The Complete Idiot's Guide to Photography Essentials

by Jenkinson, Mark

• ISBN13: 9781592577521
• ISBN10: 1592577520
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-06
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

You're no idiot, of course. You have albums full of photos, and some of them look pretty good, but you'd like to learn how to kick things up a notch and add that WOW factor to your images.

Author Biography

Mark Jenkinson is an award-winning photographer and the author of over 30 photojournalistic feature stories for such magazines as Men-'s Journal, Fortune, Town & Country, Men-'s Health, and Discovery, as well as human interest and celebrity/business personality profiles. He-'s published an estimated 30,000 photographs in virtually every major magazine in the world and teaches photography at New York University-'s Tisch School of the Arts. His fine art photography is represented by Andrea Meislin Gallery.

Table of Contents

Getting Started: Basic Camera Equipment and Essentials	p. 3
Camera 101	p. 3
Getting to Know Your Camera	p. 6
Anatomy of a Single-Lens Reflex Camera	p. 8
The Lens	p. 9
The Viewing and Focusing System	p. 9
The Focal Plane Shutter	p. 11
The Light Meter	p. 12
Pros and Cons of SLRs	p. 12
Setting Up Your Camera	p. 13
Camera Accessories	p. 15
Tripods	p. 15
Quick Releases	p. 18
Gaffer Tape	p. 19
Cable Releases and Remotes	p. 19
Filters and Lens Hoods	p. 19
Skylight and Ultraviolet Haze Filters	p. 21
Polarizing Filters	p. 22
Card Readers	p. 23
Digital Storage Devices	p. 24
Point-and-Shoot Cameras	p. 24
Exploring Photographic Optics	p. 27
The 50 mm Normal Lens	p. 28
Focal Length and Angle of View	p. 30
Aperture and F-stop	p. 32
How Aperture Is Determined	p. 32
How Aperture Controls Exposure	p. 33
Lens Aperture and Depth of Field	p. 34
Here's How It Works	p. 34
How to Use, See, and Predict Depth of Field	p. 36
Depth of Field: Inherent to Focal Length	p. 37
Why Should We Care?	p. 38
Depth of Field and Distance	p. 39
Focal Length, Angle of View, and Composition	p. 39
Autofocus: What It Is and How to Use It	p. 40
Other Lenses	p. 43
Prime Lenses	p. 44
Long Zooms	p. 44
Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lenses	p. 45
Lensbabies	p. 46
Teleconverters	p. 48
Understanding Photographic Exposure	p. 55
How Exposure Works	p. 55
The Basic Exposure Controls	p. 58
Aperture (F-stop) and Exposure	p. 58
Shutter Speed	p. 59
ISO Setting (Film Speed)	p. 59
How It All Goes Together	p. 60
Choosing Film Speed	p. 60
Shutter Speed Decisions	p. 61
Setting Aperture	p. 61
How Light Meters Work	p. 63
Your Light Meter	p. 65
Verifying Proper Exposure	p. 67
Other Metering Modes on Your Camera	p. 68
Spot Metering	p. 69
Handheld Light Meters	p. 70
Formats: Digital Sensors and Traditional Film	p. 77
All Megapixels Are Not Created Equal	p. 78
A Note About ISO Settings and Digital Noise	p. 79
Capture Format: JPEG	p. 81
Pros and Cons of JPEGs	p. 84
Capture Format: RAW	p. 84
Wait! Why Not Just Shoot a JPEG?	p. 86
Pros and Cons of RAW Files	p. 87
Film	p. 88
Film Speed and Grain	p. 88
Types of Film	p. 89
Black-and-White Negative Film	p. 89
Pros and Cons of Black-and-White Film	p. 91
Color Slide/Transparency Film	p. 91
Pros and Cons of Color Transparencies/Slide Films	p. 93
Color Negative Films	p. 94
Pros and Cons of Color Negative Films	p. 96
Format FAQs	p. 96
Photography Rules and Conventions	p. 99
Some Conventions of Composition	p. 100
The Rule of Thirds	p. 101
The Spiral	p. 102
