Book I Digital Photography Overview

If you’re shifting your digital photographic pursuits into high gear and want to hit the ground running, this mini book is your fast track to pixel proficiency. You can consider the six chapters in this overview both a quickie course in digital photography concepts as well as a preview of what you can discover in the rest of the book. All the basics are here, so you can begin taking, sharing, and printing great photos right away. When you want to find out more, you can follow the cross references in this book to discover the in-depth coverage you’ll find in the other sections.

This mini book outlines the essentials of good photography and shows you how to decide which digital equipment will do the best job for you. You’ll discover the best ways to acquire digital pictures — whether you choose to use a camera or scanner — and find out the fundamentals of editing and restoring photos with image editors like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Paint Shop Pro. If you want to share and preserve your digital images, you’ll find tips on managing, archiving, and printing your photos, as well as discover the best ways to post them online for others to enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Essentials of Good Digital Photography

In This Chapter

- Choosing equipment

- Making great digital photos

- Converting other photos to digital format

- Making hard-copy prints

In 1888, George Eastman began promoting the first hand-held Kodak camera with the slogan, “You press the button, we do the rest.” His idea was to make the film camera as convenient as the pencil. However, the film king’s dream didn’t really come true until the invention of the digital camera.

Certainly, conventional photography has long been as simple as pressing a button, but the “we do the rest” part-taking the film to a photo lab, deciding what size and kind of prints to make, and then waiting for the results — is a lot less convenient than using a pencil.

Digital photography has finally put the entire process of making pictures in the hands of the person holding the camera. You press the button, and you can do as much of the rest yourself as you’re comfortable with. If all you want to do is point and shoot, you can do that. If you want to get more involved in the picture-taking and picture-making process, digital photography gives you the tools for that, too.

You compose the picture through the viewfinder (as always), but now, you can preview the exact photograph that you’re going to take on a bright LCD (liquid crystal display) screen on the back of your camera. After snapping a shot, you can instantly review the photos you’ve taken and erase the bad pictures on the spot or “mark” the ones you want to print.

10 Knowing What Equipment You Need You don’t need to remember to stop and buy film. Your digital film is almost infinitely reusable. You don’t have to drop off your digital film for finishing: It’s “processed” instantly and ready for viewing or printing using your own inexpensive color printer. No more sifting through stacks of prints of marginal images. You decide which images to print and whether to make them 4 x 6 inches or 5 x 7 inches or some other size. You can print them at home inexpensively or take a tiny digital memory card to a nearby retailer and have even more inexpensive prints made for you in minutes by an in-store digital print lab.

On the other hand, if you want to have full control over your photos, digital photography gives you that, too, to a degree that has never before been possible. Perhaps your images aren’t exactly right or could benefit from a little cropping or other improvements. You can fix bad color, remove your ex-brother-in-law from a family photo, or adjust the borders of an image to focus on the most interesting subject matter. All you need is an image editor,

such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

This chapter provides an overview of the sorts of things you find out how to do in this book. I cover each topic in more detail later on in a mini book and chapter of its own. I’ll keep the repetition to a minimum; the chapters in Book I are intended to offer an introduction to topics that are explored more deeply elsewhere in the book.

Conventions Used in This Book

Digital photography knows no operating system limits. All digital cameras and many software applications work equally well on a PC and a Macintosh. To that end, this book is cross-platform. Understandably, some differences do crop up, particularly in the chapters that deal with image editing. In this book, Windows commands are given first, followed by Mac commands, like this:

Press Enter (or Return on the Mac) to begin a new line.

Occasionally, text will be specific to one platform or another. Commands listed often involve using the keyboard along with the mouse — for example, “Press Shift while dragging with the Rectangular Marquee tool to create a square,” or “Alt +click (Option +click) the eyeball to redisplay all layers”.

When you see a command arrow (➪) in the text, it indicates that you should select a command from the menu bar. For example, “Choose Edit ➪Define Custom Shape” means to click the Edit menu and then choose the Define Custom Shape option.

Although this book was written based on the latest digital cameras and the newest software (such as Print Shop Pro and Photoshop), if you’re still bouncing around with earlier versions, you can still glean valuable info. You might just have to poke around a little more to find a tool or option that has moved — and of course, the topics covering new features won’t be applicable. But hey, seeing the cool new features might just be the impetus you need to go out and upgrade!

