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A Short Course in
Using
Your Digital Camera
A
Guide to Great Photographs
ANIMATED!!
124 page printed black & white
text and a full-color, fully searchable eBook in PDF format
with buttons that play over 70 interactive animations
and other resources that bring to life the concepts of
digital photography
For
more info
and
to
order online
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A
great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or subject.
But recognizing a great opportunity isn’t enough to capture
it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared
involves understanding your camera well enough to capture what
you see. Getting you prepared to see and capture great photographs
is what this book is all about. It doesn’t matter if you
are taking pictures for business or pleasure, there’s a lot
here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from
your photography.
To
get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand
both concepts and procedures; the “whys” and “hows”
of photography.
Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply
regardless of the camera you are using. They include such things
as how sharpness and exposure affect your images and the way they
are perceived by viewers. Understanding concepts answers the “why”
kinds of questions you might have about photography.
Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and
explain step-by-step how you set your camera’s controls to
capture an image just the way you want to. Understanding procedures
gives you the answers to the “how” kinds of questions
you might have.
This
book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because
that’s how photographers think. You think about scenes and
subjects, highlights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color
and tone. Discussions of the procedures you use with specific
cameras are integrated throughout the concepts, appearing in those
places where they apply. This integrated approach lets you first
understand the concepts of photography and then see where to look
in your camera manual for the specific steps you use in all kinds
of photographic situations. There are even places for you to write
in notes about how you do it with your own camera.
To
get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you
only need to understand how and when to use a few simple features
on your camera such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If
you’ve previously avoided understanding these features and
the profound impact they can have on your images, you’ll
be pleased to know that you can learn them on a weekend. You can
then spend the rest of your life marveling at how their infinite
variety of combinations makes it possible to convey your own personal
view of the world. You’ll be ready to keep everything in
a scene sharp for maximum detail or to blur it all for an impressionistic
portrayal. You’ll be able to get dramatic close-ups, freeze
fast action, create wonderful panoramas, and capture the beauty
and wonder of rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, and nighttime scenes.
As
you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no “rules”
or “best” way to make a picture. Great photographs come
from using what you know to experiment and try new approaches.
Digital cameras make this especially easy because there are no
film costs or delays. Every experiment is free and you see the
results immediately so you can learn step by step.
This
book assumes you’ve mastered the mechanics of your camera.
It’s about getting great pictures, not about installing batteries
and connecting your camera to your computer. That information
is presented in the user guides that came with your camera.
Chapter
1
Camera Controls & Creativity...7
Taking
Photos in Automatic Mode...8
Good Things to Know...9
When Things Go Wrong...10
Types of Digital Cameras...11
Understanding Image Size and Quality...13
Exposure Controls—The Shutter and Aperture...17
Choosing Exposure Modes...18
The Shutter Controls Light and Motion...19
The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field...21
Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together...23
Composing Images...26
Chapter
2
Controlling Sharpness...28
Eliminating
Camera Movement...29
Increasing Sensitivity...31
Sharpness Isn’t Everything...32
How to Photograph Motion Sharply...33
Focus...35
Depth of Field...38
Circles of Confusion...39
Controlling Depth of Field...40
Using Maximum Depth of Field...41
Using Shallow Depth of Field...42
Conveying the Feeling of Motion...43
Chapter
3
Controlling Exposure...44
The
Importance of Exposure...45
How Your Meter Works...46
When Automatic Exposure Works Well...49
When to Override Automatic Exposure...50
How Overriding Autoexposure Works...54
How to Override Automatic Exposure...55
Using Histograms...58
Using the RAW Format...62
Chapter
4
Capturing Light & Color...64
Where
Does Color Come From?...65
White Balance...66
Color Balance and Time of Day...68
Sunsets and Sunrises...69
Weather...71
Color Choices...74
Photographing at Night...75
The Direction of Light...78
The Quality of Light...80
Using Light and Color Creatively...82
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Chapter
5
Understanding Lenses...84
Introduction
to Lenses...85
Understanding Focal Lengths...86
Zoom Lenses...88
Normal Focal Lengths...89
Short Focal Lengths...90
Long Focal Lengths...92
Portraits and Focal Length...94
Macro Mode and Macro Lenses...95
Perspective in a Photograph...97
Lens Accessories...98
Chapter
6
Using Flash & Studio Lighting...99
How
Automatic Flash Works...100
Flash Sync and Shutter Speeds...101
Portraits with Flash...102
Using Fill Flash...104
Controlling Flash Exposures...105
Using Slow Sync Flash...106
Using Available Light...107
Using an External Flash...108
Using Flash Creatively...109
Studio Lighting...110
Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction...113
The Main Light...114
The Fill Light...115
The Background Light...116
The Rim Light...117
Chapter
7
Exploring Special Features...118
Shooting
Panoramas...119
Photographing in Black and White...120
Continuous Photography...121
Shooting Movies...122
Caring for Your Camera...123
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Animations
The
book has links to interactive animations and other resources that
bring to life the underlying concepts of digital photography.
Here is a list of just some of them.
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Chapter
1.
Digital Images and Digital Cameras
Camera
Icons (PDF) 9
Dots on an Inkjet Print 13
The Big Lie 13
Resolution—The True Meaning 14
Pixelization 14
Converting Pixels to Print Sizes 14
Cameras are Boxes 15
The Meaning of "Charge-Coupled" 15
RGB Color 16
CMYK Colors 16
Pixels and Curves 16
The Effects of Compression 16
RAW vs JPEG Image Quality 16
Understanding Exposure 17
Changing Exposure Modes 18
How Various Shutters Work 19
Shutter Speed Effect on Exposure 19
Shutter Speed Effect on Motion 20
Apertures and their Effect on Exposure 21
Aperture and Depth of Field 22
Aperture-Shutter Speed Equivalents 25
Parallax in an Optical Viewfinder 27
The Light Path Through an SLR 27
Chapter
2
Controlling Sharpness
Noise,
Example from Cadillac Ranch 31
ISO and Noise 31
Distance and Sharpness 34
The Shutter and Sharpness 34
The Plane of Critical Focus 35
Servo AF Focus 35
Focus Zones 36
Focus Lock 37
Aperture and Depth of Field 40
Selective Focus 42
Chapter
3
Controlling Exposure
Understanding
Exposure 45
How Your Meter Sees 46
Exposure Compensation 55
Exposure Lock 56
Autoexposure Bracketing 57
Understanding Histograms 58
Highlight Warnings 59
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Chapter
4
Capturing Light & Color
The
Color of Light 65
Adjusting White Balance 66
Changing Color Spaces 67
Chapter
5
Using Lenses
Canon
Lenses 85
Image Stabilization 85
Focal Length and Angle of View 86
Focal Length Factors 86
Image Sensor Sizes 87
360-Degree VR Panorama 90
Optical and Digital Zoom 93
Wide-angle Lens Distortion 94
Macro Magnifications 95
Parallax in an Optical Viewfinder 96
Perspective 97
Chapter
6
Flash and Studio Photography
The
Inverse Square Law 100
Calculating Guide Numbers (Excel) 100
Flash Sync 101
Red-eye 103
Fill Flash 104
Flash Exposure Compensation 105
First and Second Curtain Sync 106
External Flash 108
Hard and Soft Light 110
The Main Light 114
The Fill Light 115
The Background Light 116
The Rim Light 117
Chapter
7
Special Features
360-Degree
VR Panorama 90
Continuous Mode 121
Movie Mode 122
Dust on Your Image Sensor 123
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