The Digital Photography Companion [Paperback]

Derrick Story (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2008

Are you ready to take photos that reflect your creative spirit, rather than just another set of snapshots? Then you want this book in your camera bag. Well-organized so you can look up topics quickly, The Digital Photography Companion gives you creative tips and technical advice for taking top-notch digital photos in a wide range of conditions, and for a variety of occasions. In other words, this book will help you make pictures that look better than everyone else's.

Professional photographer and teacher Derrick Story, whose online tips and podcasts at The Digital Story (www.thedigitalstory.com) have made him a popular photography blogger, gives you plenty of examples of how to capture great shots of people, places, landscapes, and more. He also provides a complete summary on camera features, tips for printing, sharing your images, and an overview of photo management applications.

Chapters include:

• What is It? -- Choose the right camera (DSLRs, compact cameras, or hybrids) and get a rundown on all of the typical features they offer, such as face detection, image stabilizers, diopter adjustment, focus assist light, RAM buffer, and more.



• How Does it Work? -- This A-Z guide of digital camera controls explains everything from Aperture Value (Av) Mode and Autoexposure to White Balance, the Zoom/Magnify Control, and everything in between.



• Shoot Like a Pro -- Advice for a variety of photographic adventures, such as capturing existing light portraits, creating powerful landscape images, and shooting fireworks, underwater portraits, infrared photos, and more, along with lighting and filter tricks.



• I've Taken Great Pictures, Now What? -- You get complete advice for sharing your photos, converting from color to balck & white and more, plus an overview of photo management applications, from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to Apple iPhoto.



• Printing Made Easy -- Printing doesn't have to be a painful experience. Learn various options, including direct printing without a computer, ordering out, and selecting the right inkjet printer for home (and what to do with it once you get it there.).

You also get an appendix with Quick Reference Tables, as well as other useful tables scattered throughout the book.

The Digital Photography Companion offers you friendly advice so you can try techniques that may never have occurred to you -- approaches that will bring you more of what you're looking for when you click the shutter: Great looking pictures!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Digital Photography Companion gives you creative tips and technical advice for taking top-notch digital photos in a wide range of conditions. Professional photographer and teacher Derrick Story gives you plenty of examples of how to capture great shots of people, places, landscapes, and more.

Five Fun Photography Tips by Derrick Story, Author of The Digital Photography Companion

Click on thumbnails for larger images

1) Produce Do-It-Yourself Product Shots:There are two ways to shoot items using tabletop photography: the hard way and the easy way. The hard way involves multiple studio lights, softboxes, umbrellas, and seamless backdrop paper. Professionals use this equipment to produce outstanding images for commercial advertising and high-end editorial work. But if you just want a nice picture of your old film camera to sell on eBay, you probably don’t want to set up an entire studio. So here’s the easy way: Find a window that you can set up a table next to. North-facing windows are great, but not necessary for this type of shooting. Cover the surface with white paper, and if you can, create a white backdrop too. This will be your work area. Put your camera on a tripod (or another stable surface) and adjust it so it’s facing the item that you want to photograph on the table. Move both the subject and the camera to achieve the best lighting possible via the open window. Once everything is in place, make a tabletop reflector out of white cardboard, or cardboard (or another rigid material) covered with aluminum foil. Position the reflector opposite the light source (window) so it bounces light onto the shadowy side of the item. Set the white balance to Cloudy and put your camera on self-timer. Now trip the timer and stand back. After 10 seconds or so, the camera will take the shot for you to review. Continue refining your setup until you get the shot you want. This simple setup can produce studio-like results with a fraction the cost or effort. Give it a try.


