upgrade to "Take Control of Upgrading to Lion" now and pre-order "Take Control of Using Lion" for a bundle savings of 50% (you pay $12.50 instead of the $25 list price; this offer will expire when Apple releases Lion!); use the link below, which puts both books into your cart. 

 

http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-using-bundle-discount

 

It's especially fun to be working on the 10.7 Lion editions of these ebooks, since we launched the Take Control series in 2003 with the 10.3 Panther editions of these particular titles. Much has changed with both Mac OS X and these ebooks over the years, and we've been working hard to maintain the depth and real-world approach that we've had all along. As always, thank you for your questions and comments, and your support. We couldn't do it without you!

 

cheers... -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

 

PS: Check out some of our other recently released ebooks:

 

* Take Control of Speeding Up Your Mac

* Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac, Second Edition

* Take Control of TextExpander

* Take Control of Scrivener 2

* Take Control of iPad Networking & Security (covers iPad 2)

 

http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/catalog