Complete Guide to Digital Photography

by Ian Farrell

Comprehensive, up-to date, practical and easy to use, A Complete Guide to Digital Photography is the definitive reference for anyone who wants to get the most out of their digital camera. CHAPTER 1 Cameras, lenses and The digital features, types, pixels, memory, getting started, care, maintenance and cleaning. zoom, fixed, legacy, reverse lens macro, improvised lenses, tilt lens. software, plug ins, beanbags, stringpods, tripods, lightstands, cookies, filters, reflectors. CHAPTER 2 Taking great Photo image frame, composition, design, graphic elements, light and colour, focus, depth of field, exposure, white balance. Photo Portraits and people, still life, reportage, travel, architecture, landscapes, sports and action, weddings, gardens and flowers, children, pets and animals, abstracts. Creative creative white balance, cross polarizing, star effects, soft focus, zoom-burst, long daylight exposure, night photography, star trails, panning, time-lapse, shooting smoke, high-speed water drops, painting with light, TTV photography, shooting in stereo. Lighting off-camera flash, portable diffuser, snoot, portable grid spot, portable ringlight, portable beauty dish, studio strip light, studio ringlight, studio softbox, light cube. Moving camera vs camcorder, planning a shoot, filming, special effects, editing. CHAPTER 3 The Digital Basic digital saving, auto fix, cropping, straightening, resizing, sharpening, brightening and darkening, removing redeye, black and white. Advanced digital colour management, adjusting colours, levels, curves, advanced curves, channels, cloning, dodge and burn, layers, masks. Digital processing and digital Polaroid, cross processing , digital cyanotypes, digital lith, infrared, model world, panoramas, blurring backgrounds, adding movement, restoring old prints, wall art, inject transfers, scanner art.

Genres: Photography, Reference, Nonfiction

405 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Gianfranco Nerdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is pretty decent, but I have a couple of complaints. The so-called "exposure triangle" is not, in my opinion, properly explained, and basically, instead of a proper explanation, among the first thing a person learns after opening the book is how to make a pinhole camera. Seriously? A guy just bought a DSLR and you're asking him to drill a hole through the lens cap? I know these can be bought for 10-15$ (maybe more), and that one would be an idiot to try this without having a replacement cap, but geez, a pinhole camera? The only thing a novice needs to know, and properly master, is the exposure triangle, nothing more. Things like what happens at a wider aperture like f/1.8 (purple fringing, spherical aberration, vignetting, etc.) and what the "sweet spot" of a lens is, and how to avoid diffraction. Perhaps a couple of lens comparisons, just to understand the difference in quality between a kit lens and a professional one. The Sunny 16 rule, which might come in handy, and a quick mention of the zone system, perhaps later on in the book. But no, almost none of this is mentioned, and for a mention of purple fringing one must wait until the second half of the book. The book itself can be divided into two parts: one about using the camera, and the other about post-processing techniques. The first part is OK but nothing exceptional (see complaint above), and the second part has, so far, not been very useful to me, as I don't use Photoshop or Lightroom and tend to keep my edits down to a minimum. I think I'd rather recommend Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure to a novice, his pages on diffraction have been especially useful, though as of this writing I've only skimmed through it, I confess; it's slightly long-winded, but explains things rather well. Also, for lens reviews and comparisons, watch Christopher Frost's videos on Youtube, and don't forget to follow Bryan Peterson on Instagram, he is such a great instructor.

[Katie Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I loved the book, I feel as though it didn't deserve a full five stars because it covered a minimal amount of cameras and stuck to one kind more than others; Nikon. Also, in the photoshop-ing chapter, it assumed you had either a Mac or Apple computer. I feel as though it should have mentioned Dell.

The book itself was wonderful for a beginning photographer to learn the basics or at least have a great start to figure it out on their own camera.

[Alan Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book.
It covers all the topics that I was looking for - photography techniques, camera hardware and image manipulation. The writing style is good and very informative.

If you are new to photography and are looking for a book that covers all you will need to know, then this is the book for you.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library and I kind of wanted to pinch it because it's that good. I won't though!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to photographic techniques enhanced by excellent assignments at the end of each section encouraging the reader to put the theory into practice.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for beginners. Would have preferred it with less emphasis on post editing

[Sen Dil]

k

[John Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introductory book