2) Use Sunglasses as a Polarizing Filter: Point and shoot cameras are the height of convenience, but not always versatility. Case in point is when you want to mount a polarizing filter to saturate the sky or reduce glare. There’s no where to put it! But that doesn’t mean your pictures are doomed to the blinding glare of a reflective world. You can, instead, remove those stylish neutral gray polarizing glasses from your head and place them in front of the camera lens. Quality sunglasses make great polarizing filters for compact cameras. Make sure that the lens of your sunglasses completely covers the front glass element of your camera. You’ll get best results when the sun is aligned along your shoulders. You don’t believe it works? Then take two shots, one with the sunglasses and the other without. You be the judge.


3) Devise a Shower Cap Inclement Weather Protector: The perfect travel companion for compact shooters is the hotel shower cap. These free accessories are the perfect rain protectors when you want to go outside and get the shot. Just poke a hole in the middle of the cap for the lens to protrude through, put your hands through the “stretchy” opening, and let the elastic close tight around your wrists. You now have a water resistant cover that enables you to work all of the controls--perfect for those shots of the kids splashing water in the gutter on a rainy day.







4) Preview Your Shots in B&W: Many cameras have a Black & White mode that enables you to capture grayscale images. This type of photography can be quite beautiful and is often considered artistic. The problem with B&W mode is that grayscale images are your only option. You may think you only want Black & White at the wedding reception... until the bride asks for color versions too weeks later. I recommend that you capture your pictures in color, then convert copies of them to B&W. That way you have all of your options open. But there’s still value to B&W mode, even if you choose to capture in color. It can help you preview your compositions in grayscale on the camera’s LCD monitor. By doing so, you can better compose your scene for the best Black & White output later on while working on your computer. Not to mention that it’s quite fun.





5) Tennis Ball Tripod Feet: Have you ever tried to use a tripod in the sand? You might as well be trying to steady your camera on chopsticks in rice. But you can bring stability to the situation, Buy a can of tennis balls, cut an “X” slit in each one, and slip them over the feet of your tripod. They will provide a much steadier platform for your three-legged friend.

About the Author

Derrick Story is the digital media evangelist for O'Reilly, as well as the author of Digital Photography Hacks and Digital Photography Pocket Guide. You can listen to his photo podcasts and read his tips at The Digital Story. Aperture fans might want to check out his co-authored video training on Lynda.com titled, Aperture 1.5 Beyond the Basics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (March 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596517661
• ISBN-13: 978-0596517663
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Photography & Video > Digital Printing
  • #32 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Photography & Video > Camera Guides

More About the Author

Derrick Story is a professional photographer, writer, instructor, and the Photography Evangelist for O'Reilly Media. He's authored many books including the recent "The Digital Photography Companion." Derrick's video tutorials are available through Lynda.com, featuring Aperture and iPhoto titles. His photo articles are a regular staple for Macworld Magazine.

Derrick is also a member of the conference faculty for Macworld Expo SF, where he teaches classes on iPhoto, Aperture, and digital imaging. You can visit his commercial site at www.storyphoto.com. He also runs a virtual camera club at www.thedigitalstory.com, featuring weekly photography podcasts, reader-submitted photos, and pro tips.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SMILE!! YOU'RE DIGITIZED!!, March 23, 2008

By 

John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Digital Photography Companion (Paperback)

Do you want to make your digital pictures look different? If you do, then this book is for you. Author Derrick Story, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you the controls on your camera and ends by showing you how to produce beautiful prints that you can show to the rest of the world.

Story, begins by showing you every nook and cranny on your camera. Then, the author shows you when to use fill flash; and, what slow synchro is good for. Next, he shows you more than a dozen important camera techniques: How to take great outdoor portraits; how you can shoot like a regular pro; and, how you take action shots with a consumer digital camera. The author also shows you how to master your computer the same way you tamed your camera. Finally, the author takes the mystery out of printing and how to get your work on paper.

By the time you've experimented with the techniques contained in this most excellent book, you'll have journeyed well beyond your peers. But, more importantly, the pictures you take now, will not only become personal treasures, they will also be admired by others.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine primer on digital photography, May 12, 2008

By 

John A. Suda (Rochester NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Digital Photography Companion (Paperback)

The "Basic Photography Companion" concept has become nearly its own genre in the photography book business. For the most part, it results in "formula" books covering the same basic ideas - how to buy introductory camera gear, how to use the gear, and how to produce decent- looking photos for oneself, family, and friends.

