Complete Digital Photography, 5th Edition – Now Shipping!
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Complete Digital Photography, 5th Edition is now available from Amazon, and any other reputable bookstore, and probably from some shady establishments as well. This edition packs more changes than any previous update. In addition to updated content, the book has been completely re-organized and re-designed. The re-org is based largely on my experience over the last few years of teaching, and I think the new approach will be a lot easier than the structure of previous editions. Extensive coverage of all aspects of shooting – both the technical and creative – are covered in the latest edition, and you can see the complete table of contents, below. |
As with previous editions, the new version includes a CD packed to the gills with tutorials, videos, and PDFs of additional reading.
Note for eBook (Kindle) readers: You can download the contents of the companion CD here.
Preface
Is this the right book for you?
How This Book is Organized
What Counts as Digital Photography
Errata
What software do you need?
Chapter 1: Eyes, Brains, Lights, and Images – Understanding How You See
How Your Eyes See
Transmitting Color to the Brain
Light and Dark
Summing Up
How to Learn Photography
Chapter 2: Getting to Know Your Camera – Using Auto Mode for Snapshot Shooting
Camera Basics
Point-and-Shoot or SLR
Point-and-Shoots
SLR
Battery, Media Card, Power Switch
Shooting in Auto Mode
Setting Your Camera to Auto Mode
Framing Your Shot
Focal Length
How to Press the Shutter Button
Practice Shots
Shutter Speed and Status
When Shutter Speed Can’t Go Low Enough
Using Scene Modes
Snapshot Tips
Chapter 3: Camera Anatomy – Holding and Controlling Your Camera
Point-and-Shoots and SLRs Revisited
A Very Fancy Box
What An Image Sensor Does
Point-and-Shoot Design
SLR Design
Sidebar – Electronic TTL Viewfinders
Camera Parts
Lens
Stabilization
Sidebar – Stabilized sensors
SLR Lenses
Focal Length Multipliers – 35mm Equivalency
Sidebar – Cropped vs Full Frame Sensors
Basic Controls
Mode Selection
Status Display
Shooting Controls
Menu Activation and Navigation
Flash System
Playback Controls
Sidebar – Recovering Deleted Images
Configuring Your Camera
Date and Time
Image Size and Compression
File Format
Image Processing Parameters
Other Features
Holding the Camera
The Grip
Feet, Elbows, and Neck
More Practice With Auto
Camera Care and Maintenance
Batteries and Power
Lens Cleaning
UV Filters
Sensor Cleaning
Cleaning Your Sensor
Water and Digital Cameras
Cold Weather
Media Cards
Laptop Computers
Portable Battery-powered Hard Drives
Netbook Computers
Blank CDs, Cables, and PC Adapters
Chapter 4: Image Transfer – Building a Workstation and Transferring From Your Camera
How things look on screen doesn’t always matter
The top 9 imaging problems you’re likely to encounter
Chapter 5: Image Sensors – How a Silicon Chip Captures An Image
How an Image Sensor Works
CCD vs. CMOS
Counting Electrons
A Little Color Theory
Interpolating Color
Turning Data Into an Image
Colorimetric Adjustment
Color Space Conversion
Gamma Correction
White Balance and Image Processing
Sharpening and Noise Reduction
JPEG Compression and Saving
Sidebar: How JPEG Compression Works
Chapter 6: Exposure Basics – The Fundamental Theory of Exposure
Over- and Underexposure
Exposure Control Mechanisms
ISO – The Third Exposure Parameter
Stops
Shutter Speed
Aperture
Less is More
Why There Are Two Ways to Control Light
How Shutter Speed Choice Affects Your Image
Shutter Speed/Aperture Balance
Reciprocity
Reciprocal ISOs
Fractional Stops
Returning to Auto Mode
Chapter 7: Program Mode – Taking Control of Exposure, Focus, and More
Switching to Program Mode
Focusing Revisited
How Autofocus Works
