Digital Photographers Handbook

Discover how to get the very best from your photography with clear step-by-step guidance from expert photographer, Tom Ang. In this fully comprehensive photography companion, renowned photographer and teacher Tom Ang teaches you how to capture, enhance, and transform your photographs. The first half of the book explains all of the essential techniques that every photographer needs to learn - from how to handle your camera correctly and understand its features, to composing a successful shot. The second half develops your understanding of photography, guiding you through a range of projects that focus on different photographic genres and subjects, including landscapes, cityscapes, and live events. It explains how to digitally enhance your images, not only to improve the original shot, but also to apply creative techniques that will take your image to a new level. This section also gives advice on the best way to share your work, to choosing the most suitable equipment, and should you wish, how to develop a career in photography.

Michael Freeman has a well-deserved reputation for effectively explaining the concepts behind digital picture-taking to a variety of audiences. Here, he turns his attention to the professionals and advanced hobbyists who are making the move from traditional to digital and want help mastering the technology and meeting their clients' new requirements. Freeman thoroughly answers the most frequently asked questions about the basics of digital capture, from cameras and computers to storage options, printers, and scanners. Photographers will learn the different file formats and how to save images for print or publishing on the web. They'll explore valuable software tools and basic image processing programs that fix common problems, and see how to improve pictures using an assortment of cropping and filtering techniques. The smart, detailed advice will give photographers confidence as they enter this new digital world.

Furnishes an overview of digital photography, covering such topics as cameras, exposure, lighting, shutter speed, depth of field, and resolution--and tips on how to avoid hours of photo-editing by taking great photographs the first time.

Targeting new and experienced commercial photographers alike, this invaluable guide explores the different aspects and challenges of succeeding in the industry. Approaching the subject systematically, the topics begin with determining what kind of commercial photography to pursue and how to get the training needed to carve out a niche in the market. Continuing to delve further, the topics expand to marketing techniques, negotiation skills, estimating and charging for work, maximizing profits while minimizing expenses, and ethical business behavior. Armed with this information, commercial photographers who are developing or expanding their businesses will know how to evolve and grow during periods of both prosperity and recession.

Photography has been the business and the passion of LIFE since the original weekly magazine's inception in 1936, and it continues to be the business and passion of LIFE Books and LIFE.com in the new millennium. But photography has surely changed during these many decades. The rigs and gear of old have given way-first slowly, then all at once-to sleek miracle machines that process pixels and have made the darkroom obsolete. The casual photog puts eye to lens, sets everything on auto and captures a photograph that is . . . perfectly fine. One of LIFE's master shooters-in fact, the final in the long line of distinguished LIFE staff photographers-was Joe McNally, and he has always believed that with a little preparation and care, with a dash of enthusiasm and daring added to the equation, anyone can make a better photo-anyone can turn a "keeper" into a treasure. This was true in days of yore, and it's true in the digital age. Your marvelous new camera, fresh from its box, can indeed perform splendid feats. Joe explains in this book how to take best advantage of what it was designed to do, and also when it is wise to outthink your camera or push your camera-to go for the gold, to create that indelible family memory that you will have blown up as large as the technology will allow, and that will hang on the wall forevermore. As the storied LIFE photographer and photo editor John Loengard points out in his eloquent foreword to this volume, there are cameras and there are cameras, and they've always been able to do tricks. And then there is photography. Other guides may give you the one, two, three of producing a reasonably well exposed shot, but Joe McNally and the editors of LIFE can give you that, and then can show you how to make a picture. In a detailed, friendly, conversational, anecdotal, sometimes rollicking way, that's what they do in these pages. Prepare to click.

