The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography [With CDROM]

by Steven Greenberg

Book Overview

This book will prepare any beginner how to choose their first digital camera, shoot great digital images and enhance them to look like the work of a professional.-- With a range of nearly 20 different digital camera brands to choose from, this guide can offer the consumer useful knowledge of how to differentiate the competition.-- A plain-English guide to digital photography will help a reader to take advantage of the flexibility and convenience a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 002864235X
• ISBN13: 9780028642352
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great Book for Beginners!

I read this book two years ago after buying my first digital camera. I gave it away after reading it, so maybe it's not a keeper as a reference, but even so, I have to praise this book very highly for the insight into digital photography that it's given me. I've bought two other digitals since, and find that the lessons that I learned from this book are with me even to this day. If you're a beginner, and wish to understand this technology, buy it!

Great book to get started in digital photography

I have had a digital camera' a Kodak DC280 for many months now. I have ben a 35MM amature for over 30 years and this book has helped me make the transition to digital photography better than anything else I could have done.Before I got this book, I had many problems with doing this as the manuals on the software were very poorly written and had many things just skipped over or missing entirely. Before I got halfway through the Book there were many things that helped me greatly That were just not in the manuals that came with the software. It has made everything much easier and faster. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is just starting in digital photography.

Great all round book

I bought this book after reading many reviews on digital cameras. What I was looking for was a book on digital cameras and how to help me choose the correct one. What I got was a good all round book on cameras, composition, exposure, lighting, compression etc.Certainly a great book if you have or are thinking of purchasing a digital camera. I did purchase a book purely on digital cameras but it was a tad heavy going.This is an easy reading book which you can read cover to cover during the adds when watching TV.

Not Just For Beginning Photographers

I bought this book for my son, who has no experience and has expressed an interest in digital photography. I used to be into SLR photography and developing, so I thought that I would flip through the book, with my new digital camera in hand. Instead, I found myself reading it cover to cover. And now that I have taken my first 200 pictures, I am going back in for a second reading. The book is easy to read and funny like most Idiot's guides. It is full of a lot of useful details about using the camera, and taking effective pictures. Rather than reviewing cameras (which would be obsolete by the time it was printed) the book focuses on principles and features. The sections on composition are particularly helpful for those who come from the point and shoot world. The most surprising section dealt with the software (mostly Adobe PhotoDeluxe that comes with many cameras) and monitors/printers. I thought that my general knowledge of software and image editing programs meant that I would gain little from reading this section. Far from it. I learned a great deal, in a step by step fashion about how to clean up a photograph. When I got the camera I assumed I would print each picture "non-retouched". After experience and reading the book, I am retouching every picture before I print it, changing brightness, sharpness, colors, cropping, and even some editing. In fact, the book gave me the courage to use the cloning tools (a feature that some experienced PhotoShop users are unaware of) to remove unwanted features from some photos.The sections on monitors and printers is essential in clearing up the confusion of "Why doesn't my printed picture look like the one on my computer screen". I highly recommend this book to anyone considering buying a digital camera, whether you are an experienced amateur or beginner.

Easy to read and "user friendly"look at digital photography.

This is a great book! It is easy to read and at times even humorous. It starts with a very useful and important explanation of photography including exposure, lens types, and camera types. I found the chapter on composition very useful and it has already helped me to take better shots. The book describes, in detail, how to buy a digital camera and what features and pitfalls to look out for. The book also has many very easy to follow demonstrations on how to improve my images including color and brightness/contrast manipulations. Later in the book, Steve describes how to make photo collages, masking (selections),use filters, and even how to build a web site. I also found the chapter on printing and calibration really helped me print out my photos exactly how they looked on my monitor.I looked at a lot of other digital photo books and this was the most complete. I think Steve's perspective as a working digital photographer is very useful. I also found the book very useful and from a beginners point of view very "user friendly" I think even an advanced user will get a lot from the book. I highly recommend it.