I recommend "The Digital Photography Book", volumes one and two by Scott Kelby, and "Understanding Exposure" revised edition by Bryan Peterson.

I do not agree that "book learning" is the hard way to go, only if your mind does not learn best from what you read. Typically, I am not much of a reader in that my attention span doesn't allow for just reading text, I'm more of an auditory learner. But, I love the books I mentioned (links posted below) because they are easy to read and understand and full of photographs and illustrations. I also do not agree that your only instruction should be classroom based, and I do not believe you need a degree to be a photographer the same as I don't need an engineering degree to be an engineering electronics technician. Though a degree will look better on my resume, it doesn't neccessarily mean I know any more (or less) by having, or not having it. It just depends on what I plan to do with my career. Don't let folks tell you that book learning is hard, in truth it is not. I gained the most understanding about photography, aside from experimentation, from reading the books I mentioned and subscribing to a couple of really good photoblogs (also linked below). Though you can't learn everything about photography from a book, being a newb you can gain a lot of background knowledge even before you pick up a camera (which is what you should be doing anyway). Know about exposure and composition (Bryan Peterson books), and learn about how to work a camera while either in your hands or before you buy one, and learn photoshop (if you don't already have it, Scott Kelby books). There is nothing wrong with publications, that is why they were written. If you feel you need some professional instruction, take a few classes if you need to. It is however, not a requisite. Good luck with your endeavors.

dragon speaker is my most POPULAR book…check it out

i made mine, and kids at school are asking for me to order it! did i mention that you keep all the money from the people that ordered it? About there is 600,000 owners of books there and they have money. But there’s catch, you only have 15 days to order it and then they get rid of it.

If they have them check out "The Negative", "The Print" and "The Camera" by Ansel Adams.

Also check out any basic photography books that explain composition and light control. Very important.

Check out this site: http://www.stevebedell.com Mr. Bedell is a Master Photographer and really knows how to use available light. You might also want to go to http://www.shutterbug.com and do a Search for 'get it right … in the camera' which is an article written by Bedell about shooting a model at the beach.

Any books by the late Monte Zucker will also help with your portraiture.

I believe your source on Diane Arbus was very misinformed.

A lot of people seem to think that if you "… just get out there and shoot…" you'll somehow take a good picture. Of course, using this logic, its possible that you'll take 300 lousy pictures and have no idea why they are lousy pictures. That's where the "technical" part comes in. (A person once stated in here that if they took 100 pictures and got 1 good one they were happy. Talk about low expectations! I honestly believe you'd get similar results if you just gave the camera to a chimpanzee.)

If you don't know and understand the exposure triangle of ISO, shutter speed and aperture then how can you control your picture making? Sure, you can set your camera on Program AE and let it make all the decisions about aperture and shutter speed but how does the camera know what effect you are trying to achieve? It doesn't. It can't. Cameras are just dumb boxes.

If you don't understand how aperture and focal length are used to produce either a shallow Depth of Field (DOF) or a deep DOF then how do you isolate your subject from the background? How do you make sure that everything from 3' in front of the camera to infinity is in focus? (Depth of Field is defined as that area in acceptable focus in front of and behind your subject).

If you don't understand the role of shutter speed then how do you expect to use it to stop motion or to allow a subject to be slightly blurred to show motion?

If you don't know how the ISO you choose affects both the aperture and shutter speed and the picture quality then how will you know what ISO to use on a sunny day? For sports/action? For the best possible picture quality?

Without a good technical knowledge of photography, how will you know what to do when confronted with scenes that aren't average and that will cause your in-camera meter to give you a bad exposure? Suppose you have a subject against a bright background and don't want a silhouette? What if the subject is frontlit against a dark background? If you depend on your camera you'll be disappointed. Your subject will not be correctly exposed. Suppose your scene is white sand or snow. Let the camera's meter decide and your white sand or snow will turn out gray.

You also must know and understand the "Rules of Composition". By knowing them you make your pictures more interesting. You know to not center your subject. You know to keep empty space to a minimum. You know to check the background so you can eliminate trees "growing" from someone's head. You know how to eliminate ot at least minimize a distracting background. Of course, knowing the "Rules" then allows you to break them when your creative impulses overrule them.

So yes, having the technical knowledge is needed. Without it you are just a snapshooter. Point. Shoot. Hope. With it you are on your way to being a photographer. Compose. Shoot. Know.

For the record, I almost always shoot in Aperture Preferred because I like a lot of DOF and I know that lenses are designed to give their best results at between f5.8 to f11. I watch the shutter speed to make sure it isn't too slow to hand-hold.

"Pictures are not taken, they are made." Ansel Adams

"Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha' ". Ernst Haas

i asked this a while back, don't remember my answers though. go to the library or b&n and see if you can find anything. tht's what i'm gonna do when i get some money. ^_^

This is fantastic! Can’t wait to get started on mine.