Digital Photography Bible (Desktop Edition) [Paperback]

Dan Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0764568752 | ISBN-13: 978-0764568756 | Edition: Desktop Edition

• Featuring thirty-two pages of full-color examples, this under-$25 guide is the perfect digital photography reference for serious amateurs as well as nonprofessional photographers who use a digital camera on the job
• Walks readers through the entire digital photography workflow, from shooting photos and editing them in the digital darkroom to cataloging, printing, and publishing images online
• Topics covered include selecting cameras, printers, and accessories; mastering basic digital camera techniques; getting great results when shooting sports, nature, landscapes, and people; and working with Photoshop and other image-editing and image-management software
• Features step-by-step tutorials, full-color before-and-after images, and a companion Web site with bonus sample images plus a mini take-along field guide that readers can print out

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…you can’t doubt the usefulness of the information it provides…” (Digital Creative Arts, September 2004)

From the Back Cover

If a digital camera can do it, you can do it, too...

Good photography is more art than science. You need to know not only the hardware and software, but also how to compose a photo, edit and improve the images you get, and take pictures that achieve your objectives. From choosing a digital camera to taking shots that tell a story to enhancing your boss’s image, you’ll consult this desktop reference many times over.

Inside, you’ll find what you need to know about digital photography

• Determine what you need in a digital camera and choose the right one
• Improve or repair photos with image editing software
• Understand the workflow of the digital photography process
• Use lenses, focal length, aperture settings, and shutter speed to create professional effects
• Discover the secrets of taking great portraits and photographing sporting events, landscapes, and nature
• Become skilled at image management and RAW conversion
• Develop effective methods of cataloging, storing, and publishing digital images
• Find out how to take good photos when taking pictures is only part of your job

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 534 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; Desktop Edition edition (July 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764568752
• ISBN-13: 978-0764568756
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Simon is an adjunct professor in the Culture and Communications Department at the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University. He teaches courses on a wide variety of topics including Online Journalism, Fundamentals of Journalism, Public Relations, Public Speaking, Desktop Publishing, business and technical communications and communication theory. He has also taught courses in Camera Techniques and Digital Photography for East Stroudsburg University and Desktop Publishing for Gloucester County College and Introduction to Communications Media at Salem Community College.

Dan also has more than 30 years experience as a writer and photographer. He is currently co-authoring a user guide to the Olympus E-P2 camera. His most recently completed work was on the "David Busch Quick Snap Guide to Photographic Equipment" out in August 2009.

His published works include the "Digital Photography Bible Desktop Edition" (sole author, John Wiley and Sons Publishing), "Digital Photography All-in-one, A complete desk reference for Dummies," (contributing author, John Wiley and Sons Publishing), and(contributing author, "Digital Photos, Movies, & Music Gigabook for Dummies," John Wiley and Sons Publishing). He is also a regular contributor to the Growing Edge (hydroponics) Magazine and Pennsylvania Magazine (regional, travel).

He began his career as a Navy journalist with assignments aboard several ships, and in Norfolk, Va., Dededo, Guam, and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. He has traveled to all seven continents and photographed many of America's scenic and wild places. He also works as a freelance photographer shooting for several sports and event photography companies and continues to write for the Growing Edge and other magazines. Dan also serves as a guest lecturer for Norwegian Cruise Line, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and Royal Caribbean International.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential photography information and great photos!, August 18, 2004

By 

David D. Busch - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography Bible (Desktop Edition) (Paperback)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blends useful tips on how to make great photos, November 14, 2004

By 

Gary Miller (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Photography Bible (Desktop Edition) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good basic book on digital photography., September 10, 2005

By 

Peter deV "Photo NewBee" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography Bible (Desktop Edition) (Paperback)

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.