Digital Photography For Dummies

List Price: $24.99 Discount Price: $13.86

Customer Reviews:

Great For Newbies [Posted on 2007-12-13]
This was the first book on digital photography that I used when first starting out and I'm grateful I found it. It provided a solid foundation on which to build. I still refer to it occasionally. It does devote considerable space to image editing but I personally like this. Let's face it, 99% of people who do digital for very long end up using an editor. I don't use Photoshop, but the information is still useful.

The book has undergone many editions, and I noticed the latest version now in stores is by a different author. I took a look at it and in my opinion Adair's version is better, the fourth edition is anyway. There are a lot of crappy and totally useless books on digital photography out there. I can recommend this one for newbies without hesitation. It gets you started, then you'll learn on your own mostly from trial and error.

Digital Photography for Dummies [Posted on 2008-02-11]
An excellent book for beginners and intermediate photographers. Clear, concise and easy to read. 10 of 10

Reviewed by Robert King , Alaskan Apple User Group [Posted on 2008-03-07]

Pros: This book covers the basics of taking pictures with your digital camera plus managing them on your computer--with everything well illustrated and clearly explained.

Cons: No real cons, although the 2005 publication of the book made me wonder if some parts were somewhat dated.




This full-color, 380-page book provides great information for shooting, sharing, and editing digital photos. Like other "Dummies" books, it is very well written in clear English for beginners and intermediate users of digital photography. Its tips and well-organized information also make it a good reference book for advanced users who will certainly discover things they didn't know. As a book especially for the beginner, it is structured to cover a great variety of subjects, including providing an introduction to the subject of digital photography that places it in historical context with film-based photography.

The book is conveniently organized into five parts. Part 1 is "Peering through the digital viewfinder" and is an overview that also introduces topics that are explored in greater detail later in the book. These include what digital photography is and how it works, type of cameras and how to operate them, saving and displaying digital information, plus what you can do with them on your computer.

Part 2, entitled "Ready, Set, Shoot!," builds on information in the first part by explaining how to achieve the right camera settings, how to control exposure and focus, and in general, how to get optimal pictures.

Part 3 takes your digital photographs from your camera to your computer and beyond into ways to display, share, and print them.

Part 4, called "Tricks of the Digital Trade," provides a great overview of how you can use your computer and various programs to manipulate your digital image to achieve things virtually impossible with older film-based photography. Here you learn important skills like how to sharpen focus, cover flaws, create "new" photos by adding or removing elements, and a lot more.

Part 5 is a review and extension of what you have learned previously, with information structured as a series of "tens": 10 ways to improve your digital images, 10 great ways to use your digital images, and 10 great online resources for digital photographers (at least through 2005).

The book also includes a nice-done glossary explaining the terms used in digital photography that can make the beginner's eyes glaze over. Also helpful is a nice easy-to-use index. In addition, there is a companion website for the book listed on the back cover that would help keep its information current, for those wanting to take the additional time and effort to use it.

My initial approach to reading this book was to thumb through it and view subject headings, illustrations, and whatever caught my interest. Doing that I learned a lot and got a good sense of the subjects. Then I went back to ones of particular interest.

I especially liked the easy explanations of how to set up your camera and choose the right file format to achieve the quality of picture needed for the size photo you want. There were good illustrations of what too much compression does for a photo, and more, for example.

In sum, I found this book quite helpful, well organized, and will be going back to it whenever I have questions about how to use my digital camera to make great photos.

Helpful and timely [Posted on 2008-09-03]
The seller was very helpful and timely in sending this product in time for class.

Photo for dummies really isnt... [Posted on 2008-12-19]
I like the book but is a little more advanced than I was hoping for. After having just purchased a digital camera for my mom (her first), I thought this book may be just what she needed to accompany it. Don't get me wrong, it will help but is more detailed than the digital photo 101 book I was hoping for.

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