I teach night photography classes here in Missoula and the fall catalog will soon be in people's mailboxes. (Watch my web site www.KathyEyster.com for updates to classes and times in the next week.) When I'm preparing for a new round of courses, I'm always looking for better textbooks to support what I teach in the classroom. This time I've found a brand new book that I'm sure will help my students and might help you, too.
It's called The Shot Doctor: The amateur's guide to taking great digital photos by Mark Edward Soper (June 2009, Que Publishing). It has lots of practical suggestions for better images, and lots of before and after pictures showing how adjusting your digital camera's controls can improve the results. My favorite suggestion? For indoor pictures of all kinds, set the camera ISO (sensitivity) to 400. This both improves flash pictures and even allows you to make some photos without flash. Enjoy!