Don't start your professional photography career without this!
933719
More than 80% of new businesses fail and photography studios are probably one of the more susceptible to failure. Being a good photographer and understanding the technical skills necessary to be a successful photographer are a good start, but succeeding as a professional photographer and running a studio require a lot more than just being able to handle a camera.

This is where this excellent book comes in. Written by a professional studio photographer, it leads you through setting up your business, dealing with clients, marketing & selling for a variety of market sectors, as well as legal issues, advertising and much more.

Everything is clearly written and explained, backed up by the personal experiences of the author. Easy to read and digest, this is the perfect introduction to the business of photography.

As a professional photographer myself, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be where I am today without this book. Being a professional photographer is 10% photography and 90% business. Dealing with that fact can be hard for many of us, but this book is of invaluable help.
485974
This is one of those little wonders that once you own one you ask yourself how you ever lived without it!  This thing is great for small digital cameras.  You can turn the legs in any direction you choose which makes it easy to prop the camera in just about any location.  And with the timer setting on your camera you can get some great shots that where otherwise impossible!
I love this little thing and carry it with me where ever I go.
1696377
If you are an aspiring wedding photographer, and you have just enough money to put into one lens- this is THE ONE!...I have found that I have never taken this lens off my camera during an entire wedding photoshoot. But I do have a second camera where I go back and forth between a portrait lens and a longer focal length lens. But, almost >90% of the photos I keep are the ones from this lens.
This lens does amazingly well in dimly light situations, where almost all the other lenses fail. I am super duper impressed with how this lens saved my life ;-) at a wedding which was only lit by candle lights and tiny string lights- I am still amazed by how I have got no blurry shots! And 100% shots were crisp and in focus!
Pros: Low light events/ Fast moving situations/ Weddings are the situations where it shines though- when all other lenses fail. You can truly tell the difference when going through the image sin post.

Cons: No cons in terms of what it is meant for.
But, If you are looking for well lit outdoor portrait photoshoots- it doesn't create super artsy images and shallow DOF. But at the same time it is not meant for that.
3970994
I've been a pro photographer and studio owner for 30 years.  [...].
This is the most incredible thing I've ever used.  I had their previous (.jpg only) version and it was a novelty. Tried it - and it worked, but not really ready for pro's.

It needed raw support.  The new PRO card (this one) supports RAW and movies. My shots are uploaded to my computer as I shoot them in my studio.  My Canon 1D MKII raw files are about 6.5mb and each one transfers to the computer through the air in 10 seconds.  When I shoot outdoors behind the studio, I do my session shots and when I come in range of the router (network) the outdoor files are then uploaded as well.

Amazing that it fits all this network support in a SD card.  Company is great for addressing/resolving support problems. This item has now been around a while and appears most all the bugs are out.  I'm thrilled.
Ron - [...].
1199186
I never though this thing will make my editing smoother! At the beginning I was only using it only for brushes on Lightroom and Photoshop because you are more accurate but when you have been using mice all your whole life it's harder to get use to it but when it happens, it's like magic! so fast and smooth, a must-have for every photographer and graphic designer.

TIPS: I use it to create really cool written FX on my YouTube videos and it's awesome!!! it works like a drawing tablet as well.
1357908
I'm a photography hobbyist, and this has been on my wish list since FOREVER. I decided to get it because I felt I was ready for a more professional lens. I used a 50mm 1.8 for a while and it was good - but this one is definitely a step up. Everyone has commented that my photos look even better than before! I use a little Canon T2i (I'm a small girl, all the big cameras are too heavy!!)

Because I'm a musician, most of the shots I take are of musician friends performing or for their headshots/group shots. This lens really does it. Works well in low light and has beautiful bokeh effects! Definitely one of my best investments yet.
1439821
I'll start by saying this book is amazing!

A while ago I decided I wanted to have some better quality pictures of my kids and finally saved up and bought our first DSLR.  When it arrived, I felt completely overwhelmed by the new settings and it stayed in the box for over a month...until I found this book!  This book made our DSLR seem less intimidating and now I'm using our camera regularly.  It was a great introduction, and I know I'll keep going back to it as a reference.  Buy this book - you won't regret it!
3077379
As a serious amateur photographer and Photoshop fan for several years, I loved this book! Mark gave me the tools to get my workflow under control. I have read around 30 books on Photoshop, Lightroom and Camera Raw and this one best explained how each of these terrific programs work together to bring order and fun back into my photography.
Mark is a particularly gifted teacher. He has a way of explaining things with just enough detail to thoroughly  explain each concept without getting bogged down in unnecessary side trips.
I recommend this book for anyone who needs help putting their workflow all together so that it works seamlessly from the time the photos leave the camera until they are output!
4313131
So, so, so, SO much better than the manual my camera came with!
I would be utterly lost without this guide! I want to get into photography, but I knew I really needed to learn how to use my camera before I could start taking any classes or read any other books. Trying to read through the manual my camera came with was a tedious, boring task that was making me lose interest more than anything else. I hated feeling like I was wasting my time, and not fully grasping what it was telling me, it felt like being in math class all over again, with a teacher droning on about what we'd be doing that week. . . I got this book after I spent 3 days trying to get through the manual and found myself unable to concentrate on it for more than 6 minutes at a time. . .  I have ADD and I really need something I can visually practice with in order to learn, I need to be shown, not told, and I need it to be engaging and interactive, this book is!

