Introduction 1
About This Book 2
How This Book Is Organized 2
Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 2
Part 2: Taking Your Photography to the Next Level 3
Part 3: Pro Tips for Capturing Specific Subjects 3
Part 4: After the Shot 4
Part 5: The Part of Tens 4
Beyond the Book 4
Icons Used in This Book 4
Where to Go from Here 5
Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 7
Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Camera 9
Choosing the Right Level of Camera 10
How much control do you want? 12
How important is picture quality? 15
Do you want to use multiple lenses? 20
Looking at Lenses 23
Camera compatibility 24
Lens focal length 24
Prime versus zoom lenses 27
Lens aperture range 27
Minimum focusing distance 29
Lens weight and size 29
Lens quality 30
Reviewing a Few Final Camera Features 31
Shooting modes 31
Image stabilization 32
Viewfinder: Optical or electronic? 33
Video-recording capabilities 34
Memory-card features 35
Convenience features 36
So Is It Time for a New Camera? 37
Chapter 2: Starting Out Right: Setup Do’s and Don’ts 39
Preparing the Camera 40
Buying and using memory cards 40
Preserving battery power 44
Working with interchangeable lenses 45
Choosing Initial Camera Settings 49
Selecting the exposure (shooting) mode 49
Setting the shutter-release mode 51
Setting photo resolution 55
Setting the file type (JPEG or Raw) 61
Looking at a Few More Setup Options 68
Chapter 3: Shooting Your First Photos (and Movies) 71
Looking at Automatic Shooting Modes 72
Shooting in Auto Mode 72
Stepping Up to Scene Modes 78
Portrait mode 79
Landscape mode 80
Close-up mode 81
Sports mode 81
Recording Movies in Auto Mode 82
Enabling movie mode 83
Reviewing recording settings 84
Recording a movie in Auto mode 87
Part 2: Taking Your Photography to The Next Level 89
Chapter 4: Starting to See Like a Photographer 91
Exploring Composition Basics 92
Dead center is deadly boring 92
Create movement through the frame 95
Eliminate clutter 97
Leave some “head room” 98
Using Depth of Field to Artistic Advantage 99
Capturing Motion: To Blur or Not to Blur? 102
Becoming a Student of Light 104
Exploring New Subjects and Angles 106
Find a new angle 106
Notice reflections, patterns, and textures 106
Look beyond the usual suspects 107
Chapter 5: Taking Control of Exposure 109
Understanding Exposure 110
Introducing the exposure trio: Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO 110
Doing the exposure balancing act 118
Adjusting f-stop, Shutter Speed, and ISO 119
Taking advantage of exposure guides 120
Changing the Metering mode 124
Using “priority” exposure modes 125
Adjusting Autoexposure Results 127
Applying exposure compensation 127
AE Lock (autoexposure lock) 129
Expanding Tonal Range 129
Bracketing Exposures 133
Chapter 6: Adding Flash and Other Lights 135
Enabling and Disabling Built-In Flash 136
Comparing Built-In and External Flashes 138
Pros and cons of built-in flashes 138
Pros and cons of external flash heads 140
Adjusting Flash Power 143
Exploring Special Flash Modes 145
Flash with red-eye reduction 145
Slow-sync flash 146
Rear-curtain sync 147
Improving Outdoor Photos with Flash 150
Considering Continuous Lighting 152
Setting Up a Small Lighting Studio 153
Looking at Simpler (and Cheaper) Lighting Setups 158
Chapter 7: Manipulating Focus and Color 161
Understanding Autofocus Options 161
Enabling autofocus 162
Locating your camera’s focus points 163
Selecting a focus point or zone 164
Choosing focus lock or continuous AF 167
Using the right autofocus technique 169
Focusing Manually 171
Diagnosing Focus Problems 172
My entire picture is blurry 172
The wrong thing is in focus 175
Moving subjects are blurry 177
The camera won’t focus at all 178
Playing with Depth of Field 179
Controlling Color 184
RGB: A new way of thinking about color 184
Choosing between sRGB and Adobe RGB 185
Using white balance to adjust color 187
Looking at Picture Presets 191
Shooting Raw for More Color Control 193
Part 3: Pro Tips For Capturing Specific Subjects 195
Chapter 8: Shooting Frame-Worthy Portraits 197
Starting with a Classic Portrait Recipe 198
Creating Good Portrait Lighting 204
Shoot indoor portraits by window light 205
Catch light with a reflector 205
Lessen the chances of red-eye in flash portraits 207
Try slow-sync flash for softer flash lighting 210
Shoot a subject in silhouette 212
Use flash to fill in shadows outdoors 213
Building a Better Backdrop 215
Capturing More Memorable Portraits 217
Chapter 9: Photographing Action 221
Choosing an Action Plan 222
Freezing Action 223
Following the classic action recipe 223
Shooting subjects “moving in place” 233
Improving your odds of freezing action 235
Blurring Motion 240
Panning for Cool Background Effects 243
Chapter 10: Taking in the Scenery 245
Reviewing a Few Basics 246
Composition is critical 246
Lens focal length matters (a lot) 249
Remember the impact of depth of field 251
Pick the right exposure mode 252
Pack a lens filter (or two or three) 254
Taking a Panoramic View 260
Photographing Tall Structures 264
Catching the Night Lights 266
Capturing Small Wonders 270
Part 4: After The Shot 275
Chapter 11: Discovering Cool Playback Features 277
Switching to Playback Mode 277
Adjusting the Playback Display 278
Getting a Close-Up Look at a Photo 280
Displaying Thumbnails and Calendars 281
Viewing Shooting Settings (Metadata) 281
Reading histograms 282
Displaying highlight alerts (“blinkies”) 283
Rating, Protecting, and Deleting Files 284
Rating files 284
Protecting photos 285
Deleting files 286
Checking Out In-Camera Editing Tools 287
Viewing Photos on a TV 288
Chapter 12: Downloading, Editing, and Sharing Photos 291
Sorting through Photo Software 292
Basic (and free) programs 292
Advanced (and not free) options 294
Downloading Your Images 296
Looking at connection options 296
Completing the download process 298
Preserving Your Files 301
Converting Raw Files 302
Looking at Your Printing Options 305
Avoiding Printing Pitfalls 306
Checking resolution: Do you have enough pixels? 306
Getting print and monitor colors in sync 308
Preparing Pictures for Online Sharing 311
Sizing photos for screen display 311
Saving files in the JPEG format 312
Part 5: The Part of Tens 313
Chapter 13: Ten Fixes for Common Photo Flaws 315
Discover a Few Easy Exposure Fixes 315
Take Steps to Avoid Blurry Pictures 318
Scan the Frame Before You Shoot 319
Blur a Busy Background 320
Level the Horizon 321
Crop Away Excess Background 323
Solve Color Miscues 325
Turn Down the Noise 326
Deal with Dust Spots and Lens Flare 326
Watch Out for Weird Halos 327
Chapter 14: Ten Accessories to Enhance Your Photography 329
Invest in a Good Camera Bag 330
Pick a Sturdy Tripod 331
Consider Smaller Stability Solutions 332
Find a More Comfortable Camera Strap 333
Get a Better View of Your Monitor 334
Download Some Cool Apps 335
Calibrate Your Monitor with Precision 337
Dive In with a Waterproof Housing 338
Treat Your Wrist to a Graphics Tablet 339
Pick Up a Portable Printer 339
Index 341
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