Guide to digital photography

425 Pages·2010·24.953 MB·English

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PC Magazine® Guide to
Digital Photography
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PC Magazine®
Guide to Digital
Photography
Daniel Grotta and Sally Wiener Grotta
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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PCMagazine®GuidetoDigitalPhotography
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Grotta,Daniel,1994-
PCmagazineguidetodigitalphotography/DanielGrottaandSallyWienerGrotta.
p.cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN0-7645-7372-1(pbk.)
1.Photography–Digitaltechniques–Handbooks,manuals,etc. 2.Digitalcameras–Handbooks,manuals,etc. I.Title:Guide
todigitalphotography. II.Grotta,SallyWiener,1949- III.PCmagazine(NewYork,N.Y.) IV.Title.
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Credits
EXECUTIVEEDITOR EDITORIALMANAGER
ChrisWebb MaryBethWakefield
SENIORDEVELOPMENTEDITOR VICEPRESIDENT&EXECUTIVEGROUP
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TechBooks
About the Authors
DanielGrottaandSallyWienerGrottaaretopnamejournalistsandconsultantsinthefieldofdigital
photography.Infact,they’vebeencoveringdigitalcamerasandtheindustrysincetheearly1990s.As
AmyWohl,therenowncomputeranalyst,hassaid,“Ifyoudon’tknowtheGrottas,youdon’tknow
imaging.”Amongtheearliestphotographerstousedigitalequipment,theybrokethestoryofdigital
photographyforsomeofthetopnationalmagazines(includingPCMagazine’sfirstroundup)andhave
continuedtowriteaboutitformanynewspapers,magazines,andonlinepublications.Together,they
havewrittenmorethan1,000high-techarticles,reviews,columns,andfeatures,plusfive(nowsix)
books.Inaddition,theyhavelecturedandtaughtdigitalphotographyandimagingatmanyschools,
conferencesandothervenues,includingthePCMagazineDigitalUtravelingworkshops,whichwill
bepremieringautumn2004.
TheGrottas’company,DigitalBenchmarks,isaninternationallyrespectedindependentdigitalcam-
eraandimagingtestlab.Usingnewindustry-standardteststhatDanielhelpeddevelop,DigitalBench-
marks Lab puts digital cameras and related hardware and software through extensive low-level and
experientialtests.
WhiletheGrottashavetestedandreviewedmostofthedigitalcamerasthathavebeenintroduced
formorethanadecade,technologyisonlypartofthestory.TheGrottasareprofessionalphotographers
whosepictureshaveappearedinmanypublicationsthroughouttheworld.Theyunderstandwhatit
takestogetagreatpictureinallkindsofsituations,fromAntarcticatotheAmazonrainforest,from
war zones to the most difficult shot . . . the group family picture. Regardless of how many cameras
theyhavehandled,theyhaveneverlostsightofthewholereasontheystartedwithallthis...their
fascinationwithhowmuchmoreoftheworldtheycansee,enjoy,andcapturethroughacameralens.
An Internet search on their names will bring up literally many hundreds of hits—mostly links
to their reviews, articles, and speaking engagements. Or you can check out their Web sites:
www.DigitalBenchmarks.com,www.TheWellConnectedWoman.com,andwww.Grotta.net.
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Fortwowomenofvision...oursisters,
AmyWienerSosnovandLeeYeager
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Acknowledgments
In summer 1991, we spent a weekend with Fred Shippey and Katrin Eismann at the soon to be
opened Kodak Center for Creative Imaging (CCCI) at Camden, Maine, discovering the amazing
potentialofthe$25,000prototypeKodakDCS-100digitalcameraandanewimage-editingprogram
calledPhotoshop.Sincethattime,wehavebeenindebtedtonumerousindustryexperts,associates,
andfriends—starting,ofcourse,withFredandKatrin.Othermentorsandassociateswhohavealways
beengenerouswiththeirknowledge,information,andfriendshipincludeDr.AlEdgar,Dr.BobGann,
ProfessorEdGranger,JohnLarish,Dr.JoeRunde,andDr.JulieSkipper.
