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If you are teaching any length digital photography course from a full year to a single evening, your students need this eText, but your presentation can also benefit from its illustrations and animations that bring the concepts of digital photography to life. Even if you aren't using a textbook, this is an essential collection of projectible materials to support your lectures.

 

 

After clicking the link above to display the sample chapter, look for icons on the chapter's title bars and click them to open interactive animations.

 

As a student or teacher of digital photography, this multimedia eText™ may be what you’re looking for. Its unique visual approach introduces the core concepts of digital photography using photos, drawings, and interactive animations instead of long pages of text.

In addition to this unique visual, animated design, you may also notice that the eText is titled simply “Photo Course” although it’s a text on digital photography. Why is this? Because times have changed and almost all photography now is digital—or soon will be. Descriptive adjectives have to be added to photography books that cover the use of film, not books that cover digital. This is not to denigrate film photography. It is a wonderful media that has served artists, journalists and others well for over a century. As time passes and film leaves the core curriculum it will find a welcome home in courses on alternative and historical processes

Although designed for use as the core text in a semester-length course, this eText is so inexpensive you may find it useful in other settings including:

• As a supplement, or projectible teaching aide in courses where you are using “The Textbook of Digital Photography” as the main text.

• As the textbook in a short course offered in adult education, community education, or other settings where only part of the material is covered in the course and the rest is read by students on their own or used as a reference during the course and after.

• As an individualized learning eText™ on your own computer.

• As a source of projects or assignments you can assign your students or yourself (see page 6).

In this eText you are introduced to two major aspects of photography; the underlying concepts and the creative applications.

Typical concepts include how the shutter speed controls the portrayal of motion in an image, how the aperture controls the depth of field, and how flash falls off with distance following the inverse square law. A typical creative application is using slow sync flash to combine all three of these concepts to create photos that are both sharp and blurred with a lighter background. As you’ll see there are only a few concepts, but a countless number of creative applications that use these concepts in a variety of combinations.

Preface
1 Digital Images & Digital Cameras
2 The Digital Darkroom
3 Controlling Exposure
4 Controlling Sharpness
5 Capturing Light & Color
6 Using Lenses
7 On-camera Flash Photography
8 Studio Photography
9 Displaying & Sharing Photos On-screen
10 Displaying & Sharing Printed Photos

Preface 3
How to Use this eText™ 4
Ahoy, Matey! Beware of Pirates  5
About the Photos  6
Taking Your First Pictures—It’s All About Workflow 7
Taking Your First Pictures—It’s All About Workflow, con’t. 8
Taking Your First Pictures—It’s All About Workflow, con’t. 9
Contents  10
Contents, con’t.  11
Contents, con’t.  12
Contents, con’t.  13

Chapter 1 Digital Images & Digital Cameras 14

1.1 History–Prephotography  15
1.2 History–The Camera Obscura  16
1.3 History–The Very Beginning of Photography  17
1.4 History–It Wasn’t Easy at First  18
1.5 History–Some Things Never Change  19
1.6 History–But Some Things do Change  20
1.7 Going Digital—The Dawn of Digital Photography  21
1.8 Going Digital—The First Images  22
1.9 Going Digital—The First Digital Cameras  23
1.10 Types of Digital Cameras–Point and Shoot Cameras  24
1.11 Types of Digital Cameras–Camera Phones  25
1.12 Types of Digital Cameras–Disposable Point and Shoot Cameras  26
1.13 Types of Digital Cameras–High-end Fixed Lens Cameras  27
1.14 Types of Digital Cameras—The Rangefinder  28
1.15 Types of Digital Cameras–The Single-Lens Reflex (SLR)  29
1.16 Types of Digital Cameras–SLR Cutaway View  30
1.17 Types of Digital Cameras–Professional/Studio Cameras  31
1.18 Composing Images–Introduction  32
1.19 Composing Images–Orientation  33
1.20 Composing Images–Optical Viewfinders  34
1.21 Composing Images–LCD Monitors  35
1.22 Composing Images–LCD Monitors, con’t.  36
1.23 Composing Images–Electronic Viewfinders  37
1.24 Composing Images–Single-Lens Reflexes (SLRs)  38
1.25 Taking Pictures–The Shutter Button  39
1.26 Taking Pictures–Continuous Mode  40
1.27 Taking Pictures–Audio and Video Clips  41
1.28 What is a Digital Photo–Pixels  42
1.29 The Image Sensor—Replacing Film  43
1.30 The Image Sensor—Sizes  44
1.31 The Image Sensor—Types   45
1.32 The Image Sensor—Types, con’t.  46
1.33 Digital Color—RGB  47
1.34 Digital Color—RGB  48
1.35 Digital Color—CMYK  49
1.36 Image Sizes  50
1.37 Image Sizes–Calculating  51
1.38 Image Sizes–Pixelization  52
1.39 Image Sizes—Cropping  53
1.40 Image Sizes—Sharpness & Detail  54
1.41 Image Sizes–The Other "Resolution"  55
1.42 Image Sizes—Standard Screen Sizes  56
1.43 Image Sizes—Calculating Screen Display  57
1.44 Image Sizes—Prints  58
1.45 Image Quality–Compression  59
1.46 File Formats  60
1.47 Image Quality–A Dirty Little Secret  61

