Nikon D3300: From Snapshots to Great Shots

The strength of this book is that it has a prodigious amount of pictures that give an enthusiast the idea of what the optimal settings of D3300 should be at a particular lighting, perspective, and frame situation. Truly, the saying that a picture, together with the information on aperture size, shutter speed, and ISO, speaks a thousand words.If one wants to take a picture of something, all he needs to do is to browse through the plethora of pictures in the book. Each picture is supplied with the necessary information on f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO. For example, if you want to take a picture of your child, you should browse through the pages and look for a particular picture of a child in an environment that resembles where you want your child to be.This book teaches you the basics of the camera and some advanced principles of photography including how to calculate exposure settings in D3300 if one of the settings is to be changed to suit the environment (There is only one best exposure and it can be replicated using a number of combinations of f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO). However, I must say that the bulk of gaining a good set of skills in photography is to take a lot of pictures yourself and experiment on the different settings, then refer to the book on how those shots could be improved or how those shots came out bad.Remember, all pictures shown in this book were all taken by Nikon D3300. So if you have a Nikon D3300, an environment similar to one of the pictures, and have used the exact same settings of that picture, don't be surprised to see why your picture looks exactly like the one in the book.Although this book heavily references the Nikon D3300 camera, the fundamental principles in achieving the correct exposure settings apply to all other cameras and photography in general. So even if you jumped to a more advanced camera, the rudiments of photography will still apply.As for my own personal experience, this is the first time that I touched a DLSR Camera and I am already using the M setting and I don't plan on going back into using any other modes.Rob Sylvan mostly used his children to model, which offered sufficient sample pictures on portrait and human subjects.There are two requisites for a good picture: Proper exposure using the camera and doing the necessary adjustments and editing using a software. After implementing similar settings from the book on my D3300, I did some editing using Adobe Lightroom. Remember that the picture should have the best exposure in order to do the necessary editing and adjustment. While editing softwares could be powerful, they are no match to the aesthetic ability of a human eye in discerning which images look the best. Poorly implemented exposure cannot be improved by a software. As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out.All in all, I was tremendously aided by this book when I took pictures of my KEF LS50 speakers that I was selling. The pictures turned out great, which really surprised me. Remember, this is my first time using a DSLR camera. It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.See the attached pictures and judge for yourself.One more thing: Youtube video tutorials have been very helpful especially when you hate reading. But when it comes to details, this book is indispensable.

A great read for anyone that just purchased the Nikon D3300. After using this book you'll know how to really use your camera, much much more than just using the auto setting and the pre-set functions. Have your camera close by to perform the step by step procedures the author defines. They're not hard. This camera can do a lot of things. It's much better than using the small owners manual that came with the camera. You actually learn how to take pictures using all it's features. The author describes basic photography techniques that will make your photos much better and interesting to look at - better composition on an entry level basis. Buy the book. It's not that expensive and the knowledge you'll gain will allow you to use the D3300 as it should be. It's much more than a point and shoot camera. Why not take advantage of all it's features, you paid for them. Every feature is nicely and easily explained. The author did a great job in his explanations and examples. I'd recommend going through the book twice. First to learn and understand all it can do; the second time to review and remember all it can do. There are so many things this camera can do that you won't discover on your own. And if you do discover them, you won't fully understand what they do. This book explains it all in an easy to understand format.

This is an incredible book and worth every single penny! I had previously bought another book about the D3300 (not the "for dummies" book) which was very similar to this on technical detail, etc., but I find this book to be much, much better. The pictures and technical info are superb. The advice on photographic composition is not really good but most people do not really understand photographic composition even if they are good photographers. The author mentions the old "Rule of Thirds" which was never good, etc. I was extremely lucky to be taught by an excellent photography teacher, John W. Doscher, many years ago. Aside from the faulty advice on composition, I would say this book is totally excellent. It reads well and all the technical advice flows well and in an easy-to-comprehend style. This book should be purchased by everyone who owns a Nikon D3300 camera.

Downloaded the Kindle version on the way out the door on vacation to Alaska. I was able to quickly get enough to improve my shots quite a bit. My shots were significantly better by the end of the trip. For my first time I was successful shooing manually and new when to switch to presets. Now that I'm back from vacation and need to make the time to read the parts I skimmed carefully and take my shots to the next level.The author seems to cut thru to the essentials and explain it in ways I can quickly understand and apply. He says to have the camera's User Manual handy to fill in some of the technical details as needed. Guess keeping the tech part to the minimum necessary in the book is a big part of why it worked ao well for me. Referring to the User Manual was helpful and an ingredient to my success. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great book for a beginner. We bough a Nikon D3300 as an intro DSLR because we wanted to get into photography. This book is great at getting you confident in shooting in manual mode fairly quickly. I like that it "dives right in" to the professional modes and largely skips over the automatic modes. That is important to actually learn how things work. I also appreciate the flow of the book--it starts out explaining what different camera settings are, and then it moves into chapters on how to shoot good portraits, landscapes, etc.The author is straightforward and easy to read. A good balance of informality so all the technical terms do not get overwhelming.This is a book more for beginners. If you are a beginner and want to get confident in using your DSLR, I recommend this!

I bought my D3300 about 18 months ago, and bought this book at the same time as I was new to photography. But... didn't get around to reading it! I'm now reasonably proficient, and becoming a bit addicted to photography, but was still seeing some systemic problems with some of my pictures, particularly around focussing. So picked up this book again. And it's brilliant! Within the first few pages, I'd figured out what the problem was and how to solve it! I'm about halfway through, and find the book really helpful - and I think is going to help me take my photography up a level. It's written in an easy, informative style by someone who is obviously passionate and experienced in photography, and it's easy to see what the author means. I'm now going out to try some of the settings and techniques I've just been reading about! The other thing I like is that for all the photos, the settings are given, which is a great way to learn.

I used to be 'into' SLR photography many decades ago starting with the Zenith E for those of you old enough to remember this icon from behind the Iron Curtain. So in many ways this book has been a well-constructed and easily followed revision for me describing, in plain language what the digital SLR can do and how to get the best out of it. There are many excellent tips on some of the hidden features of the camera that one would never find by ploughing through the user guide. Aside from the logical flow of the book in terms of the introductions of camera features and capabilities, it's a book that can always be referred back to as a reference.

A very useful book. I am working my way through this book, as well as attending a few workshops. I find it informative and well written. I like the assignments at the end of each chapter, as they give you something to practically do, rather than just reading about it. The D3300 has so many features, I would not have found all of them without this book. Recommended for other beginners like me.

Recommend this book. I bought a manual for the D3300 originally which left me clueless as I was a beginner. This book is very clear, lots of ideas given to do in lots of situations. My photography has definitely improved already.

Great to start to learn about the camera with all the info needed. Would recommend