Using Your Digital Camera 5^th edition

To get the best from your digital camera, you need to understand how to use its many features. Here, supported by interactive multimedia animations, is everything you need to know about the core principles of photography so you understand when and why you use all of the settings discussed in the manual that came with your camera. This easy-to-read and extensively illustrated guide is available as a traditional 131 page large-format (8.5 by 11 inches) spiral bound book printed in black and white, and as a full-color, fully searchable PDF eBook you can order on a CD or download instantly. (Note that you don’t need this guide if we have a book specific to your camera model.)

Introduction

• If you purchase the eBook edition, which is a PDF file available as either a download or on a CD, you click buttons throughout the book to display the extensions. When you click one of these buttons, what happens depends on the type of extension the button links to. Animations and movies play, PDFs open in Acrobat Reader, Web sites appear in the browser, or Excel worksheets open in Excel.


Click to view sample chapter


• If you purchase the print edition, click the URL below or enter it into your browser’s address line whenever you have access to a computer. The PDF describes all of the extensions and provides links you can click or enter into your browser to view them.


http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pdf/usingpdf.pdf

Preface

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.

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 very quickly. You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how the infinite variety of combinations they provide make 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 or blur fast action as it unfolds, create wonderful landscapes and cityscapes full of light, and capture the beauty and wonder of children, rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, flowers and animals.

Contents

Extensions

Front Matter