How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera [Paperback]

Dave Johnson (Conductor)

Book Description

Series: How to Do Everything | Publication Date: February 26, 2001

Publishing Rationale - Digital Camera use is clearly on the rise -sales of cameras have topped $1 Billion, and the digital category now makes up about 36% of the entire camera market, with 1.8 million units sold in 1999 (a 63% increase in 1999), according to market researcher NPD Intelect. - Digital Camera prices are dropping. There are lots of digital cameras on the market in a wide price range, but the introduction of sub-$300 cameras, and the increased sales coming from non-cameras specific retailers (Kmart, and chain drugstores, in addition to Circuit City and Fry's Electronics) means there's a huge spike in digital camera owners who have cameras but may not know what to do with them - or with the digital images they capture. - Osborne's How to Do Everything series is a strong seller, and the addition of new titles is sure to expand the success - especially for this hot topic

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Although the title is a little overstated, this book does offer a fairly comprehensive introduction to digital photography. Johnson opens by discussing virtually all of the technical essentials of working with one's camera to make correct exposures and then proceeds to address questions about working with digital film and formats and transferring files. He further explains how to compose and edit photographs on one's computer, showing how to improve sharpness and contrast, clean up images, use special effects, and blend text with images. The book concludes with helpful chapters on printing one's photographs and sharing images through e-mail, web pages, and disks. Anyone who works with digital photographs will find this book quite thorough and useful. Recommended for all photography collections in public and academic libraries. Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Digitize-and realize-your vision!

This complete volume will help you get great results from your digital camera. Learn digital photography basics, share results through e-mail or the Internet, electronically store images, apply advanced photography techniques, perform image editing, and more. This book dissects digital photography in bite-sized, understandable sections that will help anyone--from beginner to professional--make the transition to the digital arena. Master image handling and editing tools including scanners, monitors, and software applications. Now, you can tap the mystery of digital image making-and start taking your very best pictures.

• Bring your digital vision to life with powerful digital tools
• Organize, edit, and store your favorite photos in digital media
• Print your own pictures, e-mail them to friends and family, or display them on the Internet for everyone to enjoy
• Master companion hardware like storage cards, scanners, and color printers
• Upload pictures directly from your camera to your own Web site, or post them to a gallery site
• Explore advanced digital photography techniques like night, action, and slow-motion photography
• Troubleshoot and care for your digital camera
• Access online and offline resources to help you pick the best digital camera, and make hardware choices

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 394 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia; 1st edition (February 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072127724
• ISBN-13: 978-0072127720
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,555,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a writer and photographer living near Seattle. In my spare time I play drums, scuba dive, and, along with the rest of my family, take car of my three cats, two dogs, and a slew of fish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good investment in both time and money, April 1, 2001

By 

Chuck Albert (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera (Paperback)

I found this book ideal as it is written for the amateur photographer that is new to digital photography, which basically describe my status. There is a lot of useful information in its 376 pages. It is well indexed and organized so that topics are easy to find.

The book is an easy read and is well illustrated, but suffers from a lack of colour. Obviously by eliminating colour and binding with a soft cover the publisher has been able to meet a price point. It's too bad the author does not published colour plates on his website to compensate for this lack of colour.

While I own a Kodak DC4800 3.1 Digital Camera and therefore would like to see more information on my specific camera, the author balances that desire by covering digital photography without being too camera brand specific.

I have read Dennis Curtin's A Short Course in Nikon Coolpix 950 Photography and would rate Dave Johnson's book as a more instructive book. I think Johnson's book will remain a good reference work for some years.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent help for exploring your new digital "toy", July 13, 2001

By 

K.M. (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera (Paperback)

As a person experienced with technology but not knowledgeable about photography, I found this book to be a great resource. I bought my first digital camera, but didn't know how to get its features to "work for me" to take the pictures I wanted. So once I got the book I skipped straight to the chapters on basic photography -- including exposure, composition, and lighting -- which were invaluable. The author has a casual style (humorous on occasion, but the book is not burdened with quips), and he explains concepts in a way that's accomodating to novices, yet with enough detail to satisfy the technically oriented. After reading the chapters through once, I felt as if I had completed a basic photography class.

However, while I think the photography info itself merits 5 stars, the book as a whole fell a bit short. First, there are a few blatant errors, such as incorrectly referenced figures and wrong pictures, that were irksome (although they didn't much hinder the learning experience). Second, the large portion on image editing doesn't provide much new info for those already familiar with popular photo editing software -- it's strictly for newbies. Third, the black and white photos were poorly suited to illustrate certain concepts, especially those involving color. A color insert containing all the photos as they were originally shot would have helped.

In summary, this is definitely a worthwhile book for the overall digital photography novice. Those who are also new to computer hardware and software will likely reap the greatest return for their investment. Computer "geeks" may need to supplement this book with something more advanced on software.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just What I Needed, January 6, 2003

By 

Lisa (Petersburg, VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera (Paperback)

This book delivered exactly what I was looking for. I have had a digital camera for three years, and realized that my lack of knowledge in the basic principals of photography was holding me back. Not only did this book explain clearly and effectively the basics of photography, but it taught me to get the most out of my digital camera's capabilities. I was getting frustrated and now I am enjoying my camera again.

I also wanted to learn what to look for in a higher-end camera down the line, and this was covered as well. I understand how to weigh the different features against the kind of pictures I want to take.

Well written and useful. I recommend it.