40 Digital Photography Techniques [Paperback]

40 Digital Photography Techniques is a great book for the beginning digital photographer. Even though this book is written for the photographer using a digital camera, someone using one with film would get some great tips on how to take better pictures. The Introduction chapter has 23 pages explaining the terms used in digital photography from CCD - Charge-Coupled Device - to a comparison chart of the pros and cons between a digital camera and ones that use film. This chapter also contains all the accessories that are available as add-ons to digital cameras.

The size of the book is easy to take along in a camera bag at approximately 7" square. The inside of the cover has a bend over that acts as a bookmark and, of course, there are lots of photos to show what is being described.

Do you know how much light you should have in a picture or how to set up the best shot? These are some of the things Chapter 1 has to offer. It also talks about the basics, a good place to start in a new hobby. Such things as keeping the lens clean, preventing shake and blurring, how to hold the camera and stance, and using a tripod or other objects for support are described. Image size, the quality of the photo, using the focus lock and different type of lenses are discussed as well.

Chapter 2 provides more information on lighting your pictures as well as other things you need to consider when taking photos such as weather, time of day and when and how to use a flash. Remember those old photos that your grandmother had that were that weird brown color? It is called sepia and Chapter 2 tells you how to achieve such pictures with your digital camera. And what about those really close up pictures of such things as flowers or a butterfly? Do you know what white balance is or what is does for your pictures? How is a continuous shot accomplished? These questions are answered in Chapter 2.

Chapter 3 is all about shooting people. Things like close ups, backgrounds, groups of people, camera angle, and filters are all things that are necessary to think about when working with people as your photo subject. How do you get children to be good subject matter? What do I do if I want a self-portrait and how do I do it? Check out this chapter for the answers.

We all love those wonderful countryside pictures of fall trees and waterfalls or that special place we want to remember from our once in a lifetime trip. Chapter 4 talks about the people, places and things that will keep our memories of this trip and the best way to save them in print. But the weather is not always sunny, what happens when it rains or snows or after the sun has set? Several pages have suggestions on how to handle these quirks.

Angle, composition, light and exposure are all things that need to be thought about in order to achieve good photos as well as distortion, glare, reflection and use of a tripod. Chapter 5 explains these and the use of a computer program called PhotoStitch to create a panoramic shot. Did you know your digital camera is able to make movies? No, then read on in Chapter 5 for the how-to of doing this.

The final chapter tells what you can do with the photos now that you have taken them. You have the pictures on the camera, what is the next step? There is that weird name your camera gives each picture. Will you remember even by the next day what picture 000046.jpg is all about? Most of us won't so they need to be renamed for easier organization. What are the different ways of getting your pictures from the computer and into a printed format? What type of computer programs are available for manipulating the photos - from just getting them from the camera into the computer to making color corrections or even doing some cropping? Can you put your photos onto the web so they can be shared with others? Reading this last chapter will answer all of these questions.

Finally, 40 Digital Photography Techniques comes with a CD loaded with helpful software. Trial version of the following can be accessed from this CD: ACDSee 5.0, Photoshop Album, Photoshop Elements 2.0, Print Pilot 1.31 and Screen Saver Builder 3.22. A full version of Coverxp 1.61, a shareware program, will allow the user to create CD covers and is the final program available on the CD.

In less than 200 pages and in an easy to use format, you will be up and running with your new digital camera. If you are new to the digital age of photography, this book will give you a good understanding of how to take and process pictures without the use of film.

If you are looking for photography basics this is the book for you. However, if you are familiar with photography either digital or 35 mm you might want to look elsewhere.

Be aware that none of the material on the CD will work on a macintosh, which is certainly disappointing.

At first read, the book seemed like a promotion for several digital photography products and software. This was enhanced by the fact that the book comes with a useless CD that only can have the purpose of getting people who do not know the range of available software to purchase these. That happens since these are all they learn and the programs will expire after 30 Days or so. I did not install the software. I recommend LView Pro that can be downloaded from the web and is much much cheaper than Adobe products.

On first read, I also found the book to be very elementary lacking depth when I desired more information. But this impression was lessened slightly as I read more in the book. The book repeats the technical material often as more techniques are introduced. This is a repetative type of learning that has two benefits. If a person wants to jump to a specific technique, then the material is briefly covered all together and does not need to read the preceedign material. The other benefit comes to people who start at the front of a book and read to the back, the material is repeated often to help people who are new to digital photography learn the language and how to set their cameras technically. The bad thing was that it lacks technical depth. I found myself wanting to know more about the history of photography, the specific way light is affected by the aperature as it enters the lens and more technical details on the comparison of the digital to film camera.

I went to the bookstore looking for alternate books for a gift for my mother who I think is interested in learning more. I skimmed and read all the available books on the shelf. There are lots of them. Even though this book is short and lacks detail, I did not find another book that could compare for entry level digital photographers. I thought that the for Idiots or for Dummies books would out do it, they did not. I found only one book on the shelf that I liked better but it did not have the elements that this book does in the simple layout.

The benefits. This book is short. Each section is self contained. It has good pictures that illustrate the subject that is being discussed. It can serve as a quick introduction to the subject for people who are afraid of large daunting technical manuals. I did not even consider the dummy books for my mother since they lack color photographs taking away from the approachability of the book. The nice things that I saw in this book is that it covers techniques and how to achieve them for all ranges of camera. If you have a point and shoot digital with sports mode, portrait mode and landscape mode, this book will tell how these settings work and how to use them to your advantage in composing good photos.

The problems. It leaves you wanting more details. It has an accompanying CD that does not cover a range of available software but suggests to the consumer what they should use, and some of these packages can be expensive. Shareware is a viable option. It is complete in the sense that it covers all aspects of digital photography so one of the 40 tips is how to plug the camera into the TV or VCR to share or record or use the camera as a video camera to record directly to VHS. I found the sections that dealt with these sort of things that should be in the camera manual to be useless inthis book.

I saw today that there is a second edition. I did not read that.

In summary, the book is excellent for beginning digital photographers. Particularly people who do not have time to sit down and read a 500 page book. It does not insult them, it draws them in with nice photos. It covers a range of techniques technically and then how to use these techniques in composition. Ignore the trial software which will expire after some time. Check the book out of your local public library and have a look at it then buy it if it suits you. If you want more details on photography, you probably bought a better camera where you can control the aperature and shutter. This is not the book for you. Realize that the digital camera will work just like a film camera and get a good book covering photography techniques.

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