Wehavebeenveryfortunatetohaveworkedovertheyearswithsomeofthebesteditorsandlab
techniciansinthebusiness.OurthankstooureditorsandassociatesatPCMagazine,pastandpresent,
includingSarahAnderson,GlenBousseauBecker,JamieBsales,SeanCarroll,StephanieChang,Jenn
DeFeo,LauraDelaney,DanEvans,RichFisco,CraigEllison,RoyGoodwin,BenGottesman,Matthew
Graven, Lori Grunin, Bill Howard, Vicki Jacobson, Jeremy Kaplan, Konstantinos Karagiannis, Carol
Levin,DonLabriola,BillMachrone,CarolMangis,PeterMcKie,GlennMenin,MichaelMiller,John
Morris, Brian Nadel, Ann Ovodow, Melissa Perenson, Robyn Peterson, Alfred Poor, Laarni Ragazza,
RobinRaskin,CharlieRodriguez,PaulRoss,NickStam,SharonTerdeman,DonWilmot,andLance
Ulanoff.AspecialthankyoutoM.DavidStoneandJanOzer,PCMagazinecontributingeditors,for
theirsuggestionsandinputintotheprinterandvideochapters.OurthankstoMarkPopeofZiffDavis
forfirstfieldingourideaforthisbook.AndtotheteamatJohnWiley&Sons,includingChrisWebb,
our acquisitions editor, for his perseverance, respect, and patience; Kevin Kent, our development
editor, for his guidance, open communications, and clear-headed editing; and Felicia Robinson for
shepherdingallourartthroughproduction.
We’veenjoyedournumerousconversationswithfellowphotographers,manyofwhomsharedtheir
expertknowledge,tips,andtechniquesandallowedustoreproducetheirbeautifulphotographsand
digitalart.OurthankstoBenGottesman,GregGorman(andhisassociateTrishSword),JohnIsaac,
LewisKemper,MichaelLewis,PeterReadMiller,SteveRosenbaum,andMarilynSholin.
Naturally,thisbookcouldn’thavebeenwrittenwithoutsupportiveinteractionandcommunication
with numerous companies and people in the digital camera and imaging industry. Cameras and
other equipment were loaned to us by Canon, Concord, Casio, Eastman Kodak, Epson, FujiFilm,
Hewlett-Packard,KonicaMinolta,Kyocera,LexarMedia,Lexmark,MonacoSystems,Motorola,Nikon,
Olympus, SanDisk, Sigma, SmartDisk, Sony, and Sony Ericsson. Software was provided by ACD
Systems, Adobe Systems, Corel Corporation, Extensis, Jasc, Macromedia, Microsoft, Mountaincow,
PhotoParade,Picasa,Roxio,andothers.Quiteafewindividualshavebeeninstrumentalinhelpingus
withinformation,illustrations,software,andtheloanofdigitalcamerasandotherdevices,including
KimAgricola,NicoleAndergard,IqbalArshad,CyndiBabasa,PamBarnett,JoslynBeloff,RitchBlasi,
Elissa Brown, Michael Bourne, Teresa Bridwell, Paul Buckner, Christie Burgner, Nancy Carr, Rick
Champagne, Dario Chiarini, Sally Smith Clemens, Kevin Connor, Jenny Cooley, Alex Curyea, Leah
Barret Demers, Brett Denley, David Dickstein, Patricia Doherty, Anna Doi, Caitlin Donahue, Karen
Drost, Gabrielle Elmer, Steve Everett, Kim Evans, Bonnie Fladung, Rosemary Flynn, Bill Giordano,
KeithGordon,JessicaGould,LeighGrimm,JenniferGurien,JoAnnGuear,JimGustke,DanHarlacher,
Kylie Ware Heintz, Adam Hersh, Scott Houchin, Jennifer Hudson, Ross Jacobs, John Jatinen, Ann
Johnson, Elisha Joseph, Roxanne Jurtschenko, Jay Kelbley, Kelly Kessler, Monisha Khanna, John
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viii Acknowledgments