It takes you step through step and has you working with your camera as it explains what to do. I love it! It even starts to get into how to take really good pictures, and video, which is an added bonus my manual never mentioned! If you have a D5500, you need this book, end of story.
4527169
As a professional photographer, I am very critical of all of my camera gear. I bought this for the pocket-sized lens blower and it does not disappoint! Fits easily in my pocket along with all of the other cleaning essentials. The cleaning pen and cloth were a nice added bonus as well!
4072008
This is a must for pro and/or serious amateur photographer, especially when you are tired of seeing your shots from small LCD on the camera, do try this.  My family can see my shots on the big iPad (compared to the size of LCD on camera) with better display quality.  They also help me to check if focus is correct on site when I am taking pictures.  Excellent tool.
4577724
I got this book in late January 2012, about a week before getting my first DSLR. My goodness, I had no idea what I was missing when using the "Auto" setting on digital cameras. Before reading Understanding Exposure, my camera flash would pop up all the time to compensate for low light, etc. I now am in full control of the pictures I want to take, and never again have to use Auto or those other special functions like Portrait, Landscape, Action, etc. The book is written for someone who has never used the manual settings on a camera before. He provides some exercises and there are web videos you can check out as well. I am taking amazing pictures with my DSLR, and I also take much better pictures with my point and shoot and even my cell phone.

I have a new hobby, and Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure is the book that started it all, LOL. You cannot go wrong with this book!
1523047
For anyone thinking of going into or already are in the field of commercial photography this book is your bible!
2070343
Absolutely worth the price. Just clip on lens and point from subject to where camera will be located, do a manual white balance and the colors are perfectly accurate. Tested this out in the garage with a mixture of incandescent and fluorescent illumination and the result is a perfectly color balanced image. Could never do this using the method of shooting a manual white balance on an 18% gray card. Saves a whole lot of time in Lightroom and Photoshop and resulting printed images. Comes with a lanyard, case, and instructions in several languages as well as link to their website with video instructions. Make sure you get the size that will fit your largest diameter lens, Simply hold it in front of your smaller diameter lenses for the white balance reading. Wish I had this years ago for the time savings resulting from its use.
213667
BEST purchase for someone who uses their lens for documenting family events that they want to be seen in - compatible with all of our Nikons (D60 and D5000) so we were able to set up posed pictures from a variety of angles and use just one remote. I just regret not buying this sooner! I took it out of the tiny box, pulled the battery plastic out, and it was ready to be used as soon as I set the camera to remote released shutter setting...
4514336
I shoot professionally and spend quite a bit of time each day working on images in Lightroom. I try to stay up-to-date on all things Lightroom through forums, videos, websites, etc. Although much of the material was review for me, I found lots of really helpful little techniques and approaches that made the book a very worthwhile purchase. His personal notes are what I found to be the most helpful as he intersperses the main material with little hints and tricks to improve the work flow. There is a lot of great material in this book that will take some time to master. I'm going to take my copy to an office store and have it ring-bound so that I can refer to it on a regular basis. I highly recommend it for those who want to squeeze as much as they can out of Lightroom.
1905265
This is a wonderful book, packed with secrets and essential information for people wanting to enter the profession of commercial photography.  Assisting is a great way to learn the business.

Matt's easy-to-read personable (and sometimes outright funny) text reveals a deep understanding not only of the fine points of assisting but how starting photographers, working without assistants, should manage their jobs. This is a book not just for assistants but also for pros who want an insider's look at how the bigger jobs are done successfully and what a good assistant can bring to the shoot.

Matt offers tricks that are worth their weight in gold to keep disasters from happening on your next job.

Photographers wondering how to start working with an assistant and what to expect from one should read this book too.

So this is not just for assistants. If you're a photographer that doesn't yet know it all I (I'm one) then you need to read The Photographer's Assistant Handbook. It will help make you a good assistant and a better photographer.

Disclosure: I'm one of many pros mentioned in this book. Matt has learned and taught well.