I thought this was a great introduction to digital photography for the SLR user. She did a nice job of discussing aperture and how it affects depth of field. I liked the fact that she pointed out that short focal lengths (17-35mm) have a large depth of field, and long focal lengths have a shallow depth of field.
She points out that a UV filter protects your expensive lens from getting scratched, so a $20 filter may save your $800.
She recommends a few things to be carried always such as a spare battery, lens cloth to clean the lens and prevent hours of post-production work, and colorless powder for the common shiny face.
I liked her discussion of reflectors and diffusers. It actually spurred me to invest in a reflector so I can improve my outdoor photography. It just looks so much better with light from a reflector than from a flash.
She talks about and demonstrates with photos the big-nose affect caused by taking a close-up portrait with a wide angle lens. I've actually used this affect for humor, because it looks so funny.
She explains that a telephoto lens of 60-100mm is flattering because it creates a shallower depth of field, so your subject stands out more. It has the disadvantage of requiring that you stand a distance from your subject however.
She talks about composition, framing, and of course about the rule of thirds. I liked the way she described it though, she suggested you imagine a tic-tac-toe board, and place the subject of interest at one of the intersections. She suggests neutral backgrounds sometimes made with simple things such as blankets.
She had good suggestions about posing your models such as have their weight on their back leg if standing, and to shoot heavier people from the side.
A good rule of thumb if shooting outdoors and needing fill flash is to stand 6-9 feet away from your subject and use your zoom lens. Most on camera flashes emit light for up to 12 feet, then the light falls off.
She suggests using the night setting at parties because it has a slow sync where the flash goes off at the end of the exposure.
Focus on the eyes, because this is what people look at in a portrait. It's okay if the ear is out of focus, but not the eyes.
She has a brief introduction to Photoshop Elements that I thought was quite good, and had some good ideas such as saving a copy of the photo as a layer so you always have the original to go back to.
At the end of the book she has a reference section with website, periodicals and books that she recommends.
There were a few things I didn't like about the book:
* The cheesy exercises at the end of each chapter,
* Repeatedly referring the reader to their website with no introduction to it or explanation, and
* Not once did she give the focal length from which the photo was taken, she gave the focal range of the lens, but not where in that range the photo was shot.
That being said, I think this a good introduction to digital photography for the amateur wanting to improve the quality of his/her portraits and photos in general.
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