With the dramatic advances in technology that have taken place in the last several years, the picture quality now available from digital cameras makes them a viable option for producing professional photographs. Organized around the workflow for the production and maintenance of digital images, this book provides solution-oriented coverage of the challenges most often faced by amateurs and professionals working with these images. Readers learn about making, correcting, cataloguing, storing, and publishing digital photographs. Hints and notes provide shortcuts and place the use of specific commands in context with the workflow.
The Digital Photography Bible: Desktop Edition will make you a better photographer whether you switch to digital or stay with film and later convert your images to digital files. It also provides the practical information necessary for photographers to improve their picture taking skills and then guides them through via the digital process. Written by a professional photographer who teaches nonprofessionals how to become experts with a digital camera the book: guides the reader through beginning and intermediate tutorials; details how to achieve the best results with the correct use of digital cameras when shooting sports, nature, landscapes, and people; describes how to set up a digital darkroom to do your own image processing including use of Photoshop; details advice for non-photographer professionals such as real estate agents, insurance adjustors, journalists, PR specialists on camera criteria, focal lengths, resolution, useful accessories, flash capability, making the photo, and a photography checklist. Other valuable information includes the latest Photoshop plugins, comprehensive coverage of image management and RAW conversion, selection advice on the latest camera and printer equipment and more!
32-page color insert uses before and after examples to help the reader understand the techniques and problem-solving advice that the Bible provides. These sections will focus on digital darkroom techniques such as color correction, image correction, workflow for nonprofessionals, special effects, lighting, and on professional photography skills such as how lens choice can change the look of an image, composition, color, action shots, portraits and more.
The website will include dozens of sample photographs with which the user can experiment and a PDF mini-field guide the reader can print out and carry with them when taking pictures.
User review
Very good basic book on digital photography.
I just purchased a Nikon D70s and found this book to be a valuable resource in learning about photography. It has chapters that explain each of the most common type of shooting situations, with lots of tips. The author is obviously an accomplished digital photographer, which is very valuable in this age of digital photography books written by computer nuts who haven't had digital cameras much longer than I have. My upgrade from a point and shoot to the D70s was a wise decision, and buying this book to help me was even smarter.
User review
Ok! but much better out there
I was very disappointed with the fact that this being a book on photography had the photos being refered to in newsprint black and white quality. I must add that the original was available to see on the web. What a pain, this book would have been much better and more interesting had the color images been in the book. There are some color photos located in the center of the book. Also the information is repetative and not presented in an interesting way. I think that both the editor and writer could have done a much better job. I am glad I only paid $1.88 plus shipping for this book. The 500 pages could have been reduced to 200. An `image speaks a thousand words!` isn't that what photography is all about?
User review
Padded and Overpriced
This book does have some good basic information, but it is full of fluff, poorly designed, and overpriced. Most of the images are in black and white (there are some color plates in the center of the book and color images on the Web site, which are small and difficult to find), and there are not nearly enough examples. About 75 pages are devoted to realtors, insurance adjustors, etc. For 24.99, the book would have been better with a couple hundred fewer pages and color pictures.
If you want a book to cover the basics, try Derrick Story's `Digital Photography Pocket Guide,` or for a much more comprehensive view of digital photography, check out `Real World Digital Photography.`
User review
Blends useful tips on how to make great photos
This 476-page book is principally written for beginners and intermediate users of digital photography, though some tips in it by the book's well-experienced author will also help advanced users. As the title indicates, it is a `Bible` and is structured to cover a great variety of subjects, from deciding the type of camera to buy, to taking great photos, to processing those in your `digital darkroom` (I love that term), to managing your images afterwards both for presentations and storage. It also has many practical tips reflecting the wide-ranging experiences of the author, including setting up a mini-studio on the cheap.
One of the nice surprises was how the book links to a companion website where all the black-and-white figures used as illustrations can be seen in color. (Though for people with dial-up modems, this feature may be a bit frustrating for the extra time needed to download individual images.) Further, the companion website provides other helpful resources, including photography checklists you can print and have handy wherever you go with your digital camera.
The book is conveniently organized into 6 parts on the following major subjects: 1) Laying the Foundation: Basic Digital Photography; 2) Taking the Next Step: Photographs that Wow!; 3) Tackling Different Photographic Subjects; 4) Doing your Own Image Processing; 5) Photography for Professional in Other Fields; and 6) Putting Digital Photography to Work. Each is divided into subparts and various topics with lots of illustrations to further carry the message, including some printed in the book in color.
As I went through the book, some topics reminded me of articles on similar subjects I've read in the past in photography magazines for film-using cameras. But this Bible, updates those subjects to the digital age, and provides readers with easy to read information on how to get the best digital images possible, with some techniques unique to digital photography.
I also liked the extended `Tips` added here and there after subjects. For instance, after discussing how to photography scenes and animals in nature, the author gave good short pointers on being prepared for bad weather when shooting in the wild. (I suspect some were painfully learned in the `school of hard knocks` which the author is helping us avoid!)
All and all, I found this book quite helpful and will be using it in the future whenever I have questions about how to achieve good (or I should say hopefully excellent) digital images.
User review
Essential photography information and great photos!
This book is absolutely packed with valuable information on photography, written by a working digital photographer, in a clear, concise style. You'll find lots of advice, tips, and tricks that will help beginners as well as experienced photographers.
Frankly, it's about time that a guide like this should hit the shelves. Most of the `digital photography` books on the market deal more with image editing techniques than true photography. If you want to learn Photoshop, go buy a Photoshop book. If you want to learn how to use your digital camera to take great pictures, check out this book.
The photos used as examples are good enough to make any digital photographer drool, yet anyone who reads this book carefully can probably go out and duplicate most of them. Simon sets the bar high, but at a level the reader can strive for.
As with most books priced economically, this one relies on many black-and-white images, plus a color section where you can enjoy the full impact of the photos. However, unlike some other books I've seen, the reproduction of the monochrome images is clean and sparkling. You'll learn something from every illustration in this book.
I particularly liked the special sections at the back of the book that discussed specific photographic genres, some of which (like real estate photography) haven't been addressed in this much detail in other books. I recommend this book highly.
