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New Re: How to take good photos for under $1000.
Yep, some of his stuff is hyperbolic, etc. But will the right-er parts galvanize any learning (from better sources, later?)

It would be silly to argue with your points as, none is 'wrong'. But you are hardly an 'average photog', either; maybe you are not his audience.
My take is that the intended audience for his quick & dirty 'fix' for bad snapshots: is someone unwilling (yet) to invest the time and effort to Understand
(a great many) basics, starting with some physics and optics. Can no longer presume today, either: a random person can grok elementary algebra.

Ex: those awful presets? ... might could get a neophyte introduced to that and a range of increasingly powerful (and complex) alternative Apps.
Could.. or might stay in 1st gear indefinitely.
(Nor probably, could he (or you) tell a random person how to See.. a scene for its potential) nor how to decide which
--if any, of the possible manipulations is more apt to enhance/more apt to over-do or mangle the output image.

I guess that I expect little anyway--of such Intros; at best they can help a neophyte progress, but cannot make a Good photographer out of a person who cannot See a scene and its possibilities.. instinctively. For one who can See: there will be enough enthusiasm next, to bear the delving necessary to realizing what was seen--in the finished print. Including using some math and experimenting with what it tells you.

Maybe there are better Intros at this level; I haven't scanned enough stabs at it, recently. I think a tyro can grok DoF on the level of looking through the lens and Noticing the effect; stop-down and see: it's larger! (They were right.) But basic formulae follow, if one wants to grasp any Whys. The audience drops-off ~ there.
(Hell, as a tyke I learned the Need for [sq. root]; via ƒ-stops needing to be grokked! Ever thus?)

You could write a better one (even sans much math.) There seem to be lots of folks with Ferraris out there now, coming off a Morris Minor, all unaware of gears 4 through 7/8? Damn few shall become Tazio Nuvolari.
New Re: How to take good photos for under $1000.
Oh, I know I'm not his audience. It's not that. It's that I don't think his article is helpful at all, to anyone. It basically says "take loads and loads of pictures, you never know, you might get a good one, and while you're at it, buy my presets for a piece of software you don't understand!"

The problems beginners have aren't camera problems, they're composition problems. Trees coming out of peoples' heads. An unwillingness to get close. Everything taken from eye level, instead of getting down low or up high.

Composition is 90% of photography, yet he doesn't talk about it at all.

His presets? Well, they might be brilliant, they might be shit - I have no idea - but I'll bet you a pint of foaming ale that they're not significantly better than the stuff you can download off Adobe's site:

http://www.adobe.com...20presets&cat=all

The best advice is "think about your picture, and that means understanding a little about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO".

Seriously, an hour spent reading the opening chapters of Understanding Exposure will do more to lift a beginner's photography than any amount of farting around in Lightroom or taking bad advice about kit lenses.

tl;dr: Don't invest time and money in software, invest it in understanding.
New Last sentence: mandatory for every Pol on the planet! (too)
     How to take good photos for under $1000. - (Another Scott) - (30)
         GMTA. - (Ashton)
         Re: How to take good photos for under $1000. - (pwhysall) - (4)
             TL;DR: learn how photography works. :-) - (static)
             Re: How to take good photos for under $1000. - (Ashton) - (2)
                 Re: How to take good photos for under $1000. - (pwhysall) - (1)
                     Last sentence: mandatory for every Pol on the planet! (too) -NT - (Ashton)
         One more thing - (pwhysall) - (19)
             Wait, *that's* what he's selling? Holy crap -NT - (drook)
             On Bryan's book... - (Another Scott) - (17)
                 It's got many, many more glowing ones. - (pwhysall)
                 On "imprecise" explanations - (drook) - (15)
                     Yes. And no. - (Another Scott) - (14)
                         How is that "wrong"? - (drook) - (11)
                             It invites confusion. - (Another Scott) - (10)
                                 Yes, and no, and yes again - (drook) - (7)
                                     You've brought up another important issue - (Another Scott) - (6)
                                         Re: weeding out - (drook) - (3)
                                             Fun. :-/ - (Another Scott) - (2)
                                                 Why would you expect pure rotation with an edge hit? - (drook) - (1)
                                                     Ah, ... - (Another Scott)
                                         Belated comment to (this, buried-in 'Hardware'.) - (Ashton) - (1)
                                             Thanks. I remembered the wrong book. - (Another Scott)
                                 Bingo! Max Jammer's 'Concepts of Force' gives you a qed - (Ashton) - (1)
                                     Gotta move it up my reading list! Thanks for the reminder. -NT - (Another Scott)
                         NO!! ... keep-on 'being sensitive' - (Ashton) - (1)
                             :-) "... of course, you learned this in kindergarten..."!!1 -NT - (Another Scott)
         Re: How to take good photos for under $1000. - (pwhysall) - (3)
             Neat. - (Another Scott) - (1)
                 But they won't, though. - (pwhysall)
             350D and the 18-55mm kit lens - (Bman)

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