"Once an image is in digital form, what you can do with it is practically endless." Tom Ang Make sure you're picture perfect with this concise and easy-to-use guide to digital photography from expert photographer and bestselling author Tom Ang. Now available in ebook(PDF) format. Understand what to look for when buying cameras, software, or accessories. Follow the essentials of good picture-taking and get expert tips on how to make the most of your digital images from covering the basics to image manipulation and special effects. Plus, "quick fix" pages on how to solve common problems mean your camera can learn to lie. Get clicking and get outstanding results every time. Updates to this edition Ch. 1 Buyers' Guide (was Total Photography) A guide to cameras and accessories. All new products. Spreads newly presented as "Buyers' Guides", to help the reader decide which products are most suited to their needs. Ch. 2 Photo Techniques (was Photography for the Digital Age) Skills, trade secrets, and techniques of digital photography. Updated text, some new photographs. Ch. 3 A Compendium of Ideas (New, not in previous 2 editions) 36 pages of projects, concepts, subject areas, approaches, and ideas. All new text and photographs, taken from Digital Photographer's Handbook 4th edition. Ch. 4 All About Image Manipulation Filters, image effects, distortion, color control, and manipulation. Some minor reorganization of information, text updated. New text, images and layouts for Filter Effects, pp. 170-177. New spread on High Dynamic Range. Ch. 6 The Output Adventure Proofing and printing, uploading images to the web. Text updated. New spread on Creating a Website.

With detailed, informative instructions for capturing personable and memorable yearbook photos, this reference presents step-by-step demonstrations on advertising, talking to clients, producing outstanding images, and finalizing a sale. Noting the delicate balance of pleasing parents and teens alike, this resource illustrates how to marry the latest fashion-oriented photography trends with the needs of the family member who is paying for the session. A wealth of lighting and posing techniques combine with tips for analyzing the subject, choosing which features to accent and which to downplay, and creating alluring, fashionable looks that the whole family can appreciate. Emphasizing the value in allowing seniors to personalize their photos by bringing the shoot to their home or a more meaningful location, the guide also includes suggestions for incorporating additional visual elements such as pets, musical instruments, team uniforms, best friends, or significant others.

It s the latest and hottest technique, made possible only through digital. High Dynamic Range photography is the process of taking several pictures of a scene at various exposures, then merging them into one file. So the entire photo can look crisp and detailed, from highlights to midtones to shadowsand photographers needn t sacrifice any part of their image. And the best way to master this exciting technology is with this thorough, easy-to-follow, and visually spectacular guide. No other title does justice to these cutting-edge techniques, which actually take the viewer into worlds far beyond normal photographysometimes even beyond normal human perception. Ferrell McCollough, a widely respected photographer, pushes the boundaries and inspires others to pursue their artistic vision, too. The amazing results simply can t be achieved any other way. "

An illustrated introduction to digital photography, examining hardware such as cameras, computers, scanners, and printers and the relationship between them; looking at image-editing software, tools, and techniques; featuring step-by-step instructions for taking professional-quality photographs; and discussing special-effects options.

This book breaks new ground by doing something for digital photographers that’s never been done before—it cuts through the bull and shows you exactly “how to do it.” It’s not a bunch of theory; it doesn’t challenge you to come up with your own settings or figure things out on your own. Instead, it does something that virtually no other Elements book has ever done—it tells you flat-out which settings to use, when to use them, and why. If you’re looking for one of those “tell-me-everything-about-the-Unsharp-Mask-filter” books, this isn’t it. You can grab any other Elements book on the shelf, because they all do that. Instead, this book gives you the inside tips and tricks of the trade for organizing, correcting, editing, sharpening, retouching, and printing your photos like a pro. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how easy and effective these techniques are—once you know the secrets. LEARN HOW THE PROS DO IT Each year we train thousands of digital photographers and, almost without exception, they have the same questions and face the same problems—that’s exactly what we cover in this book. You’ll learn: The real secrets of how the pros retouch portraits How to color correct any photo without breaking a sweat (you’ll be amazed at how the pros do it!) How to use Camera Raw for processing not only RAW photos, but JPEGs and TIFFs, too! (And you’ll learn why so many pros like it best—because it’s faster and easier) The sharpening techniques the pros really use (there’s an entire chapter just on this!) How to deal with common digital camera image problems, including removing noise and avoiding halos The most requested photographic special effects, and much more! THE BOOK’S SECRET WEAPON Although Elements 10 offers some digital photography features that Photoshop CS5 doesn’t offer, there are plenty of features that Photoshop CS5 has that Elements 10 still doesn’t have (things like paths, Channel Mixer, etc.). But in this book, you’ll learn some slick workarounds, cheats, and some fairly ingenious ways to replicate many of those Photoshop features from right within Elements. Plus, since this book is designed for photographers, it doesn’t waste your time talking about how to frame a shot, set your exposure, etc., and there’s no talk about which camera or printer to buy. It’s all Elements, step by step, cover to cover, in the only book of its kind, and you’re gonna love it!