Petersen's Big Book of Photography, Vol 2

I bought a magazine/book this week called Petersen's Big Book of Photography, Vol 2 with Text and Images by Jim Zuckerman .  It looks like a magazine in that it's the size of a magazine, has glossy pages like a magazine, and has ads.  But the ads are only on the front and back cover.  Between the covers are pictures and text, just like a book.  While I think of it as a magazine, I'll call it a book because that's in the title.

I'm only about 1/4 of the way through this 146 page book, but I'm already recommending it.  The pictures alone would make it worth the $10.99 price tag, but the pictures are accompanied by text explaining where and how the pictures were taken with invaluable tips on how to create professional looking photographs.   

The main topic headings covered in the book are People Photography, Choosing & Using Lenses, Color & Design, and Travel with 4 to 11 articles in each section. The articles cover topics such as buying a lens, window light, backgrounds, depth of field, macro photography, and others too numerous to list.  Inside the articles, along with the photographs and text mentioned above, are short blocks of more general information including Focusing Points, Hand Held Light Meters, Special Lens Support, and Depth of Field Issues.

I bought my copy at a grocery store, but it is available from a seller on Amazon.com.



Jim Zuckerman is a professional photographer, author, and photog instructor.  You can view free video tutorials on his website, jimzuckerman.com.

I know I'm learning something from the NYIP course because I knew the difference between main light, fill light and hair light and I knew what he meant when he said depth of field.  Not just recognized the terms, but actual knew them and understood what he was talking about.

Update: 04/23/2011:  Still reading this magazine and trying to absorb all the information I can.  I'm about half way through and still think this magazine/book was worth every penny.