Sidebar: Other Autofocus Mechanisms
Autofocus Modes
Focus Spots
When to Manually Choose a Focus Point
Choosing to Use Just the Center Point
What To Do If Your Autofocus Won’t Lock Focus
Autofocus in Low Light
Face Detection Autofocus
Continuous Autofocus
Focus Tracking – Sometimes Called “Servo Tracking”
Manual Focus
Manual Focus on an SLR
When to Use Manual Focus
Evaluating Focus
The Golden Rule of Focus
White Balance
Auto and Preset White Balance
Manual White Balance
Assessing White Balance
White Balance Shift
White Balance Bracketing
Avoid White Balance Concerns Altogether
White Balance Aids
Sidebar: Don’t Plan on Correcting Bad White Balance
Drive Mode
Shooting in Drive Mode
Sidebar: Don’t Let Drive Mode Make You Lazy
Self-Timer
Remote Controls
Third party Remotes
Sidebar: Inexpensive Remote Alternatives
Manual Override with Program Shift
Calculating a Safe Shutter Speed for Handheld Shooting
Stabilization and Shutter Speed
Do You Really Need To Calculate Handheld Shutter Speed
Changing ISO
ISO Changes in Bright Light
Auto ISO
ISO Numbers
Putting It All Together
Chapter 8: Advanced Exposure – Learning More About Your Light Meter and Exposure Controls
The Light Meter Revisited
Metering When Focusing and Reframing
What Your Light Meter Meters
The Risks of Over- and Underexposure
Sidebar: Electronic viewfinders and metering
Adjusting Exposure
Exposure Compensation
Exposure Compensation and Program Shift
Sidebar: Improving Detail
Controlling Exposure With Your Light Meter
Priority Modes
Manual Mode
Sidebar: Manual Mode Practice, or: “Shoot photos the old fashioned way”
Which Method Should You Use?
In-Camera Histograms
Histograms Defined
Assessing Contrast
Sidebar: Live Histograms
The Three-Channel Histogram
Sidebar: Recording Your Exposure Settings
Bracketing
Auto Bracketing
Sidebar: Why It’s Best To Capture as Much Data as Possible
Scene Modes Revisited
Image Processing Parameters Revisited
Enough With the Button Pushing
Chapter 9: Finding and Composing a Photo: Learning the Art of Photography
Looking vs. Seeing
Seeing Exercises
Warming Up
Make an Assignment
Look at Other Photos
Sketch and Draw
Practice
Pay Attention and Do What Works For you
Finding a Subject
Sidebar: Look Through Your Camera
Photography as Abstraction
Not Just For “Artists”
Building a Shot
Choosing a Camera Position and Focal Length
Focal Length
Portrait Distortion
Sidebar: Geometric Distortion
Shooting Shallow Depth of Field
Sidebar: Shooting Shallow Depth of Field with a Point-and-Shoot Camera
How Shallow Should You Go?
Sidebar: Depth of Field Preview
Composition
Mixing, Matching, and Ignoring
Five Practices For Better Shooting
Seeing In the Camera, Not Through the Camera
Work the Subject
Burst Mode
Narrative
Simplify
Don’t Be Afraid
Equipment Usually Doesn’t Matter
Combining Art and Craft
Chapter 10: Flash Photography
Controlling Available Light
Broad and Narrow Lighting
Flash Photography
Flash Modes
Flash White Balance
Using Flash in Low Light
Using Fill Flash in Bright Light
External Flash
Further Lighting Study
Chapter 11: Raw Shooting – Gaining More Editing Power Through Raw Format
What Raw Is
Sidebar: What Raw Is Not
Why Use Raw
Editable White Balance
Highlight Recovery
More Editing Latitude
Digital “Negative”
Batch Processing
Non-destructive Editing
The Downsides of Raw
Raw Files Use More Storage
Other People May Not Be Able To Read Your Files
Your Software of Choice May Not Support Your Camera
Workflow Can Be More Complicated
Configuring Your Camera To Shoot Raw
Exposing For Raw
How Your Camera Responds to Light
Your Overexposure Safety Net
Some Assembly Required
How Much Overexposure is Enough
Not For Everyday Use
Experimenting With Raw
Chapter 12: Special Shooting – Camera Features and Techniques for Specific Situations
Black and White
