Starting out

Books giving an introduction to digital photography quickly get out-of-date. You can do very well with a current issue of a specialsed digital photography magazine supplemented by Google searches.

Having said that, for a well-written and digestible starter book consider How to do Everything with your Digital Camera by Dave Johnson (ISBN: 9780072228267, McGraw Hill/Osborne 2002) using Paintshop Pro for most of its examples.

Another good starter book is 40 Digital Photography Techniques (ISBN: 9788931433692, YoungJin 2007).

Photoshop Elements

Teach Yourself Visually Photoshop Elements 8 by Mike Wooldridge (ISBN 978-0-480-56690-9, Wiley 2010) is a good way to get started.

Photoshop

Most Photoshop books deal with the intricacies of every tool and every dialogue box, but give little practical guidance on the best way to enhance an actual photograph.

For an excellent introduction to photo enhancement, buy Scott Kelby's 7-Point System (ISBN: 9780321501929, Peachpit Press 2007). If you like it (you will), move on to his others, or ones that he recommends.

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