Diagonals, Zigzags, and S-Curves	p. 103
Dynamic Symmetry	p. 104
Negative/Positive Space	p. 105
The Dutch Angle/Lasso	p. 106
The Frame Within a Frame and the Dirty Frame	p. 109
Watch the Background	p. 110
Talent vs. Practice	p. 112
Practice the Rules	p. 112
Break the Rules	p. 112
Move, Don't Zoom!	p. 113
Invent Pressure and Goals	p. 114
Reinvent the Everyday	p. 114
Go Someplace New	p. 116
Shoot Digital Endlessly	p. 116
Light Is Color, and Color Is Light	p. 121
Color Perception	p. 123
How We See Color	p. 123
Proportions of Color in Light Sources	p. 125
Black Body Light Sources	p. 125
How Film Sees Color	p. 126
Non-Black Body Sources	p. 128
Flash and LEDs	p. 129
Digital Photography and Color Balance	p. 132
Creating a Custom White Balance	p. 134
Learning to See in Color	p. 135
Turn Off Auto White Balance	p. 136
Assignment: Seeing Color	p. 136
Looking at Light	p. 136
The Sun	p. 137
Other Common Sources	p. 139
Light Direction	p. 141
Shadow Quality	p. 143
Flash: Lightning in a Bottle	p. 145
Shoe-Mounted Flash	p. 145
Multiple and Wireless Flash Setups	p. 146
Learning Lighting: The Strobist Blog and Flickr Group	p. 152
Photographing People	p. 155
Portraits	p. 156
The Bathroom Mirror as a Camera	p. 156
Why We Look Different in Photos	p. 157
The Psychology of Portraiture	p. 157
How to See Others the Way They See Themselves	p. 158
Lens Selection	p. 159
Lighting for Portraits	p. 160
A Primer on Three-Point Lighting	p. 161
Context	p. 165
Candid Photographs of People	p. 170
Point of View in Candid Photography	p. 171
People FAQs	p. 171
Shooting Events	p. 179
Weddings	p. 180
Your Role at a Wedding	p. 180
Scouting the Location	p. 183
Technique	p. 185
Bar and Bat Mitzvahs	p. 186
Sports	p. 187
Outdoors	p. 188
Indoor Sports	p. 189
Hidden Knowledge	p. 190
Recitals and Performances	p. 192
Thinking Cinematically and Editorially	p. 193
Event FAQs	p. 194
Planning Ahead	p. 195
Rent or Borrow Extra Equipment	p. 196
What to Bring	p. 196
Travel and Landscape Photography	p. 199
Travel Photography Is Hard	p. 200
It's All About Being There	p. 201
The Vantage Point of Space	p. 201
The Vantage Point of Time	p. 202
The Vantage Point of Identity	p. 203
Think Ahead: What Do You Need?	p. 206
A Travel Appraoch	p. 208
An Assignment	p. 208
Travel FAQs	p. 211
Painting with Light	p. 212
Shooting at Night	p. 213
Shooting RAW	p. 215
Mindful Travel with Cameras and Gear	p. 217
The Least You Need to Know	p. 217
Shooting Still Lifes: The Secret Life of Things	p. 219
Thinking About Still Lifes	p. 220
Lighting for Still Lifes	p. 223
Incandescent Light Bulbs	p. 224
Lighting with LEDs	p. 225
Flash	p. 226
Controlling the Quality of Light	p. 227
Still-Life FAQs	p. 230
A Simple Lighting Setup for Soft Light	p. 230
Lighting with Purpose	p. 233
Digital Imaging, Archiving, and Printing	p. 237
Computer Equipment: Who Said Digital Was Cheap?	p. 238
Monitors	p. 238
Printers	p. 239
Using the Right Printer Paper	p. 240
Kiosks and the Internet	p. 240
Archiving Your Work	p. 241
iPhoto	p. 242
Adobe Photoshop Elements	p. 243
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom	p. 244
The Least You Need to Know	p. 245
Be On Your Way Now	p. 247
Taking Next Steps	p. 248
Using Photo-Sharing Web Sites	p. 248
Making Custom Photo Books	p. 249
Maintaining Your Portfolio	p. 250
Online Photography Resources	p. 251
Internships and Assisting	p. 253
Workshops and Classes	p. 254
Glossary	p. 256
An Overview of Photoshop Editing Tools	p. 266
Index	p. 278
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