Digital Photography For Dummies, Third Edition [Paperback]

Julie Adair King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0764506463 | ISBN-13: 978-0764506468 | Edition: 3rd

The price of digital cameras is dropping, and amateurs and professionals alike are pointing and clicking digitally. The ease of composing, editing, printing, and e-mailing these photos has also contributed to digital photography's growing popularity.

Digital Photography For Dummies, 3rd Edition, shows you how to produce great pictures by using digital technology. Explore how to take better pictures and transfer these files to your computer. This book also shows you how to adjust exposure and contrast, sharpen focus, crop images, and display your pictures after they are printed. This third edition of Julie Adair King's already-popular book also includes 16 full-color pages that clearly demonstrate the effects of the techniques described in the text. The enclosed CD-ROM provides you with . . .
* Kodak Pictures Now, an easy-to-navigate program that you can use to open and print images in a snap
* MediaCenter, an interesting hybrid of Web browser and image-editing program from PictureWorks Technology
* Trial versions of a host of other image-editing and cataloging software
* Online reference materials from the Kodak Digital Learning Center

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're comfortable with the concept of photography but find the digital part a stumbling block, Digital Photography for Dummies will get you over the hump.

Author Julie Adair King, a photographer and graphics-software specialist, deftly explains such concepts as resolution, f-stop, and compression. She is also refreshingly upfront about the differences between film-based and digital photography, spelling out the latter's shortcomings early on. Her advice on all aspects of the field is well thought out and simple without being condescending. She informs readers, for example, that you needn't use high-pixel resolutions simply for placing images on a Web page. Such tips will come as a relief to fledgling photographers on a budget, or novices who may have thought they had to use the highest-quality settings at all times.

Aside from the technical concerns of working with the camera and computer, King also gives sound tips on composition and lighting. And since retouching is one of the principal benefits of digital photography, she spends a fair amount of time discussing photo-editing software. And while most of the examples are in black and white, the most important examples, gratefully, are included in a 16-page color plate section in the middle of the book.

For those of you considering jumping into the world of digital photography, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better guide to getting started than Digital Photography for Dummies. --John Frederick Moore

Review

"Clarifies mysteries and offers useful help!" —U.S. News & World Report

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 3rd edition (December 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764506463
• ISBN-13: 978-0764506468
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julie Adair King is the best-selling author of many books about digital imaging, including Digital Photography For Dummies, Shooting & Sharing Digital Photos For Dummies, and Digital Photography Before & After Makeovers. When not writing, she teaches at various locations, including such noted photography schools as the Palm Beach Photographic Centre in Florida.
A native of Ohio and a graduate of Purdue University, King now resides with her furboy, Mocha the Wacky Wheaten Terrier, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pick a Subject!, July 10, 2007

By 

Heidi (An Army Base Near You) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) (Paperback)

I guess I don't think of photo editing as digital photography. When I think digital photography, I'm thinking of the art of photography, taken with a digital camera instead of a film camera. That's all.

Photo editing, to me, is different. If you are looking for a book explaining aperture, exposure, shutter speed, f/stops, etc., this book only has 41 pages on those subjects.

There are 354 pages total (not counting the glossary) and 194 of them are on the photo editing Elements program.

I found myself skipping and skimming and flipping for more information. As if I had missed something, I would find myself going back and re-reading and still being let down. I wanted a book on taking better pictures, not taking OKAY pictures, and fixing them later with an outside program - and maybe that's my fault with the definition I have in my head. I didn't want a book on Elements, as I don't have that program.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Digital Photography For Dummies 5th Edition, November 9, 2005

By 

Darren "Daz" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) (Paperback)

Digital Photography for Dummies is the first Dummies book I have read. It is fully updated and revised now in FULL COLOR.
I can't imagine understanding all about RGB, CYMK and other colorful acronyms in chapter 2 if the diagrams were in black and white, color speaks volumes.
Digital Photography for Dummies shows you anything and everything you need to know about Digital Photography.
There are 16 chapters divided into 5 parts.
Covers understanding the differences between digital cameras and film cameras, also the pros and cons of digital photography.
It also gets involved with color, resolution and image size, some nice diagrams of RGB Channels, nice section of pixels and print quality, what's the difference in 300ppi, 150ppi, 72ppi, if you didn't know you do now.
Take a look at the shutter and aperture in a traditional film camera, worth a look.
Comparing SLR's and point-and-shoot cameras, also covers digital cameras removable media types.
A great tip on using non digital lenses with a digital body (Not all cameras do this) a great tip.
It also takes a look at transferring images to your computer, imaging software.
Making initial set up decisions, involves files, format understanding quality and picture size settings, this book really gets to grips with digital characteristics of your camera, resolution, white balance options, using flash, tweaking exposure.
Do I use flash or not? Here is the answer.
A blurry image is it poor focusing, or an unsteady hand? How you hold the camera is very important.
Covers capturing action shots, panoramas, zooming and camera noise, also camera raw, transferring files via camera to computer.
A good section on digital photography, choosing a printer, inkjet or laser. Choosing paper, the paper you choose can make your images have a completely different effect.
Using your photo's on the web, preparing your pictures for the screen. Making changes to part of a picture, why and when.
A good glossary in the back explains all those technical words.
I liked the use of the icons throughout the book, bringing important information to your attention.

Conclusion:
This is a very good book for readers who are new to digital photography. Advanced users may know most of the information but again the book is for Dummies.
Full of great information may be some information you will never need, but the information is better in than left out.
Diagrams are clear and clean, it's also nice to see screen shots from windows machines.
You don't get a CD with the book, bet you don't need one.

I give this book five (5) out of five (5).

[...]

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A helpful primer, May 19, 2000

By 

Scott Sherman (Richmond, Vermont United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography For Dummies (Paperback)

I'm pretty computer savvy, but knew little about digital cameras or photo manipulation software until I read this book. It's a very good primer and especially strong on the uses of graphics software. It's extremely readable for a computer tome, but yet has enough detail to use as a reference. I also found the programs on the enclosed disc to be a good sample of what's out there.