How many of you received received a new digital camera for Christmas?  I wish I could say that I did.  But it wasn’t so long ago that my camera was shiny, new and completely intimidating!

And the dense-as-lead user manual that came with it was no help.  I wanted great pictures immediately and had no patience for learning about all the dials and settings on my camera.

It wasn’t until I found some easy-to-read books that I got comfortable with the camera and with perfecting my shots in Photoshop.

The first was The Digital Photography Book (volume 1) by Scott Kelby.  This book is geared towards beginners.  You won’t find complicated theoretical instructions here.  Adjust your aperture to increase your depth of field.  Huh?  Not helpful info for a beginner.

Instead, Kelby lists specific “recipes” that produce great shots.  For instance, there is a 7 step formula for taking a portrait with natural looking skin tones in natural light.  The recipe tells you exactly where to focus and which settings to put your camera on.  He completely removes the guesswork from the photographic process!

Kelby has also written The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2, which is for those who have mastered volume 1 and are ready to advance to techniques like off-camera lighting.  I particularly like the section on “Making Your Subject Look Slimmer“.

People in photography forums like Elements Village or Flickr often ask about the best book for someone starting out in Photoshop Elements.  Again, Scott Kelby is the master on this topic with his Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers.  This book is a great introduction to everything PSE can do, without information overload.

And when you are ready for the encyclopedia of Photoshop Elements, try Photoshop Elements 7:  The Missing Manual.  This book covers just about every tool and menu choice PSE offers, with easy to understand instructions for making your photos look great.

Keep in mind when reading any of these books that you won’t get much out of reading them from cover to cover.  Skim over them, read what you need to get started, and practice an idea or two that you’ve learned.  Then go back to the book, read a little more, and practice again.    That is the sure recipe to being a great photographer!

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Erin is a bookish SAHM, former Latin teacher and occasional CPA.  She is Episcopalian, a yellow dog democrat and an addict of British royal history.  She is trying to add photography to her repertoire due to a moral obligation to document for posterity the extreme cuteness of her husband and two daughters.  Her blog, DigitalPhotographyForMoms.net, offers tips and short cuts to help other Moms create great pictures of their kids.