Digital Photography Field Guide [Paperback]

Cynthia L. Baron (Author), Daniel Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2004

Now that even your mother owns a digital camera, there's finally a book that reflects how everyone uses them--on the go, at parties, and to document events, not sitting at home with a hefty reference at their side. In this travel-sized volume, you'll be able to access the info you want when you want it--while you're taking pictures. After providing an introduction to digital cameras and an overview of how to use them, authors Cynthia Baron and Daniel Peck get to the heart of the volume: the situations in which you're likely to use a digital camera and the issues you need to be aware of. In chapters on outdoor photography, event photography, and portraits and still-lives, you'll find easy-to-follow instructions on getting the best shots with the least amount of fuss. At the end of the day, you'll find yourself returning to the volume to find out what's next: downloading, printing, using Photoshop to manipulate images, creating slide shows, archiving images, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Now that even your mother owns a digital camera, there's finally a book that reflects how everyone uses them--on the go, at parties, and to document events, not sitting at home with a hefty reference at their side. In this travel-sized volume, you'll be able to access the info you want when you want it--while you're taking pictures. After providing an introduction to digital cameras and an overview of how to use them, authors Cynthia Baron and Daniel Peck get to the heart of the volume: the situations in which you're likely to use a digital camera and the issues you need to be aware of. In chapters on outdoor photography, event photography, and portraits and still-lives, you'll find easy-to-follow instructions on getting the best shots with the least amount of fuss. At the end of the day, you'll find yourself returning to the volume to find out what's next: downloading, printing, using Photoshop to manipulate images, creating slide shows, archiving images, and more.

About the Author

Cynthia Baron has been teaching image editing at Northeastern University since before Photoshop 1.0. She is a graphic designer and has authored or co-authored several books, including the Filemaker Visual QuickStart Guide and Designing a Digital Portfolio. Daniel Peck got a Kodak 620 box camera for his fifth birthday; he has been in love with photography ever since. Hs work has appeared in publications including the New York Times and the Smithsonian's Country BluesCD.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (July 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321220544
• ISBN-13: 978-0321220547
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,724,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Photography Fiels Guide of Choice, September 12, 2004

By 

Mark (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Photography Field Guide (Paperback)

In its 120 some pages, the DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FIELD GUIDE proves itself to be equal parts guide to navigating the controls of a digital camera and a basic course in general photography.

Cynthia L. Baron and Daniel Peck start where the camera pamphlet leaves off in explaining the functions a digital camera is capable of utilizing to capture a well produced photograph under just about any conditions. And they do this using examples of basic photographic composition that can never go out of style.

This book contains all the information that is needed to take great photographs while using your digital camera to its full potential. And offers all this in a format that can easily be used as a field reference.

If I had room for one book only in my camera bag, the DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FIELD GUIDE would be my choice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good starting point for the new digital camera owner..., August 21, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Photography Field Guide (Paperback)

In the never-ending quest to learn to take semi-decent pictures, I read through the Digital Photography Field Guide by Cynthia L. Baron and Daniel Peck (Peachpit Press). This is a small, easy to read and understand book on getting the most out of your digital camera.

The chapters: Before You Shoot: Buying Guide; Digital Camera Basics; Photographing People; Capturing Motion; Indoor Places; Outdoor Places; After You Shoot; Digital Camera Troubleshooting; Index

For what this book is and for the intended audience, it's pretty good. The book starts out by explaining how a digital camera works and what the basic features are that you'll want to have. From there, it covers a number of shooting situations you'll experience in the real world, and what camera features you can use to best handle the scene. For instance, trying to shoot good sporting pictures is difficult. The latency between when you click the shutter and when the picture records means that you'll most likely end up getting the split second AFTER the perfect shot. Not good. But the authors show you how to anticipate the action to compensate for latency. The other option is to set for continuous shooting so that a single click will produce a series of shots that will bracket the moment and increase your chances of the perfect picture.

The serious photographer will already know most of this information, so they probably won't get much value out of the book. But if you're a novice and aspire to understand your camera and the art of photography better, this is a good starting point.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFIC bOOK, February 13, 2005

By 

Jim Jr (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Photography Field Guide (Paperback)

I wish it was possible to give this book 10 stars! After reading and being mainly confused by books written mainly for professional photographers - even the "Dummies" digital books go into too much technical stuff - this book is a breath of fresh air. It is so helpful and written in such understandable terms that it should be packaged with every digital camera.

The authors really know how to instruct a person in taking great pictures even if they have never picked up a digital camera before.

When explaining how to take a picture in each situation, the icons you need to use are clearly illustrated in the margins.

The photos show examples of a picture taken poorly and then with the correct settings - this is extremely helpful.

The section on how to use a flash is worth the price of the book alone.

Next to my cameras themselves, this book is the most important part of my digital equipment.