Complete Digital Photography

by Long, Ben

• ISBN13: 9781584500070
• ISBN10: 1584500077
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Charles River Media
• More Book Details

Summary

Whether you started your photographic career with a digital camera or have recently made the switch from film, Complete Digital Photography will answer all of your photography questions-from composition and shooting to post-production workflow, editing, and output. Designed for photographers of all skill levels, there's something for everyone in this updated and expanded fourth edition. Divided into four sections, the book begins by explaining the basics of digital capture, taking you through a fundamental photography primer. Next, you'll examine detailed buying guides that walk you through evaluating and choosing cameras, lenses, tripods, accessories, a computer, and a variety of editing and workflow software. With your gear in place, the third part of the book takes you on a detailed study of shooting. From composition and exposure to shooting techniques and digital-specific theory, you'll learn how to take better pictures with any type of camera. Point-and-shoot users will learn how to improve on their camera's automatic features, while high-end users will explore the intricacies of raw format photography and other advanced topics. The fourth part of the book will teach you all you need to know about workflow, editing, and output using a modern image editor. Tone and color correction, masking, compositing, and retouching are all covered. Using step-by-step tutorials, clearly-written examples, and easy-to-follow explanations, the latest edition of this best-selling photography guide is the one resource you need to produce stunning digital images.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(8)
Who This Book is For	3	(1)
What Counts as ``Digital Photography''	4	(1)
What Else Do You Need?	5	(1)
Digital 101: A Few Basic Ideas	5	(4)
How Good Are Digital Photos?	9	(10)
A Word About the Images in This Book	10	(1)
What's Wrong with Digital Cameras	11	(7)
Did You Hear Something?	11	(1)
Color Troubles	12	(1)
Downright Incorrect Color	13	(1)
Color Casts	13	(1)
Bad White Balance	13	(1)
Color Artifacts	13	(1)
Exposure Problems	14	(2)
Too Much of a Good Thing	16	(1)
``Reason?! We Don't Need No Stinking Reason!''	17	(1)
Why You Want a Digital Camera	18	(1)
Next Steps	18	(1)
How a Digital Camera Works	19	(16)
Something Old, Something New	20	(1)
A Little Color Theory	20	(3)
How a CCD Works	23	(9)
Counting Electrons	23	(2)
Arrays	25	(4)
``One CCD, Hold the Interpolation''	29	(1)
Some Assembly Required	30	(2)
Compression and Storage	32	(1)
Meanwhile, Back in the Real World	33	(2)
Basic Photography: A Quick Primer	35	(10)
Lenses	36	(4)
Focal Length	38	(1)
Zooms and Primes	38	(2)
Exposure: Apertures, Shutter Speeds, and ISO	40	(3)
Reciprocity	42	(1)
Lens Speed	42	(1)
ISO or ``Try to be More Sensitive''	43	(1)
Mostly the Same	43	(2)
Choosing a Digital Camera	45	(62)
Basic Anatomy	46	(1)
CCDs, Resolution, Image Size, and Compression	46	(10)
Camera Categories	48	(1)
Sub-Megapixel Cameras	48	(1)
Single Megapixel Cameras	49	(1)
2-Megapixel Cameras	50	(1)
