Julie Adair King - Digital Photography For Dummies

3 Chapter 3FIGURE 3-1: Auto mode is usually represented by the word Auto (left) or a green...FIGURE 3-2: Wait until you see the “focus achieved” indicator to press the shut...FIGURE 3-3: If a backlit subject is too dark (left), adding flash can help (rig...FIGURE 3-4: The portrait setting produces a softly focused background.FIGURE 3-5: Landscape mode produces a large zone of sharp focus and also boosts...FIGURE 3-6: Close-up mode also produces short depth of field. Notice how all th...FIGURE 3-7: To capture moving subjects without blur, try Sports mode.FIGURE 3-8: The control that sets the camera to movie mode usually looks like a...FIGURE 3-9: When you put the camera in movie mode, the display indicates the fr...FIGURE 3-10: The red button is universally used to start and stop recording.FIGURE 3-11: While recording is in progress, the time-remaining value updates, ...

4 Chapter 4FIGURE 4-1: Positioning the horizon line halfway down the frame makes for a dul...FIGURE 4-2: One rule of composition is to divide the frame into thirds and posi...FIGURE 4-3: A variation of the rule of thirds, the golden ratio divides the fra...FIGURE 4-4: A third compositional concept divides the frame into triangles.FIGURE 4-5: The spiraling stairs, along with the patterns of light and dark, le...FIGURE 4-6: You also can use strong diagonal lines to create movement.FIGURE 4-7: In these images, movement is created by the colors and curves of th...FIGURE 4-8: This shot looks chaotic because there's too much going on for the e...FIGURE 4-9: Concentrating on just a small portion of the ride captures its ener...FIGURE 4-10: Scan the background for distracting objects to avoid plant-on-the-...FIGURE 4-11: Leaving extra space on the right causes the viewer to follow the s...FIGURE 4-12: Give moving subjects somewhere to go in the frame.FIGURE 4-13: A short depth of field causes foreground and background objects to...FIGURE 4-14: With a long depth of field, the flower and gecko have equal visual...FIGURE 4-15: A short depth of field helps a subject stand out from a similarly ...FIGURE 4-16: I used a fast shutter speed (1/500 second) to “stop motion,” freez...FIGURE 4-17: A shutter speed of 1/250 second caused the iguana’s moving arm to ...FIGURE 4-18: Allowing a colorful moving object to blur completely produces a fu...FIGURE 4-19: The midday sun strikes a New York street with bright, neutral ligh...FIGURE 4-20: The fading sunlight in this scene lends a soft, golden tone to the...FIGURE 4-21: The left image is a technically fine rendition of the scene, but t...FIGURE 4-22: When shooting in the city, look for interesting reflections in win...FIGURE 4-23: Here, the softness of the flower provides interesting contrast to ...FIGURE 4-24: A feather, a few flower petals, and a watery background create a c...

5 Chapter 5FIGURE 5-1: The aperture size and shutter speed determine how much light strike...FIGURE 5-2: As the f-stop number increases, the aperture size shrinks, allowing...FIGURE 5-3: A higher f-stop increases depth of field, or the distance over whic...FIGURE 5-4: In addition to affecting exposure, shutter speed determines whether...FIGURE 5-5: A slow shutter speed blurs motion; in this case, it makes the fount...FIGURE 5-6: Caused by a very high ISO or long exposure time, noise becomes more...FIGURE 5-7: Raising the ISO from 100 to 200 allowed a faster shutter speed, ena...FIGURE 5-8: You may be able to view exposure settings in the viewfinder or on t...FIGURE 5-9: The exposure meter indicates whether the current camera settings wi...FIGURE 5-10: A histogram tells you how many pixels fall at each point on the br...FIGURE 5-11: Try center-weighted or spot metering when your subject is much dar...FIGURE 5-12: The original autoexposure setting left the palm tree too dark; rai...FIGURE 5-13: Here, the autoexposure system blew out the highlights; lowering th...FIGURE 5-14: Some cameras have features that brighten shadows without also blow...FIGURE 5-15: Here you see one of the exposures that photographer Dan Burkholder...FIGURE 5-16: The final HDR image includes a greater?tonal range than can be cap...