Chapter 2 The Digital Darkroom 62

2.1 Storing Images in the Camera  63
2.2 Storing Images in the Camera, Con’t.  64
2.3 Transferring Photos–Card Readers and Slots  65
2.4 Transferring Photos–Cable Connections  66
2.5 Transferring Photos–Cable Connections  67
2.6 Transferring Photos–Wireless Connections  68
2.7 How Photos are Stored in Your Camera and Computer  69
2.8 How Photos are Stored in Your Camera and Computer  70
2.9 Transferring Images to the Computer–Procedures  71
2.10 Organizing Your Photo Files  72
2.11 Storing Images—Hard Drives & Flash Drives  73
2.12 Storing Images—On the Road  74
2.13 Storing Images—CD Drives and Discs  75
2.14 Storing Images—DVD Drives and Discs  76
2.15 CD/DVD Burning Software  77
2.16 Labeling CD/DVD Discs  78
2.17 Image Management—Thumbnail Viewers  79
2.18 Image Management—Asset Managers  80
2.19 Image Management—Asset Managers, con’t.  81
2.20 Photo-editing Tools—The Big Two  82
2.21 Photo-editing Tools—Editing to Improve  83
2.22 Photo-editing Tools—Editing to Change  84
2.23 Photo-editing Tools—Resizing, Cropping and Rotating  85
2.24 Photo-editing Tools—Adjusting the Tonal Range  86
2.25 Photo-editing Tools—Removing Color Casts  87
2.26 Photo-editing Tools—Removing Color Casts, A Word About Neutral  88
2.27 Photo-editing Tools—Sharpening  89
2.28 Photo-editing Tools—Brightness and Contrast  90
2.29 Photo-editing Tools—Hue and Saturation  91
2.30 Photo-editing Tools—Transforming  92
2.31 Photo-editing Tools—Touching Up  93
2.32 Photo-editing Tools—Selecting  94
2.33 Photo-editing Tools—Adding Text  95
2.34 Photo-editing Tools—Layers  96
2.35 Photo-editing Tools—Filters  97
2.36 Photo-editing Tools—Actions  98

Chapter 3 Controlling Exposure 99

3.1 Understanding Exposure  100
3.2 Understanding Exposure, con’t.  101
3.3 Understanding Exposure–The Controls  102
3.4 Understanding Exposure–Why Choices?  103
3.5 Understanding Exposure–The Range of Choices  104
3.6 Understanding Exposure–Analogy #1  105
3.7 Understanding Exposure–Analogy #2  106
3.8 Exposure Modes—Selecting  107
3.9 Exposure Modes—Auto & Programmed  108
3.10 Exposure Modes—Scene Modes  109
3.11 Shutter-Priority–Introduction  110
3.12 Shutter-Priority–Types of Shutters  111
3.13 Shutter Priority—Freezing and Blurring Motion  112
3.14 Aperture-Priority—Introduction  113
3.15 Aperture-Priority—Depth of Field  114
3.16 Manual Mode  115
3.17 Manual Mode–Bulb  116
3.18 How Your Exposure System Works—Middle Gray  117
3.19 When Automatic Exposure Works Well  118
3.20 Why Autoexposure Doesn’t Always Work  119
3.21 When to Increase Exposure—Light Scenes  120
3.22 When to Increase Exposure—Light Backgrounds  121
3.23 When to Increase Exposure—Foggy and Misty Scenes  122
3.24 When to Decrease Exposure—Dark Scenes  123
3.25 When to Decrease Exposure—Dark Backgrounds  124
3.26 Metering a Scene  125
3.27 Metering a Scene, con’t.  126
3.28 Adjusting Exposure—Exposure Compensation  127
3.29 Adjusting Exposure—Exposure Lock  128
3.30 Adjusting Exposure—Exposure Lock, con’t.  129
3.31 Adjusting Exposure—Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)-  130
3.32 Expanding Your Exposure Range  131
3.33 Evaluating Your Exposures—Histograms  132
3.34 Evaluating Your Exposures—Histograms When Shooting  133
3.35 Histograms—Normal and Good  134
3.36 Histograms—Middle Gray  135
3.37 Histograms—High Key  136
3.38 Histograms—Night Scene  137
3.39 Histograms—Low Key  138
3.40 Histograms & Exposure  139

