Using Your Digital Camera, now in its fifth edition, is a popular and widely used introduction to digital photography. This textbook has been kept deceptively short by focusing on the core principles—those principles of photography that underlie how all cameras operate. This coverage is then expanded by separate on-line extensions—animations, movies, Web sites, Excel worksheets and PDFs—designed to bring these core principles to life so it’s easier for you to master your camera and its controls. All of these extensions (they are listed below) are stored on the PhotoCourse.com Web site so you need an Internet connection to view them as follows.

  If you purchase the eBook edition, which is a PDF file available on a CD, you open the eBook using Adobe's free Acrobat Reader and then click buttons to display the extensions. When you click one of these buttons, what happens depends on the type of extension the button links to. Animations and movies play, PDFs open in Acrobat Reader, Web sites appear in the browser, or Excel worksheets open in Excel.

  If you purchase the print edition, click the URL below or copy it into your browser's address line whenever you have access to a computer. This opens a PDF that describes all of the extensions and provides links you can click or enter into your browser to view them. Once you open the PDF you can save it on your system or print it out.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pdf/usingpdf.pdf

A great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or subject. But recognizing a great opportunity isn’t enough to capture it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared involves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see the way you want to interpret it. Getting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this book is all about. It doesn’t matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure, there’s much here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from your photography.

To get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand both concepts and procedures; the “whys” and “hows” of photography.

  Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply regardless of the camera you are using. They include such things as how sharpness and exposure affect your images and the way they are perceived by viewers. Understanding concepts answers the "why" kinds of questions you might have about photography.

  Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and explain step-by-step how you set your camera’s controls to capture an image just the way you want to. Understanding procedures gives you the answers to the “how” kinds of questions you might have.

This book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because that’s how photographers think. We think about scenes and subjects, highlights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color and tone. Discussions of the procedures you use with some or all cameras are integrated throughout the concepts in places where they apply. This integrated approach lets you first understand the concepts of photography and then see where to look in your camera manual for the specific steps you use in all kinds of photographic situations.

To get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you only need to understand how and when to use a few simple features on your camera such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If you’ve previously avoided understanding these features and the profound impact they can have on your images, you’ll be pleased to know that you can learn them very quickly. You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how the infinite variety of combinations they provide make it possible to convey your own personal view of the world. You’ll be ready to keep everything in a scene sharp for maximum detail or to blur it all for an impressionistic portrayal. You’ll be able to get dramatic close-ups, freeze or blur fast action as it unfolds, create wonderful landscapes and cityscapes full of light, and capture the beauty and wonder of children, rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, flowers and animals.

As you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no "rules" or "best" way to make a picture. Great photographs come from using what you know to experiment and try new approaches. Digital cameras make this especially easy because there are no film costs or delays. Every experiment is free and you see the results immediately so you can learn step by step how to get better results.

Front Matter