6 FIGURE 5-17: Some cameras offer automated HDR shooting, which I used to produce...

7 Chapter 6FIGURE 6-1: A lightning-bolt symbol is typically used to mark the button that y...FIGURE 6-2: Auto Flash Off exposure mode works just like Auto mode but prevents...FIGURE 6-3: You may also be able to force the flash to fire via a Flash mode se...FIGURE 6-4: This external flash features a rotating head, enabling you to aim t...FIGURE 6-5: On most cameras, you connect an external flash via this connection,...FIGURE 6-6: Blasting the subject from the front creates harsh lighting and stro...FIGURE 6-7: Some compact cameras enable you to attach an external unit like thi...FIGURE 6-8: Flash exposure compensation enables you to adjust the strength of t...FIGURE 6-9: From LumiQuest, this diffuser is designed for use with built-in fla...FIGURE 6-10: Got red-eye? Try using red-eye reduction flash mode for a better r...FIGURE 6-11: Slow-sync flash produces a brighter background and softer flash li...FIGURE 6-12: If you want motion trails to follow a moving object, set the flash...FIGURE 6-13: With front-curtain sync and a long exposure, the motion trails app...FIGURE 6-14: When subjects are backlit, adding flash can expose more details.FIGURE 6-15: I used my camera’s built-in flash to add just enough light to brin...FIGURE 6-16: This Smith-Victor LED light panel can attach to your camera via a ...FIGURE 6-17: Using the built-in flash produced harsh shadows and uneven lightin...FIGURE 6-18: Here’s a basic cross-lighting setup, which can produce shadow-free...FIGURE 6-19: Here’s the portrait-shooting variation of the studio.FIGURE 6-20: Here’s proof that you don’t have to invest in expensive lighting s...FIGURE 6-21: I used two standard, clip-on LED lamps to light this still-life sh...FIGURE 6-22: This product-lighting kit from Fotodiox has built-in LED lighting ...

8 Chapter 7FIGURE 7-1: Some lenses have a switch that sets the camera to autofocus mode.FIGURE 7-2: Autofocus points may be indicated by little squares in the viewfind...FIGURE 7-3: The focusing area may instead by indicated by a single box, as here...FIGURE 7-4: By default, the center focus point is usually selected (left); to s...FIGURE 7-5: Cameras that offer bazillions of autofocus points (left) often offe...FIGURE 7-6: With single-servo autofocus, you can lock focus on your subject (to...FIGURE 7-7: A green light in the viewfinder or a green focus frame means you’re...FIGURE 7-8: A rangefinder is a focusing aid that provides feedback when you foc...FIGURE 7-9: When you handhold a camera at slow shutter speeds, camera shake can...FIGURE 7-10: The less-than-sharp result on the left isn’t due to focusing probl...FIGURE 7-11: The green focus rectangle indicates the focus point used for each ...FIGURE 7-12: If moving objects are blurry, try using a faster shutter speed.FIGURE 7-13: Shallow depth of field is ideal for portraits (left); landscapes b...FIGURE 7-14: Changing the aperture is one way to adjust depth of field.FIGURE 7-15: Zooming to a longer focal length also decreases depth of field.FIGURE 7-16: I set focus in both shots on the die, changing just the aperture s...FIGURE 7-17: In the RGB color world, red, green, and blue are the primary color...FIGURE 7-18: Although Adobe RGB can capture more colors than sRGB, using the la...FIGURE 7-19: Each light source emits its own color cast.FIGURE 7-20: Using two different light sources confused the automatic white bal...FIGURE 7-21: On some cameras, you use this type of control to adjust white bala...FIGURE 7-22: You may be able to choose from several JPEG presets, each of which...FIGURE 7-23: Here's a look at some of the color-related options available in th...

9 Chapter 8FIGURE 8-1: A blurry background draws more attention to your portrait subject.FIGURE 8-2: Set focus on the eye that’s closest to the lens.FIGURE 8-3: The red rectangles indicate how much of a 3:2 original portrait can...FIGURE 8-4: For soft, even lighting, forego flash and instead expose your subje...FIGURE 8-5: Use a reflector to bounce window light onto the subject.FIGURE 8-6: I shot the left portrait using window light and a reflector, elimin...FIGURE 8-7: Aiming flash directly at your subjects often results in red-eye in ...FIGURE 8-8: With a rotating flash head, you can bounce the flash light off the ...FIGURE 8-9: Bouncing the flash and using a few other tricks enabled me to elimi...FIGURE 8-10: Another option is to compose your shot so that your subject isn’t ...FIGURE 8-11: Slow-sync flash results in brighter backgrounds and softer flash l...FIGURE 8-12: Although usually considered a tool for nighttime shooting, slow-sy...FIGURE 8-13: To keep your subject in silhouette, disable flash.FIGURE 8-14: This photo captured my first furkid at his favorite post, keeping ...FIGURE 8-15: Even on sunny days, backlit subjects benefit from a flash.FIGURE 8-16: Shadows cast by the brim of a hat can also be eliminated by using ...FIGURE 8-17: To eliminate the distractions in the background (left), I moved my...FIGURE 8-18: Indoors, one solution is to have kids lie on a plain-colored carpe...FIGURE 8-19: A piece of blue fabric hung from a closet door provided a nice bac...FIGURE 8-20: Instead of adopting a formal pose (left), invite your subjects to ...FIGURE 8-21: One of my favorite portraits of all time, this one required only h...FIGURE 8-22: Three siblings enjoying a quiet, late-day walk on the beach made f...