Canon EOS 60D: From Snapshots to Great Shots

All in all, I'm glad I bought this book. It is a little hard to rate it because the consumers interested in this book will be at all different levels of experience and knowledge and the author had the task of finding that middle road in order to provide worthwhile information to serve many levels.I've had the camera (my 2nd DSLR) for 2 years and I've been very heavy into photography for about 5 years. But, like many, I tended to use the same familiar functions for my specific interest (bird photography). With that perspective in mind, this is what I thought:Her tips on locking in certain functions as soon as you get your camera (and the reasons why) were excellent! Some were no-brainers, but many would save the less-experienced hours of pouring over the manual with dedication and determination to become aware of these ways in which your camera can be adjusted to make your photos so much easier to take AND improve the quality. How wonderful to be able to take advantage of the camera's "intellegence" as we get to use as much or as little artistic control we personally choose. Most people with little background in DSLR's wouldn't realize these settings even exist, so for the beginner, this section is invaluable. It happens that I had set up my camera in all the same ways, but I'd spent untold hours educating myself to get to that point!The book was laid out well, with many photographs, complete with her listing the settings used and why those settings were chosen. For me, it was mostly review but served to remind me that I'd gotten a bit sloppy with my ISO, Lower is better. I'd gotten in the habit of simply keeping it in "good" range. She touched on a number of areas I knew little, to nothing about, and it is enough to get me started in learning these techniques.Where it opened up my eyes and got me excited in getting more out of my photography is when she wrote of some of the advanced settings...the ones that we (I) figured I'd check out later (and later never happened)...the ones near the back of the camera manual. Her photos and explanations of where to find these settings are very easy to follow. Never again will I have to see one of my photographs and wish that I knew how to get rid of that tint that ruins the color (white balance). A simple setting had been at my fingertips the whole time!The only reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars is because of the nature of the beast. I did find myself, at times, wishing she'd gotten more into a photography concern that I am personally interested in. Keeping it fairly simple is good. Get even deeper into it and I'd be one happy camper!

After ordering a new Canon EOS 60D and getting back in to photography I needed to learn how this digital stuff works. This book is spot on. I received the book before the camera came, and after reading the first two chapters and taking delivery of the camera I was able to open up the box and set up the Canon EOS 60D and begin shooting with in an hour WITH OUT OPENING the Canon Users Guide. Yes I still have to consult the users guide for a few technical things now and then, but only because I am much father along than I would have been with out this book.Nicole takes the time in the first two chapters to explain the how and why of what she feels are the 10 most important basic settings of the Canon 60D much better and quicker factory user's manual. The next chapters go into the factory settings on the camera and then basic principals of photography and how to apply the setting of the Canon 60D to the wide Varity of areas of digital photography.The book is well laid out with some very inspiring photos. The subjects and information presented are arranged in a captivating format for beginners as well as someone with experience. The chapters are followed up with a list practical application challenges that will enhance the readers skill with technical aspect of using the camera.If the Canon 60D is your first digital single reflex camera, or you just upgraded to one, than then this book should be your next purchase. In the first 3 chapters you will learn things about the basic setting on this camera (as well for any DSLR camera) that you may not experience in years of digital photography.

This is a fantastic book for those new to the Canon Rebel DSLR. I hadn’t picked up an SLR since about 20 years ago when they still had light meters and film. But that trusty old Pentax K1000 started my love affair with photography. New DSLRs are a bit more complex and slightly different than the old film SLRs, so it’s great to have a book like this.This book does a much better job than the manual in describing the functions of the camera. The manual simply covers every button in an exhaustive laundry list of options. What’s great about this book is the author instead focusses on the most important features of the camera that you need to know to get up and running. Some reviews have said it’s too basic, but I disagree. Great photography is about getting the basics right. Of course, advanced techniques and composition don’t get a lot of coverage in this book, but that is not the purpose of this book.Full of large full-cover photos and diagrams, this book is an invaluable reference guide to the Canon. I have a slightly different model so not all of the functions are exactly as described, but it is close enough that I would say the book is still useful.Worth the money.

This book tells not just WHAT to do, but WHY to do it! The manual says "to do thus-and-such, do this". This book says, "you may want to do thus-and-such, and here's why and what it will do for you." There are so many terms in the manual that I don't understand (not being a pro photographer), but this book explains them. I have used several software programs to process my pics. They allow you to make changes to the "histogram", and make all kinds of changes. But since I didn't know what the terms meant, this meant nothing to me and I never used them. This book explains all that! And it also says things like "unless you're a pro, don't bother messing with this" e.g., in suggesting the format to save in ("raw", ".jpg" etc.) it suggested the .jpg unless you were a pro and going to manipulate and expand the picture. This one suggestion made the difference between the card holding something like 1000 shots and 100. Thank you for suggesting this book!

This is a readable and particularly well-illustrated book - could it be otherwise with that title? The typical intended readership is one "who wants to upgrade from a point-and-shoot" ie one who may be new to the more technical aspects of photography and the terminology. So the language is informal (I'm sure I spotted "cool" - and not in relation to colour temperature !) and the pictures are gripping. The Canon 60D does come supplied with an excellent pocket-sized 300-page instruction manual and there isn't really a desperate need for a "how-to" guide but this gets away with it by blending the how-to bits with impressive and apt images. This book may not have as long a useful life as for example Charlotte Lowrie's 60D Digital Field Guide (mine of information for the long haul), but for the less-experienced photographer (and maybe others who need a visual reminder of what it's all about), it should work a treat.

Im pretty new to photography so needed something that would help me get to grips with my camera in a format that was easy to understand. Even though the manual that came with the camera is good, this book expands on all the functions you are likely to use with illustrations and clear narrative when to use certain settings for certain subjects and conditions. It's not completely detailed there are functions that the EOS60D has that it doesn't cover however all in all well worth the money, it's certainly a useful book when starting out.

Got this to help me get close to my 60D but up until now I have found that having it on the kindle is not as handy as having it in book form. Maybe just me but I have found that for instructional books having the thing in your hand works best.The content is good but I haven't worked through it yet. Moving from an Olympus to the Canon is proving more problematic than I thought. I don't use the camera much and I seem to forget what I learned the last time I picked up the book. My fault I'm sure!!

The manual that arrived with my Canon Eos 60D was very comprehensive, but was in a format that took ages to understand & just as long to find what I was looking for.In order to simplify matters I ordered this bookThe book is laid out with photos of what the camera screen would be displaying in relation to the topic it was discussing.This made it very quick & very simple to understand if used in conjunction with the cameraThis book is a godsend - Highly recommended

If you own the Canon EOS 60D camera and you want to improve your photograpthy this is for you,it explains in easy to understand in scrip and photo's.A book that you will read over and over again the art in taking different types of photo'sLandscaps, Capturing effects of water in slow motion, Moving Targets, Low light conditions,Still life, Portraits, How the Camera works, the LIST is endless.In all there are 60D Top Ten List Chapters.Well worth the money