Chapter 4 Controlling Sharpness 140

4.1 Eliminating Camera Movement  141
4.2 Eliminating Camera Movement—Holding the Camera  142
4.3 Eliminating Camera Movement—Tripods and Monopods  143
4.4 Eliminating Camera Movement—Tripod Heads  144
4.5 Eliminating Camera Movement—Tripod Quick Release Systems  145
4.6 Eliminating Camera Movement—Shutter Release  146
4.7 Eliminating Camera Movement—Shutter Release, con’t  147
4.8 Eliminating Camera Movement—The ISO Setting  148
4.9 Eliminating Camera Movement—ISO and Noise  149
4.10 How to Photograph Motion Sharply  150
4.11 Shutter Speed and Sharpness  151
4.12 Focus  152
4.13 Types of Focus  153
4.14 Autofocus Facts  154
4.15 Autofocus—Types Of  155
4.16 Autofocus—Focus Points  156
4.17 Focus—Focus Lock  157
4.18 Manual Focus—Ways it’s Done  158
4.19 Depth of Field  159
4.20 Depth of Field—The Reasons Why  160
4.21 Controlling Depth of Field—The Influences  161
4.22 Controlling Depth of Field—Checking  162
4.23 Controlling Depth of Field—Shallow  163
4.24 Controlling Depth of Field—Shallow, con’t.  164
4.25 Controlling Depth of Field—Shallow, con’t.  165
4.26 Controlling Depth of Field—Deep   166
4.27 Controlling Depth of Field—Hyperfocal Distance  167
4.28 Sharpness Isn’t Everything—Using the Shutter Speed  168
4.29 Sharpness Isn’t Everything—Using the Aperture  169
4.30 Panning the Camera  170

Chapter 5 Capturing Light & Color 171

5.1 The Color of Subjects  172
5.2 The Color of Sources  173
5.3 White Balance  174
5.4 White Balance, con’t.  175
5.5 White Balance, con’t.  176
5.6 Color Management—Color Spaces  177
5.7 White Balance and Time of Day  178
5.8 Sunsets and Sunrises as the Subject  179
5.9 Sunsets and Sunrises—As the Subject  180
5.10 Sunsets and Sunrises—As the Light Source  181
5.11 Moonsets and Moonrises  182
5.12 Weather—Snow  183
5.13 Weather—Haze, Mist and Clouds  184
5.14 Weather—Rainbows  185
5.15 Weather—Rainbows  186
5.16 White Balance and Mixed Lighting  187
5.17 Photographing at Night  188
5.18 The Direction of Light—Backlighting  189
5.19 The Direction of Light—Backlighting, con’t.  190
5.20 The Direction of Light—Backlighting, con’t  191
5.21 Photographing Light Sources  192
5.22 The Quality of Light—Diffuse  193
5.23 The Quality of Light—Direct  194

Chapter 6 Using Lenses 195

6.1 Lenses—Pinholes  196
6.2 Lenses—Reading Lens Information  197
6.3 Lenses—Fixed or Interchangeable  198
6.4 Focal Length—Definition  199
6.5 Focal Length—And Aperture  200
6.6 Focal Length—Angle of View & Magnification  201
6.7 Focal Length—Image Stabilization  202
6.8 Focal Length–Effect of Sensor Sizes  203
6.9 Focal Length–Effect of Sensor Sizes, con’t.  204
6.10 Lenses—OEM or 3rd Party  205
6.11 Zoom Lenses—Introduction  206
6.12 Zooming—Fixed Lens Cameras  207
6.13 Zooming—SLRs  208
6.14 Zoom Lenses—Optical and Digital  209
6.15 Normal Lenses  210
6.16 Wide Angle Lenses  211
6.17 Wide Angle Lenses, con’t.  212
6.18 Wide Angle Lenses, con’t.  213
6.19 Distortion with Wide-Angle Lenses  214
6.20 Distortion with Wide-Angle Lenses, con’t.  215
6.21 Long or Telephoto Lenses  216
6.22 Long or Telephoto Lenses, con’t.  217
6.23 Perspective  218
6.24 Macro Lenses and Macro Mode  219
6.25 Macro Lenses and Macro Mode, con’t.  220
6.26 Macro Lenses and Macro Mode, con’t.  221
6.27 Macro Lenses and Macro Mode, con’t.  222
6.28 Tilt-Shift Lenses  223
6.29 Lens Accessories  224
6.30 Lens Accessories, con’t.  225

