A Short Course in Canon Powershot G9 Photography book/ebook [Spiral-bound]

Dennis P Curtin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2007

This book/eBook package is your guide to getting more interesting and creative photos with the 12 megapixel Canon Powershot G9. It discusses every camera setting on this high-quality camera in a clear, well-illustrated style, with many integrated tips and QuickSteps, but it also does much more. You'll also learn the concepts of photography as you learn why and when you use specific settings, not just how to set them. You'll find that this guide helps you quickly master your camera so you'll be getting the kinds of photos you hope for.

The book is printed in black & white and has a well-liked spiral binding that lets the book lie flat or be folded back. The accompanying eBook on a CD disc is a printable and searchable full-color version of the same book in Adobe's popular PDF format. It can be printed out in whole or part and read on a PC or Mac using the free Acrobat Reader or any current Web browser. This eBook also includes clickable links to 50 or so interactive animations that illustrate the core concepts of digital photography such as exposure compensation, lens focal lengths, histograms, and much, much more. (To use these animations you do need an Internet connection.)

Just some of the things you'll learn are how to take pictures in fully automatic point and shoot mode and how your camera captures digital images; how to play back and manage your images; how to use buttons, dials, and menus; control image size and quality, including using the popular and very high-quality RAW format; shoot continuously, use all of the camera s exposure modes and exposure controls to get photos that show the scene exactly as it is, or as you want to interpret it; use histograms for the best possible exposures; see how to control sharpness in your photographs; and how to use focus, depth-of-field, sharpness, softness, and blur creatively. Learn all about light and color and how to use them creatively. Understand how they change throughout the day and seasons, how they are affected by the weather, and how light's direction and quality affects highlights and shadows. See how to set white balance to capture colors the way you see them. Learn how to use your zoom lens creatively when photographing scenery, interiors, people, and very small subjects. See how to creatively use the built-in, and optional external flash, indoors and out and in good light and bad and how to use studio lighting for product shots and portraits. Explore little known but essential flash techniques such fill and slow sync flash. Finally, see how to use panoramic and continuous photography; shoot movies and record sounds; control tone, sharpness and hue; shoot in black & white; customize the camera to better suit your shooting style; and enter a print order.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

For the past three decades Dennis Curtin has been an editor, author, and publisher in photography and computing. His latest books on digital cameras and digital photography have been widely praised for their quality and simplicity. They have been widely used in schools, by most of the armed services, many police departments, and even a number of camera companies to train specialists in photography. On the publishing side, Dennis was editor-in-chief of one of Time-Warner's educational divisions and also held similar positions in Prentice-Hall's technology and engineering program and Prentice-Hall International. In those roles, he has worked extensively with Ansel Adams and other leading photographers of our generation. In his roles as publisher, editor, and author Dennis has been fortunate to edit, publish or write many best-selling books in photography and computing.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 158 pages
• Publisher: ShortCourses.com; 1 edition (December 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928873820
• ISBN-13: 978-1928873822
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Buy This One, April 5, 2008

By 

Helen H. Waldrop "[e-mail]" (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Short Course in Canon Powershot G9 Photography book/ebook (Spiral-bound)

For $37 you can get far better books on the Canon Powershot series of digital cameras. I thought I was getting a Canon G9 specific digital camera book and was disappointed with the not only the lack of Canon G9 specific information but also the quality of the printing and binding of book. Curtin writes the same information for 90% of his books and covers a bit Canon G9 specific settings and information. If this is what you want and what nyou need there are several publishers that deliver more camera specific information and far better presentation and clarity of material for $15 to $20 less money through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

The accuracy of his digital photography information is good which why I was generous enough to give him 2 stars but the printing is photocopied double sided laser jet paper and mediocre black and white photographs. I actually bought two of his books based on information from his website and was really disappointed. Several publishers put out a Canon Powershot cameras guide book much better bound and with color photos that is as good or better than this book. He uses the same boilerplate digital photography information and adds the Canon specific settings just like Magic Lantern guide books.

I just wish I had gotten my money back on this turkey before my return for refund time was up.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars adds to the product manuals, but could be more G9 specific, February 18, 2008

By 

C. Barbieri "amazon fanatic" (Needham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Short Course in Canon Powershot G9 Photography book/ebook (Spiral-bound)

The book includes a lot of good general information about digital photography, and does a nice job of expanding on information that has already been included in the product documentation. I purchased the CD only edition, and printed off some pages I wanted for portable reference. The author goes through every feature of the camera, converter lenses, and a little about the EX flashes too. While I appreciated the general camera information, I already have that from other books and would prefer more advanced tips and tricks specific to using the G9.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Put down your Canon user manual..., February 19, 2008

By 

C. Coomer (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Short Course in Canon Powershot G9 Photography book/ebook (Spiral-bound)

and pick up this comprehensive introduction to your G9. If you're like me and it's been a while since you've operated a camera with manual functions, you'll appreciate Curtin's refresher course, provided in the context of the G9's features and their user interface. Moving beyond the technical basics found in Canon's user manual, this book clearly explains the G9's functions, offering sound advice regarding when and how modes and features of the G9 are best used. I purchased the printed version of this book, skipping the interactive version offered on CD. It's worth noting the book includes call-outs to all of the interactive features (such as PDFs, conceptual animations and spread sheets,) making cross-referencing between the printed book and CD bonus materials an apparent cinch.