Book VIII: Printing and Sharing Your Digital Images

Your digital photos are going to be so good that you won’t be able to keep them to yourself. This book provides more information on printing your photos and shows you ways to share your pictures over the Internet. You’ll become more comfortable with your printer’s capabilities, discovering all the things that you can do with photos online, whether it’s showcasing your pictures among your friends and colleagues or making photo greeting cards, T-shirts, or other gift items.

Book VII: Restoring Old Photos

Continue your study of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements with this book, which shows you how to restore old photos and make some common repairs to your digital images. Read chapters on scanning in print images, tips for working with slides and negatives, and some common fixes for vintage photos.

Book VI: Editing with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

This book goes into a little more detail on the use of the two most popular image editing programs: Adobe Photoshop (favored by professionals) and Adobe Photoshop Elements (an inexpensive younger sibling that has lots of power but is still easy to use). You discover the power of making selections, brush away problems in your digital photos, correct your colors, and apply special effects with filters. Although this book is not a complete guide to Photoshop, you’ll find lots of

good information you can use right away to try out your digital photo editing muscles. (For tons of in-depth coverage, read Photoshop CS2 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Barbara Obermeier [Wiley].)

Book V: Basics of Image Editing

This book is your introduction to image editing, providing general tips on what you can — and can’t — do with popular image editors such as Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint, Photo Impact, or Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. You’ll see the capabilities of these programs, discovering the full range of tools at your disposal. The book winds up with a chapter that compares and contrasts the most popular image editors so you can choose which image editing program you really need (or whether you might even benefit from owning two!).

Book IV: Taking Great Pictures

This is the meat of the book for veteran and aspiring photographers alike. Each of the six chapters is devoted to a different kind of photography. You’ll see the basic rules for composing great photos — and when to break them. You’ll discover the secrets of close-up photography and how to make pleasing portraits of individuals and groups. Whether shooting for publication is part of your job description or just a goal, you’ll find tips on how to take publishable photos and how to market them. I also include chapters on sports and action photography as well tips on travel photography.

Book III: Using Digital SLRs

This book provides a concise overview of the tools and capabilities you’ll find in the latest digital SLR cameras. You find out why these cameras can do things that their non-SLR counterparts cannot and how to use those features to improve your photography.

Book II: Building Your Digital Photography Studio

This book helps you choose the right camera, whether it’s your first digital camera or the one you’re dreaming about as a replacement for your current model. You’ll read all the facts on resolution, lens settings, storage, and accessories. One chapter shows you the requirements for setting up a PC for digital photography. The good news is that you probably already have everything you need in your computer. I’ll give you some advice on recommended upgrades that can make your system work even better with digital images. You’ll also discover your options for getting pictures from your camera into your digital darkroom. And, if you want to get the most from your pictures, you’ll want to read up on how to add a scanner and printer, too.

Book I: Digital Photography Overview

This section is your digital photography short course, providing all the information on a variety of topics that you really need to know to get started. Each of the six chapters is an overview of topics covered in depth later in the book. You’ll find the essentials of good digital photography, equipment basics, and how to acquire digital pictures. Buzz through the quickie introduction into some of the ways you can edit or restore a photo electronically and take a look at how you can store and organize your digital photos. Then, if you’re interested in what’s involved in selecting a printer or scanner, you’ll find all the basic information summarized for you in an easy-to-understand way.

What’s in This Book

This book is broken down into mini books, each covering a general topic. Each mini book comprises chapters, each covering a more specific topic under the general one. Each chapter is then divided into sections, and some of those sections have subsections. I’m sure you get the picture. You can read the book from front to back, or you can dive right into the mini book or chapter of your choice. Either way works just fine. Any time a concept is mentioned that isn’t covered in depth in that chapter, you’ll find a cross-reference to another book and chapter where you’ll find all the details.

If you’re looking for something specific, check out either the Table of Contents or the index.

The Cheat Sheet at the beginning of the book provides helpful information you’ll use often. Tear it out, tape it to your monitor, and don’t forget to say, “Thanks.” (You’re welcome.)

And finally, you get pictures. Lots of them. Many of these pictures illustrate good photo techniques as well as traps to avoid. You’ll find examples of the kinds of pictures you can take right away and maybe a few that you’ll want

to strive to equal or exceed.

This book contains eight mini books. The following sections offer a quick synopsis of what each book contains.