It is a popular genre and there is nothing wrong with a formula approach, especially if it is made fresh by updated content, quality production values, and capable exposition. Out of all the "companions" I've owned or read over the decades the ones written by Derrick Story and published by O'Reilly Media, rank among the best. Mr. Story's latest is "The Digital Photography Companion" (2008), a slender book of 214 pages. Story is O'Reilly's digital media expert and has authored a number of basic digital photography guides over the years, as well as other books in his area of expertise. With the rapidly developing technology in the photography world involving digital cameras, lenses, storage media, software editing and management programs, and Internet and wireless distribution methods, there is a niche and a need for a good genre-formula companion manual. A typical companion manual is a book small enough to fit easily into a camera bag and which provides guidance on camera and lens settings, filters, flash, and other technical hardware matters while also providing information and tips on standard photography concepts like depth of field, shutter speeds, exposures, and the like. The better ones also contain the reference material most desired by working photographers, like charts for exposure; color temperatures; flash, metering, and camera modes; and memory card capabilities.

The Digital Photography Companion makes order of the complexities of photography equipment purchasing and use while providing a goodly amount of practical tips for taking photos. Mr. Story has an easy-going casual writing style. He makes learning about digital hardware and software and photography concepts and techniques seem easy. The book is nicely produced and laden with full color illustrative comparison images, useful tables, charts, and color-coded sidebars of Tips, Definitions, Warnings, and Reminders. There are screenshots of software settings for digital editing and management applications like iPhoto, Photoshop Elements, Adobe's Light Room, and Apple's high-end program, Aperture, and others. The picture-making material is for beginners; there is discussion of basic photo techniques for a large variety of situations most commonly experienced by beginners--especially persistent learners - landscapes, weddings, kids, action, self-portraits, and astrophotography scenes. The goal is to help new photographers learn to make their pictures unique and interesting for even non-family and friends.

There are five chapters covering computer and photography terms, hands-on techniques and camera use items, picture making tips and ideas, viewing and managing results, and printing methods. Chapters 1 and 2 are organized by basic photography and technical concepts sorted in alphabetical order for quick reference, as necessary. Chapter 3 provides basic picture-taking tips. An appendix contains the Quick Reference Guide mentioned already for camera settings , together with a chart of metadata for all the illustrative photos contained in the book, including for each photo: camera model used, focal length, shutter speed, and location.

The digital revolution in the photography world makes the materials in chapters 4 and 5 especially useful, discussing the new digital distribution and software processing methods - e-mail, conversion to movies, dealing with RAW files, making slide shows, etc. - and the printing options - direct from camera, online printers, and dedicated photo printers.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, Useful, Entertaining, April 7, 2008

By 

Aspi Havewala (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Digital Photography Companion (Paperback)

This book is sized conveniently enough, like a slightly oversize mass market paperback. And the intent is obvious. Story wants to create a manual that is easy to take along with you pretty much wherever you go (hint: vacations). He follows it up by writing in a conversational style and includes lots of bright color pictures that further increases the reader's engagement.

Story covers both digital SLRs and compact cameras. And in an excellent opening chapter, he explains the major differences between the two. Some part of the audience for this book might find the information on image sensors to be too technical - and for them there is enough practical advice to help choose a camera. But for those looking for a more in-depth explanation, this chapter is a great hook.

The book really shinesby offering lots of practical advice on how to create take great pictures, sometimes by replicating studio settings with low-tech contraptions. For example, Story shows you how to devise your own light meter, shoot in rain, bounce light off household reflective surfaces and trick your camera's white balance.

Besides being very useful, these tips also offer terrific insights into how the digital camera works. It enhances your understanding of the instrument you are working with.