Digital Photography Bible, Second Edition [Paperback]

Ken Milburn (Author), Ron Rockwell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764549510 | ISBN-13: 978-0764549519 | Publication Date: September 6, 2002 | Edition: 2

* Targets a unique audience of professionals and serious amateurs.
* 16-page color insert demonstrates techniques used to solve problems best understood by seeing the before and after versions of an image.
* CD-ROM contains hundreds of sample photographs, a trial version of Photoshop 7.0 and the 3-D editing program Conama.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Aimed primarily at the serious hobbyist or business professional, the Digital Photography Bible functions very well as an introduction to taking, retouching, storing, and publishing digital photographs, as well as choosing equipment and software. Instead of a step-by-step how-to on a particular application--like most of the books in the Bible series--this one is more of a discussion of the many different aspects of digital photography. Some topics--for example, emergent technologies--get only a cursory glance. However, for the most part, the book does a good job of covering everything you need to know to get started.

Launching into digital photography means making a succession of comparisons, and this book has done most of the legwork for you. It examines the different brands of cameras and accessories, as well as the hardware and software you'll need to process the images, from printers to papers. Appendices chart out the comparisons and list 46 pages' worth of digital resources--from Agfa to Zing Network, an online digital-image community offering unlimited free storage.

Author Ken Milburn shares his experience as a photographer, with tips and tricks on how to take a good image, whether it's the basics of high-quality photography or technical insights into working a digital camera--such as compensating for shutter lag or the usually excessive depth of field. He touches on several image-editing applications, but devotes the most time to the basics of using Photoshop.

If you have extensive experience taking and processing conventional photos, but have yet to dive into digital, you'll be able to appreciate how the book weighs all the variables involved. If you've committed yourself already to a particular camera and software, you still will benefit from the help on how to get the most from them. The author's gallery of color photos shows examples of different problem-solving techniques covered in the text, and the companion CD-ROM contains demos of many of the applications discussed, including Photoshop 5.5. --Angelynn Grant --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“…contains an impressive amount of photography information…” (PC How To Digital Photography, May 2004)

“…comprehensive…guide for anyone starting out in digital photography…” (Computer Arts, August 2003)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 792 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (September 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764549510
• ISBN-13: 978-0764549519
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,605,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book on digital photography, August 2, 2000

By 

Robert Springall (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography Bible (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

This is a very good book for the novice to advanced amateur about the digital darkroom (not just digital cameras). The author does a great job walking through various parts of image capture (both through digital cameras and through scanned images originally taken on film), to editing and modification, through final display, either in print or on the web.

The writing is straightforward--here's what I'm going to say, here it is, and here's what I said. There are good pointers and hints throughout. He covers particular brands of cameras, scanners, software, etc., to some detail. Most discussions, though, are general enough to be applied to any combination of camera, software, computer (provided it's a PC or Mac--no other operating systems mentioned), etc.

The best aspect of the book is its comprehensive nature. Everything's covered. Making panoramas? Yes. How digital cameras work? Yes. Best way to prepare images for the web? Yes. Explaining a dye-sub printer? Yes. On the first read, it will probably be more than you want to know. Later, though, it will be a prompt to try something new.

The CD-ROM comes (mostly) with demos of commercial packages, including PhotoShop 5.5. A nice touch but nothing interesting enough to let me say I've used the CD a lot.

The biggest disappointment is the sample pictures. There are some color pages, but they're just before and after of tricks the author did in PhotoShop. (The book covers some basics about image enhancement, but it will not make you a PhotoShop expert.) The other pictures are in black-and-white and not very clear. In many cases, it is difficult to see the details the author is referring to.

Overall, recommended for the "dummy" or competent amateur who wants a good primer on building a digital darkroom. This is Digital Photo 101 and 102. If you want the advanced courses, go to the web because the state of the art is changing too rapidly to be well covered in a book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wish I'd Read These Reviews..., March 11, 2002

By 

Michele "Golfher" (Fresno, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Photography Bible (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)

I wish I'd read the reviews before I bought the book. I'd echo the sentiment that I was too advanced for the book. The CD wasn't anything I could use either. It was good in spots, but what I learned was really on a few pages. If you just bought or thinking of buying, your first digital camera and goodies, then buy this book.

If you've been shooting for a while and using Photoshop, you'll learn a little, but wish you'd bought something else--like a lens or something, or a different book.

Beginners BUY THIS

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't ignore technical problems, January 23, 2003

By 

Donald Christensen (Cedar Park, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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

After reading the first 20-30 pages of this book, I found myself
so distracted by all of the typos and technical errors that I
couldn't continue with it. It seems to me that an expert on
digital photography should be able to keep mega_pixels_ and
mega_bytes_ straight. I got tired of mentions of 5MB cameras and
such. There are numerous other examples, but I already returned
the book and can't cite them all from memory.

If you can overlook this, then I have a feeling the other reviews

that say this is good for beginners are on the mark.