Acknowledgments | p. xv |
Introduction | p. xvii |
Your Camera | |
Welcome to the Future | p. 3 |
A History Lesson | p. 4 |
A Slow Evolution | p. 5 |
The Future of Digital Cameras | p. 7 |
Features, Gadgets, and Goodies | p. 9 |
The Optical System | p. 9 |
TTL Viewfinders | p. 10 |
Power Systems | p. 11 |
Memory Storage | p. 11 |
Camera Controls | p. 13 |
Choosing Your Own Digital Camera | p. 14 |
The Upgrade Race | p. 15 |
Resolution | p. 15 |
Optics | p. 16 |
Memory | p. 17 |
Flash | p. 18 |
Special Effects | p. 18 |
Transfer Mechanism | p. 19 |
Gear You'll Need | p. 19 |
Understanding Exposure | p. 21 |
How Cameras Take Pictures | p. 22 |
Inside a 35mm Camera | p. 23 |
The Moment of Exposure | p. 24 |
How Digicams Are Different | p. 26 |
Use ISO for Exposure Control | p. 28 |
Change the ISO Setting | p. 29 |
Perfecting Shots with Aperture and Shutter | p. 31 |
How Cameras Choose Aperture and Shutter Speed | p. 31 |
The Truth About Shutters | p. 33 |
Adjust Exposure Manually | p. 34 |
Use Shutter or Aperture Priority Adjustments | p. 36 |
Tricky Lighting Situations | p. 37 |
Use Exposure Compensation | p. 39 |
Switch Metering Modes | p. 40 |
Use Exposure Lock | p. 43 |
When to Take Control | p. 45 |
Composition Essentials | p. 47 |
Why Composition Is Important | p. 48 |
What We See | p. 49 |
Rules of Composition | p. 49 |
Isolate the Focal Point | p. 50 |
Use the Rule of Thirds | p. 52 |
Fill the Frame | p. 53 |
Move the Horizon | p. 55 |
Use Lines, Symmetry, and Patterns | p. 56 |
Use Foreground to Balance the Background | p. 58 |
Know When to Break the Rules | p. 58 |
Using Depth of Field | p. 61 |
Applying Depth of Field to Your Pictures | p. 64 |
Getting the Most Out of Your Zoom Lens | p. 65 |
Using Your Camera's Exposure Modes | p. 67 |
Choosing Exposure Modes and Lenses in Special Situations | p. 70 |
Flash and Lighting | p. 77 |
The Basics of Flash Photography | p. 78 |
Stay Within the Range of Your Flash | p. 79 |
Master Your Flash Modes | p. 81 |
Improve Your Outdoor Photographs | p. 83 |
Beware the Sun | p. 83 |
Add Fill Flash | p. 84 |
Reflect Some Light | p. 85 |
Improve Your Indoor Photographs | p. 88 |
Use Window Light | p. 88 |
Avoid the Red Eye | p. 88 |
Correct the Color Balance | p. 89 |
Correcting Images with White Balance | p. 89 |
Adjusting White Balance Presets | p. 90 |
Trying Your Hand at Night Photography | p. 92 |
Taking Your First Night Shots | p. 92 |
CCDs and Noise | p. 94 |
Taking Close-Ups | p. 97 |
Capturing the Microscopic World | p. 98 |
Coaxing a Digital Camera to Take Close-Ups | p. 99 |
Close-up Enemy No. 1: Parallax | p. 102 |
Using Add-on Lenses | p. 105 |
Close-up Techniques | p. 107 |
A Steady Base | p. 110 |
Keep the Subject Sharp | p. 111 |
Mind the Background | p. 113 |
Beware of the Flash | p. 115 |
Shooting Through Glass | p. 115 |
Pushing Your Camera to Its Limits | p. 119 |
Get Creative | p. 120 |
The Old-Fashioned Look | p. 121 |
Make a Panorama | p. 121 |
Getting the Right Overlap | p. 123 |
Adding Lenses for Different Perspectives | p. 126 |
Choosing Lenses | p. 128 |
Add-on Lens Precautions | p. 128 |
Taking Time-Lapse Photos | p. 132 |
Making Movies | p. 134 |
Taking Care of Batteries | p. 137 |
Rechargeable Versus Alkaline | p. 137 |
Get the Most Out of Your Batteries | p. 138 |
Transferring Images | |
Conquering File Formats | p. 143 |
What Are File Formats and Why Do I Care? | p. 144 |