3-Megapixel Cameras	50	(2)
Higher Resolution Cameras	52	(1)
Image Resolution and Compression	53	(1)
Aspect Ratio	54	(2)
Camera Design	56	(10)
Point-and-Shoot Cameras	57	(1)
Prosumer	58	(1)
Prosumer SLR	59	(2)
LCD only Cameras	61	(1)
Professional SLR	62	(1)
Body Design and Construction	63	(2)
Status LCDs	65	(1)
How to Choose	65	(1)
Tripod Mount	66	(1)
Lenses	67	(8)
Zoom Ranges and Focal Lengths	69	(2)
Lens Features	71	(1)
Digital Zoom	72	(1)
Focus	73	(1)
Continuous Autofocus	74	(1)
Manual Focus	74	(1)
Shutters and Irises	74	(1)
Viewfinders	75	(10)
LCD Viewfinders	75	(2)
Optical Viewfinders	77	(2)
LCD Optical Viewfinders	79	(1)
SLR Viewfinders	80	(1)
Exposure Control	81	(1)
White Balance	81	(1)
Metering	82	(1)
Exposure Compensation	83	(1)
ISO Control	83	(1)
Exposure Locks and Panoramas	84	(1)
Preset Exposure Modes	84	(1)
Shooting Modes	85	(4)
Priority Modes	85	(1)
Image Buffering	86	(1)
Continuous Shooting	86	(1)
Movie Mode	87	(1)
Black and White	87	(1)
Self-Timers and Remote Controls	88	(1)
Camera Performance	89	(1)
Flash	90	(2)
Playback Options	92	(1)
Storage and Input/Output	93	(7)
Transferring and Viewing Images	93	(1)
Transfer Software	93	(1)
Video Input/Output	94	(1)
Storage	94	(1)
CompactFlash	95	(1)
SmartMedia	96	(1)
Memory Stick	97	(1)
PC Cards	97	(1)
Floppy Disks	97	(1)
3'' CDs	98	(1)
PocketZip (Clik!)	98	(1)
Does Any of This Matter?	98	(1)
How Much Do You Need?	98	(1)
Media Tips	99	(1)
What's in the Box	100	(3)
Batteries	100	(3)
Special Features	103	(1)
``Enough Already! What Shall I Buy?!''	104	(3)
Building a Workstation	107	(16)
Choosing an Operating System	108	(2)
Macintosh	108	(1)
Windows	109	(1)
Building Your System	110	(6)
RAM	110	(1)
Processor Speed	111	(1)
Storage	111	(1)
Monitors	112	(2)
LCD Monitors	114	(2)
Software	116	(4)
Image Editing Applications	116	(1)
Levels and Curves Controls	117	(1)
An Eyedropper Tool With an Information Readout	117	(1)
Good Paintbrush and Clone Tools	117	(1)
Access to Individual Color Channels	117	(1)
Support for Multiple Color Spaces	117	(2)
Support for Photoshop Plug-Ins	119	(1)
Unsharp Mask, Blur, and Noise Flters	119	(1)
File Format Support	119	(1)
Panoramic Software	120	(1)
Wavelet Compression	120	(1)
Image Cataloging Software	120	(1)
Accessories	120	(2)
Ready! Aim!	122	(1)
Shooting	123	(42)
Initial Camera Settings	124	(12)
Choosing a Mode	125	(1)
Full Automatic Mode	125	(1)
Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority Modes	125	(1)
Manual Mode	126	(1)
Special Shooting Modes	126	(1)
Image Size and Compression	127	(1)
White Balance	128	(1)
Setting White Blanace	129	(2)
Bad White Balance! Bad!	131	(1)
White Blance and Interchangeable Lenses	131	(1)
Metering	132	(1)
Sharpness, Saturation, or Contrast	132	(1)
ISOs	132	(4)
Framing and Focusing	136	(1)
Focal Length	136	(3)
Geometric Distortion	136	(3)
Focusing	139	(10)
Using Autofocus	139	(1)
Active Autofocus	140	(1)
Passive Autofocus	141	(2)
Focus Spots	143	(3)
What to Do if Your Autofocus Won't Lock Focus	146	(2)
Manual Focus	148	(1)
Metering	149	(5)
What Your Light Meter Tells You	152	(1)
The Right Meter for the Job	152	(1)
Matrix Metering	152	(1)
Center-Weighted Metering	152	(1)
Spot Metering	153	(1)
