Real World Digital Photography (2nd Edition) (Real World)

Whether you're just making the transition from a lifetime of traditional photography or are looking to bring your digital photography skills in line with today's market, if you're serious about digital photography, you need this book. In the four years since the first edition was published, just about every aspect of digital photography has changed (often radically--and it's all covered in these pages. Organized in four major sections--Digital Processing Essentials, Digital Processing Techniques, The Digital Darkroom, and Output and Presentation--the focus here is on getting great pictures and spectacular printed output through a combination of smart techniques and the right equipment. As with all of the titles in the Real World series, the authors here realize that this entails learning not just techniques but the concepts behind them. For a professional-level understanding of the digital photography process--from how a digital camera works to advice on buying cameras and accessories, choosing hardware and software, downloading and outputting images, and more--this is the place to turn.

This book is aimed at neither the casual consumer nor the professional digital photographer with $50,000 to spend. Rather, it is perfect for several types of professionals: graphic designers, design students, real estate and insurance agents, and many others. It shows how digital cameras work (what makes both the inner workings and the output differ from that in traditional film cameras); which camera to buy for your needs and budget; and how to take, edit, archive, and store pictures.

Many basic terms get clarified--for example, how JPEG compression works--and there are lots of sidebar tips such as how to progressively downsample an image in a way that preserves the most detail. The book also explains how to print the images on inkjet or dye sub printers. (Did you know not to convert an RGB image to CMYK before sending it to the printer? Let the printer do the conversion.)

A lot of the information and explanations in Real World Digital Photography will still be useful long after the featured cameras are considered yesterday's technology. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Types of cameras and which to buy, how they work, the mechanics of digital imagery, setting up a digital "darkroom" and desktop studio, the basics of good photography, Quicktime VR, digital correction of images, preparing images for print or Web, and archiving digital images.