Chapter 7 On-camera Flash Photography 226

7.1 Flash—The Beginnings  227
7.2 Built-in Flash  228
7.3 External Flash  229
7.4 External Flash, con’t.  230
7.5 Ring and Twin Flash  231
7.6 Flash Accessories  232
7.7 Autoflash  233
7.8 Flash and Shutter Speeds  234
7.9 Flash and Distance  235
7.10 Red-eye Reduction  236
7.11 Fill Flash  237
7.12 Fill Flash, con’t.  238
7.13 Flash Off  239
7.14 Slow Sync Flash—Automatic Modes  240
7.15 Slow Sync Flash—Manual Control  241
7.16 First and Second Curtain Sync  242
7.17 Controlling Flash Exposures—FE Lock  243
7.18 Controlling Flash Exposures—Flash Exposure Compensation  244
7.19 Controlling Flash Exposures—Flash Exposure Compensation  245
7.20 High-speed Sync  246
7.21 Stroboscopic Flash  247
7.22 Flash Guide Numbers  248

Chapter 8 Studio Photography 249

8.1 Professional Studios  250
8.2 Tabletop Studios  251
8.3 Using Studio Strobes  252
8.4 Using Continuous Lights  253
8.5 Using Multiple Flash Units  254
8.6 Understanding Hard and Soft Light  255
8.7 Creating Hard Light  256
8.8 Creating Soft Light—Reflecting and Diffusing  257
8.9 Creating Soft Light—Reflecting and Diffusing, con’t.  258
8.10 Creating Soft Light—Reflecting and Diffusing, con’t.  259
8.11 Creating Soft Light—Light Tents  260
8.12 Choosing a Background  261
8.13 Choosing a Background—Dropping it Out  262
8.14 Choosing a Background—Light Panels  263
8.15 Positioning the Camera  264
8.16 Positioning Lights—Introduction  265
8.17 The Main Light  266
8.18 The Fill Light  267
8.19 The Background Light  268
8.20 The Rim Light  269
8.21 Putting it All Together—Exposure and White Balance  270

Chapter 9 Displaying Photos 271

9.1 Displaying & Sharing Digital Photos—Introduction  272
9.2 Displaying & Sharing Digital Photos—Introduction, con’t.  273
9.3 E-mailing Digital Photos  274
9.4 E-mailing Digital Photos, con’t.  275
9.5 Instant Messaging  276
9.6 Slide Shows—Direct from the Camera  277
9.7 Slide Shows—Editing & Polishing  278
9.8 Slide Shows—Presenting & Sharing  279
9.9 Home Entertainment Networks  280
9.10 Digital Frames  281
9.11 eBooks—PDF Files  282
9.12 Creating a Photo Web Site  283
9.13 Photo Blogs  284
9.14 Peer-to-Peer Photo Sharing  285

Chapter 10 Printing Photographs 286

10.1 Printing—Introduction  287
10.2 Printing Colors—CMYK  288
10.3 Printers—How an Inkjet Printer Works  289
10.4 Printers—How a Dye Sub Printer Works  290
10.5 Printers—Drivers  291
10.6 Prints—On-line  292
10.7 Prints—Locally  293
10.8 Prints—Printing Paper  294
10.9 Prints—Inks  295
10.10 Prints—Matting and Mounting for Protection  296
10.11 Prints—Matting and Mounting for Protection, con’t.  297
10.12 Prints—Framing for Presentation  298
10.13 Prints—Hanging for Display  299
10.14 Prints—Storing Archivally  300
10.15 Photo Albums—Sheet Protectors  301
10.16 Photo Albums—Album Kits  302
10.17 Photo Albums—Outside Printers  303
10.18 Photo Albums—Desktop Publishing  304
10.19 Printing Photos  305
10.20 Printing Photos—Exploring Print Sizes  306
10.21 Understanding Pixels per Inch  307
10.22 Exploring Pixels Per Inch  308