Automatic Exposure	154	(1)
Simple Flash Photography	155	(5)
Flash Modes	156	(2)
Flash White Balance	158	(1)
Fill Flash	159	(1)
Power and Storage Management	160	(3)
Feel the Power	160	(2)
Media Baron	162	(1)
Laptop Computers	162	(1)
Digital Wallet	162	(1)
Iomega Fotoshow	162	(1)
Zip Disks, Cables, and PC Adapters	163	(1)
And That's Just the Beginning	163	(2)
Manual Exposure	165	(32)
Motion Control	166	(4)
Depth of Field	170	(3)
Shutter Speed and Depth of Field	173	(1)
Tonal Control	173	(9)
Don't Know Much About Histograms	176	(4)
Details, Details!	180	(2)
Adjusting Exposure	182	(4)
Exposure Compensation	182	(2)
Priority and Manual Modes	184	(1)
Automatic Reciprocity	185	(1)
ISO Control	185	(1)
Exposure Practice	186	(6)
An Intentional Underexposure	188	(2)
Another Underexposure	190	(1)
Manual Override	191	(1)
Of Brackets and Histograms	192	(3)
Exposing to Avoid Purple Fringing	195	(2)
Special Shooting	197	(28)
Macro Photography	198	(3)
Finding the Optimal Macro Focal Length	199	(1)
Macro Focusing	199	(1)
Poor Depth of Field	200	(1)
Black and White Photography	201	(6)
The Zone System	202	(3)
Infrared Photography	205	(2)
Shooting Panoramas	207	(7)
Preparing Your Camera	209	(2)
Panoramic Exposure	211	(1)
Shoot withCare	212	(2)
Shooting for the Web	214	(1)
Image Size and Quality	214	(1)
Consider the Legibility of the Image	214	(1)
Finally, A Use for That Digital Zoom!	214	(1)
Shooting for Video	215	(1)
Using Filters	216	(4)
Types of Filters	217	(2)
Cheap Filters	219	(1)
Shooting in Extreme Conditions	220	(2)
Dirt, Dust, or Sand and Digital Cameras	220	(1)
Water and Digital Cameras	220	(1)
The Camera That Came in From the Cold	221	(1)
Hot Weather and Digital Cameras	222	(1)
Halfway There	222	(3)
Preparing Your Images for Editing	225	(28)
Moving Pictures: How to Transfer and Organize Your Images	226	(3)
Make the Transfer	226	(1)
Organize Your Digital Media	227	(2)
Preparing Your Image Editor	229	(14)
A Little More Color Theory	229	(1)
Color Management Systems	230	(1)
Color Management Workflow	231	(1)
Configuring Your Color Management System	232	(1)
Specifying a Monitor Profile on a Macintosh	233	(2)
Specifying a Monitor Profile in Windows	235	(2)
Photoshop 6's Color Settings Dialog Box	237	(2)
Making Policy	239	(3)
``Aaaarrrgh! This is Too Confusing!''	242	(1)
Soft-Proofing in Photoshop 6	242	(1)
Preparing Your Image	243	(4)
New Image Resolutions	244	(1)
Resizing an Image	244	(3)
Tutorial: Cropping and Resizing an Image	247	(6)
Correcting Tone and Color	253	(30)
Histograms Revisited	254	(2)
Tutorial: Correcting an Image with Brightness and Contrast (Or Trying to, Anyway)	256	(3)
Levels	259	(1)
Tutorial: Using Levels Input Sliders	260	(9)
Should You Worry About Data Loss?	264	(1)
Tutorial: Real-World Levels Adjustments	265	(4)
Curves	269	(3)
Tutorial: Correcting an Image with Curves	272	(4)
Levels and Curves and Color	276	(1)
Tutorial: Using Both Levels and Curves to Correct Color	277	(5)
Don't Touch That Dial!	282	(1)
Building Your Editing Arsenal	283	(24)
Brushes and Stamps	284	(2)
Brushes	284	(1)
Airbrushes	285	(1)
Rubber Stamp (or Clone)	285	(1)
Masks	286	(12)
Mask Tools	287	(1)
Selection Tools	287	(1)
Mask Painting	288	(1)