About This Book

This book, now in its third edition and freshly enhanced with full-color images throughout, has been updated to include all the latest technology and gadgets available to the digital photographer. It is written for the person who has a good grasp of using a computer and navigating an operating system and has at least a cursory knowledge of the operation of a digital camera. It would help if you had some familiarity with an image editor, such as Corel Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint, or Adobe’s Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. It is intended to be a comprehensive reference book that you can read cover to cover or reach for when you’re looking for specific information about a particular task. Wherever I can, I sneak in a useful tip or an interesting technique to help you put digital photography to work for your project needs. If you have some knowledge of conventional photography, this book will help you fine-tune your capabilities. If you know very little about photography, there’s help for you here, too. One large chunk of the book — Book IV — is devoted to tips on the most popular genres of photography, from close-up and sports photography to travel photography and shooting for publication.

Check out the helpful section on getting the best composition. If you’re puzzled over what equipment to buy, look to the sections on choosing cameras, photo accessories, and related equipment, such as printers and scanners. There’s a new book in this edition especially for you digital single-lens reflex (dSLR) users, although you’ll find that another book of mine, Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies, goes into more detail on the special features of these more advanced cameras.

Introduction

The future of photography is in your hands, and it’s becoming all digital! Not since the 19th century, when photographers had to be artisan, craftsperson, artist, chemist, and public relations expert rolled into one, has so much of the photographic process been entirely in the control of the person taking the picture. Now you can compose and view the exact picture you’re going to take by using your camera’s full liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Review the picture an instant after pressing the shutter. If your computer is nearby, you can upload it seconds later, view a super-large version on your display, crop it, enhance it, and then make your own sparkling full color print — all within minutes! When you go digital, you never need to buy film or wait while your photos are processed in a lab. You decide which images to print and how large to make them. You can display your digital photographic work framed on your wall or displayed proudly over your fireplace. You can make wallet-size photos, send copies to friends in e-mail, or create an online gallery that can be viewed by relatives and colleagues over the Web. And if alchemy is in your blood, you can transform the simplest picture into a digital masterpiece by using an image editor. Correct your photos, delete your ex-brother-in-law from a family portrait, or transplant the Eiffel Tower to the seashore. Digital photography gives you the power to take pictures on a whim or to create careful professional-quality work that others might be willing to pay for. The choices are all yours, and digital photography puts all the power in your hands. All you need is a little information about how to choose and use your tools and how to put them to work. That’s what you’ll find within the pages of this thick, comprehensive, all-in-one guidebook. The most exciting aspect of digital photography is how rapidly the technology is changing to bring you new capabilities and features that you can use to improve your pictures. Today, digital cameras with 4-megapixel (mp) or less resolution are difficult to find except in photo-capable cell phones — and some cell phones offer 10-megapixel or more resolution! Even the leanest digital camera you’re likely to find in stores will have 5–6 megapixels of resolution. I’ve tested models in this range that cost less than $150! You’ll find 7-megapixel and 9-megapixel cameras for $500 or so, and even 10 megapixel models are widely available for quite a bit less than $1,000. Digital single-lens reflex cameras (dSLRs) with interchangeable lenses are available from companies like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, and Sony if you’re willing to pay top dollar. Adobe Photoshop has bumped up the image editing ante with lots of new capabilities of interest to digital photographers, and even inexpensive applications like Adobe Photoshop Elements have more features than you could find in the most powerful image editor four or five years ago. Your new hardware and software tools make working with digital images easier while giving you important new capabilities.

About the Author

As a roving photojournalist for more than 20 years, David D. Busch illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. He’s operated his own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress

while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and Upstate New York college. His photos have been published in magazines as diverse as Scientific American and Petersen’s Photo Graphic, and his articles have appeared in Popular Photography & Imaging, The Rangefinder, The Professional Photographer, and hundreds of other publications. He’s currently reviewing digital cameras for C Net and Computer Shopper. When About.com named its top five books on Beginning Digital Photography, occupying the #1 and #2 slots were the last edition of this book, Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, and Busch’s Mastering Digital Photography. During the past year, he’s had as many as five of his books listed in the Top 20 of Amazon. com’s Digital Photography Best Seller list — simultaneously! Busch’s 90 other books published since 1983 include best-sellers like Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies, and four books in Wiley’s Digital Field Guide series, with topics ranging from travel photography to guidebooks for the Nikon D50, D70s, and D200 cameras. Busch earned top category honors in the Computer Press Awards the first two years they were given (for Sorry About The Explosion and Secrets of MacWrite, Mac Paint and MacDraw ), and later served as Master of Ceremonies for the awards.