You Say Red, I Say Gray
Seeing in Color, Shooting in Black and White
Black and White Exposure
Don’t Use Your Camera’s Grayscale Mode
Infrared Photography
Stable Shooting
Landscape Photography
Keep an Eye Out For Flare
Exposing for Extreme Depth of Field
Sidebar: Using A-DEP on Canon SLRs
Tilt and Shift Lenses
Shooting Panoramas
Preparing Your Camera
Proper Panoramic Panning
Panoramic Exposure
Sidebar: Special Panoramic Attachments
Collaging
Macro Photography
Finding the Optimal Macro Focal Length
Macro Focusing
Poor Depth of Field
Improving Macro Depth of Field
Shooting HDR
High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging
Shooting Concerts and Performances
Set up
Exposure Strategy
Performance Composition
Shooting Events
Shooting Sports
Street Shooting
Shooting Strangers
Shooting at Night
Underwater Photography
Product Photography
Sidebar: Tethered Shooting
Using Filters
Types of Filters
Lens Extensions for Point-and-Shoot Cameras
Chapter 13: Workflow – Managing Your Images and Starting Post-Production
Post-Production Workflow
Import/Organization
Sidebar: Backing up your image master
Metadata Tagging and Keywording
Selecting Your Pick Images
Correct and Edit
Output
Archiving and Backup
Cataloging
No Right or Wrong to Workflow
Tutorial: Getting Started With Bridge
Tutorial: Making Selects, and Rating Images with Bridge
Tutorial: Filtering Images
Tutorial: Stacking Images
Sorting Images
IPTC Metadata
Tutorial: Create and Use a Metadata Template
Keywords
Creating Keywords
Applying Keywords
Filtering by Keywords
Collections
Smart Collections
One Approach to Applying Collections
Other Bridge Commands
Chapter 14: Workflow and First Steps – Understanding the Order of Edits, and Making Your First Adjustments
Editing Order
Histograms Revisited
Sidebar: Why is the Histogram Curved?
Cropping
Tutorial: Cropping an Image
Sidebar: Photoshop Units
Straightening
Tutorial: Straightening an Image
Correcting Geometric Distortion
Tutorial: Correcting Barrel and Pincushion Distortion
Correcting Perspective
Tutorial: Correcting Perspective in Photoshop
Correcting Chromatic Aberrations
Tutorial: Correcting Chromatic Aberrations
Dust and Spot Removal
Tutorial: Correcting Dust Problems
Red Eye
Chapter 15: Correcting Tone: Ensuring that white, black, and overall contrast are correct
What is Tone?
Levels
Tutorial: Using Levels Input Sliders
Tutorial: Adjusting a Real-World Image
Should You Worry About Data Loss?
Sidebar: Another Way to Think About Edits
Curves
Sidebar: A Quick Word about Tone
Sidebar: Which Should I Use? Levels or Curves?
Sidebar: Brightness and Contrast
Learning to See Black as Black
An Essential Start
Chapter 16: Correcting Color: Repairing, Improving, and Changing Color
Levels and Curves and Color
Tutorial: Correcting a Color Cast
Sidebar: Neutralizing Images in Aperture, Lightroom, and Capture NX
Tutorial: Correcting Color with Curves
Hue/Saturation
Tutorial: Adjusting Saturation
Vibrance
The Story So Far
Chapter 17: Image Editing in Raw: Correcting the Tone and Color of Raw Files
Raw Workflow
Sidebar: Which Camera Are You Using
Sidebar: DNG – The Adobe Digital Negative Specification
Raw Editing
Nondestructive Editing
Basic Raw Adjustments
White Balance
Correcting White Balance When There’s No Gray to Sample
White Balance and Poserizing
Exposure
Brightness
Blacks
Contrast
Highlight Recovery
The Recovery Slider
Raw Exposure Strategy Revisited
Shadow/Highlight Adjustment
Highlights and Shadows in Aperture
D-Lighting in Capture NX
Additional Adjustments in Photoshop Camera Raw 4
Workflow Options
Sidebar: Open, Save, and Done
Copying Your Edits from One Image to Another
Copying Raw Edits in Photoshop Camera Raw
Copying Edits in Aperture
Copying Edits in Lightroom
Copying Edits in Capture NX
What More Do You Need?