Color-Based Selection Tools	288	(2)
Special Masking Tools	290	(1)
Saving Masks	290	(1)
Sort of Masked	291	(1)
Tutorial: Creating Complex Masks	292	(6)
Layers	298	(6)
Some Layer Basics	299	(1)
Creating, Deleting, and Moving Layers	299	(1)
Opacity and Transfer Modes	300	(1)
Adjustment Layers	300	(2)
Layer Masks	302	(2)
Other Editing Tools	304	(1)
Hue/Saturation	304	(1)
Selective Color	304	(1)
The Right Tool for the Job	304	(3)
Essential Imaging Tactics	307	(40)
Workflow	308	(2)
Initial Clean-Up	310	(2)
Removing Noise	310	(1)
Identifying Noise	310	(2)
Noise Reduction with Dust and Scratches, Median, or Despeckle	312	(1)
Tutorial: Reducing Noise with Median	312	(12)
Noise Reduction Through Selective Blurring	313	(1)
Preserving Editability When you Remove Noise	314	(1)
Noise Reduction in Lab Mode	315	(1)
Noise Reduction with a Luminance Copy	316	(1)
Using Third-Party Utilities to Eliminate Noise	317	(1)
Dark Frame Subtraction	318	(1)
Removing Dust and Blotches	318	(1)
Correcting Barrel and Pincushion Distortion	318	(2)
Tutorial: Correcting Barrel Distortion	320	(4)
Color and Tone Adjustment	324	(1)
Tutorial: Color Correction	325	(11)
Removing Red-Eye	329	(1)
Removing Chromatic Aberrations (Purple Fringe)	330	(1)
Desaturating Fringe	330	(1)
Tutorial: Desaturating a Chromatic Aberration	330	(3)
Removing Chromatic Aberration by Hand	333	(1)
Removing Fringes by Shrinking Channels	333	(1)
Adjusting Tonal Range with Layers	333	(1)
Correcting White Balance	334	(1)
Correcting Vignetting	334	(2)
Saturation Adjustment	336	(1)
Increasing Contrast and Saturation With Layer Stacking	336	(1)
Decreasing Contrast and Saturation With Layer Stacking	336	(1)
Editing	337	(1)
Scaling	338	(3)
Scaling Down	339	(1)
Scaling Up	339	(2)
Sharpening	341	(6)
How Sharpening Works	341	(4)
Not All Sharpness is Created Equal	345	(2)
Special Effects	347	(22)
Simulating Depth of Field	348	(1)
Tutorial: Shortening Depth of Field in an Image	348	(6)
Create Planes of Depth	353	(1)
Stitching Panoramas	354	(4)
Converting Color Images to Grayscale	358	(3)
Conversion Methods	359	(1)
Channeling	359	(1)
Converting to Luminance	359	(1)
Desaturating an Image	359	(1)
Mixing Your Own Color Formula	360	(1)
Creating ``Hand-Tinted'' Images	361	(1)
Painting With Light Opacity	361	(1)
Painting Desaturated Images	361	(1)
Painting With the History Brush	362	(1)
Adding Texture, Grain and ``Film'' Look	362	(2)
Adding Grain	363	(1)
Tutorial: Adding Grain to an Image	364	(2)
Adding Texture and Damage	365	(1)
Preparing to Print	366	(3)
Output	369	(20)
Choosing a Printer	370	(6)
Laser Printers	370	(1)
Dye-Sublimation Printers	371	(1)
Inkjet Printers	372	(2)
Media Selection	374	(1)
Ink Choice	375	(1)
Printing	376	(5)
Choosing a Resolution	376	(1)
Choosing a Resolution for a Laser Printer	377	(1)
Choosing a Resolution for an Inkjet Printer	378	(1)
Correcting Your Image for Print	379	(1)
Targeting the Tonal Range	379	(2)
Tutorial: Targeting an Image	381	(8)
Targeting a Desktop Printer	384	(1)
Using Your Color Management System When you Print	384	(1)
Web-based printing	385	(1)
Web Output	385	(2)
Conclusion	387	(2)
Appendix A: Further Reading	389	(2)
Appendix B: About the CD-ROM	391	(4)
Glossary	395