Knauer, Thomas Knoll, Andy LaGuardia, Mats Lindeberg, Ryan Lucklin, Chris MacAskill, Jeffrey
Mandell,MichelleMartin,StephnaMay,AnneMcIntosh,NateMurphy,GrantMyre,CherylBalbach
Nelson, Scott Nelson, Brenda Ning, Joe Paglia, Jim Peyton, Jon Piazza, Allison Pankrantz, Darrin
Peeple,JimPeyton,NicoleRamirez,JoanRankin,MaryResnick,JeffRavencraft,CrystalRevak,Dora
Ricci,JacobRice,MichelleRichardson,SteveRosenbaum,MikeRubin,JonSienkiewicz,ChrisSluka,
KristineSnyder,AndersSteele,MichaelStevenson,DeborahSzajngarten,MinTak,ChrisTaylor,Karen
Thomas,LizTobey,PatriciaTrapaga,RosemaryValenta,LydaVelez,MikeVirgintino,SaurabhWahi,
Lisa Walker, Mark Weir, Gwyn Weisberg, Aaron Wessels, Chuck Westfall, Laura Whitby, Merritt
Woodward,ClaudineWolas-Shiva,MikeWong,DavidYang,EricZakarov,andmanyothers.Software
instrumentalinourtestingandinpreparingourmanuscriptincludesACDSystemsACDSee,Adobe
Photoshop Creative Suite, DO Labs DOX digital camera testing software, TechSmith SnagIt screen
capture utility, Microsoft Office, and Monaco Optix color calibration. So many people were so very
helpfulthatithasbeendifficulttokeeptrack.Ourapologiesifweinadvertentlyleftanybodyout.Our
heartfeltthankstoall.
Our thanks, also, to our assistant Jacob Rae, for all his support and long hours of testing digital
cameras.Everyoneshouldhaveadrummerdoingtimingtestsforthesakeofconsistentandreliable
results.
Andtothetwopeoplewhoarealwaysthefirsttoreadourcopyandgiveusvaluedfeedback,our
deepgratitudeandlovetoEdithandNoelWiener.
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Contents at a Glance
Acknowledgments ...........................vii
Introduction .............................. xix
PartI UnderstandingYourCamera
Chapter1 TheDifferencesbetweenDigitaland
FilmPhotography ............................3
Chapter2 ChoosingtheBestDigitalCameraforYou.........29
Chapter3 GettingtoKnowYourDigitalCamera ............53
Chapter4 NecessitiesandNiceties ......................71
PartII Photography: The Play of Light and Color on
theHumanImagination
Chapter5 UnderstandingFileFormats ...................89
Chapter6 UnderstandingExposure .....................109
Chapter7 Focus....................................129
Chapter8 UsingYourCamera’sColorControls ............141
Chapter9 ControllingandAddingLight .................161
Chapter10 RecordingVideoandAudiowith
YourDigitalCamera ........................179
Chapter11 DigitalPhotographyTipsandTricks ............193
PartIII PhotographywithaPurpose
Chapter12 PrinciplesbehindGreatPhotography ...........203
Chapter13 FamilyandFunPhotography..................221
Chapter14 ABusinessTool ............................235
Chapter15 PhotographyforEmailandTheWeb............249
Chapter16 CameraPhones ............................271
PartIV IHaveMyPictures,NowWhat?
Chapter17 GettingYourPhotosoutofTheCamera .........287
Chapter18 EditingYourPictures........................299
Chapter19 Display,Show,andShare.....................319
Chapter20 PrintingYourPhotos ........................331
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