Chapter 18: Masking – Using Masks to Constrain Your Adjustments
Mask Tools
Selection Tools
Sidebar: Quick Selection Tool
QuickMask
Sidebar: Brush Basics
Color-based Selection Tools
Sidebar: Special Mask Tools
Altering the Edge of a Selection
Saving Masks
The Limits of Selection Tools
Tutorial: Creating Complex Masks
Adjustment Layers
Tutorial: Adjustment Layers
Tutorial: More Layer Masking
Sidebar: More Adjustment Layer Practice
Selective Edits in Camera Raw
Tutorial: Selective Editing in Camera Raw
Targeted Adjustment
Advanced Masking
Tutorial: Advanced Masking in Photoshop
Sidebar: Simpler Masking Using nik Viveza
Chapter 19: Black and White Conversion – Turning Your Color Images Into Black and White Images
Simple Grayscale Conversion
Photoshop’s Black and White Command
Tutorial: Using the Black and White Adjustment
Black and White Adjustment Layers
Other Black and White Conversion Techniques
Channel Mixing
Channeling
Converting to Luminance
Desaturating an Image
Black and White Conversion in Camera Raw
Black and White Plug-ins
Refining a Grayscale Image
Chapter 20: Layers, Retouching, and Special Effects – Additional Editing Tools and Concepts for Improving Your Images
Layers
Some Layer Basics
Creating, Deleting, and Moving Layers
Tutorial – Compositing
Opacity and Transfer Modes
Brushes and Stamps
Brushes
Rubber Stamp or Clone
Patch and Heal
Applied Editing Techniques
Adaptive Shadow and Highlight Correction
Sidebar: Nondestructive Shadow/Highlight
Tutorial: Correcing a bad white balance in a JPEG file
More White Balance Correction
Cleaning Portraits
Noise
Noise Reduction Software
Removing Noise Manually
Reducing Noise with Median
Protected Median Noise Reduction
Noise Reduction in LAB mode
Photoshop Smart Objects
Tutorial: Working with Smart Objects
Where to Go From Here
Chapter 21: Output – Taking Your Images to Print or Electronic Output
Resizing
Resolution
Resizing an Image
Tutorial – Understanding Resolution
Sharpening
How Sharpening Works
Not All Sharpness is Created Equal
Painting Sharpening
Tutorial – Selective Sharpening of a Portrait
Sidebar: Smart Sharpening in Photoshop
Web and Email Output
Outputting Electronic Files
Sidebar – Photoshop’s Image Processor
Choosing a Printer
Ink-Jet Printers
Archivability
Image Quality
Features
Sidebar – Standalone Ink-Jet Printers
Laser Printers
Dye-Sublimation Printers
Media Selection
Ink Choice
Printing
Choosing a Resolution
Choosing a Resolution for an Ink Jet Printer
Choosing a Resolution for a Laser Printer
Printer Profiles
Tutorial – Generating a Soft Proof in Photoshop
Improving Your Print
Change Your Rendering Intent
Printing With Driver Color
Correcting Your Images
Sidebar – Tweak Your Viewing Conditions
Web-Based Printing
Conclusion
Comments
4 Comments on Complete Digital Photography, 5th Edition – Now Shipping!
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Angel Chang on
Fri, 15th Jan 2010 4:48 am
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Edwin Law on
Mon, 25th Jan 2010 6:14 pm
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Humberto Cavalcanti on
Sat, 1st May 2010 7:20 pm
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Shawn Wright on
Fri, 9th Jul 2010 8:38 pm
Thank you for your information. I love this book. Our company-China Photographic Publishing House would like to buy the copyright. Is this book available? What’s your recommended print and price?
Thank you! I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
My email address again:
changeyre@gmail.com
Best regards!
I’m thinking I wish this type of imaging and the info in your book had been available at a much younger age for me. The last 60 years has been as a “picture taker” starting with my own garage darkroom as a boy. After retiring, the time and money was available to afford the “hobby.” Digital P&S then SLR, switched to Mac, subscribed to mags but .. absorption rate is diminished apparently ..
Will buy the book but sure wish it was in spiral binder form. Really hard to work and follow instructions in a paper back or even most hard covers. I use a second monitor for keeping manuals, etc., open while working on the main display.
In a few years the above will make a lot more sense to you than now… good luck and thank you, I appreciate all you have provided.
Please, Mr. Ben Long,
How could I access and see some illustraded contents ( with images )
of your 5.edition Complete Digital Photography ?
And, if you could inform, which month or year it is planned to release
the next 6. edition ?
As I have read some critics about your 2002 edition saying that there was not images inside the book, of course I find it a little strange, and I have doubts on it.
( Please, sorry for my english.
I write from Brazil, Recife city, Brazilian Northeast Region, and it is difficult to find your book 5. ed. except by importing though one of two big brazilian bookstores, of course withouth have opened the book and read something inside before, just reading your index summary and both pros and cons opinions on commercial sites on web ).
Best regards,
Humberto Cavalcanti
Will you have a 6th edition which will cover CS5 or do you have a CS5 advanced workbook by chance?
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
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