The Most Common File Formats | p. 145 |
Using File Formats | p. 149 |
On the Camera | p. 149 |
On the PC | p. 151 |
Working with Digital Film | p. 157 |
The ABCs of Digital Film | p. 158 |
Transferring Images to the PC | p. 162 |
Transferring Images with a Serial Cable | p. 163 |
Transferring Images with a USB Port | p. 166 |
Transfer Shortcuts: Using Memory Adapters | p. 170 |
Caring for Your Memory Cards | p. 171 |
Keeping Images on the PC | p. 175 |
Managing Your Digital Pictures | p. 176 |
Organizing Your Images in Windows 98 | p. 178 |
Renaming Images in Windows 98 | p. 182 |
Working with Quick View | p. 184 |
Locating and Cataloging Images in Windows 98 | p. 188 |
What's a Keyword? | p. 194 |
Organizing Your Images in Windows Me | p. 196 |
Estimating File Size | p. 198 |
Calculating TIFs | p. 199 |
Calculating JPGs | p. 199 |
Archiving Images | p. 200 |
Pixel Potential | p. 200 |
Adding Extra Hard Drives | p. 201 |
Turning Prints into Digital Images | p. 203 |
Understanding Scanners | p. 204 |
Shopping for a Scanner | p. 207 |
Scanning and Correcting Your Images | p. 209 |
Determining the Right Resolution | p. 209 |
Tweaking Your Images | p. 213 |
Slides, Negatives, or Prints? | p. 215 |
Editing Images | |
Quick Changes for Your Images | p. 219 |
How Much PC You Need | p. 220 |
Choosing an Image Editor | p. 221 |
Tweaking the File Format | p. 225 |
Shrinking Your Images | p. 225 |
Changing the Color Depth of an Image | p. 227 |
Saving Images in Different File Formats | p. 229 |
Improve Your Composition | p. 231 |
Crop Your Image | p. 231 |
Using Cut and Paste | p. 236 |
Rotate Your Perspective | p. 240 |
Level a Crooked Picture | p. 241 |
Improve the Color and Brightness in Your Image | p. 242 |
Brighten Gloomy Shots | p. 242 |
Add Snap to Your Colors | p. 246 |
Brightness Only Goes So Far | p. 246 |
Correct the Color Balance | p. 247 |
Cleaning Up Your Images | p. 249 |
Sharpening Blurry Pictures | p. 250 |
Using the Sharpen Filter to Enhance Your Picture | p. 251 |
Blur to Sharpen | p. 253 |
Painting on Your Pictures | p. 255 |
Choosing Colors | p. 256 |
Applying the Paint | p. 258 |
Painting More Accurately | p. 261 |
Repairing the Evil Eye | p. 264 |
Using Automatic Red Eye Removal | p. 264 |
Removing Red Eye the Old-Fashioned Way | p. 265 |
Airbrushing Away Distractions | p. 266 |
Clean Up Old and Damaged Pictures | p. 268 |
Remove Picture Scratches | p. 269 |
Remove Dust, Dirt, and Digital Noise | p. 269 |
Make a Panoramic Photo | p. 269 |
Stitching Photos Together by Hand | p. 271 |
Creating Special Effects | p. 275 |
Using a Hollywood-Style Bluescreen | p. 276 |
Make a Weather Map | p. 277 |
Bluescreen Without a Screen | p. 280 |
Shake Hands with Elvis | p. 286 |
Shoot a Sci-Fi Firefight | p. 290 |
The Disintegrating Subject | p. 292 |
The Laser Blast | p. 294 |
Paint Like Van Gogh | p. 295 |
Decolorizing Your Pictures | p. 298 |
Colorize an Image | p. 303 |
Create Stop-Motion Movies | p. 303 |
Working with Text and Creating Projects | p. 305 |
Adding Text to Pictures | p. 306 |
Special Effects with Text | p. 310 |
Create Gradient-Filled Text | p. 310 |
Create Picture-Filled Text | p. 312 |
Add Drop Shadow | p. 314 |
Combine Image and Drop Shadow | p. 317 |
Projects for Your Digital Images | p. 319 |
Using Digital Images as Wallpaper | p. 319 |
Adding an Image to Letterhead | p. 321 |
Creating Your Own Greeting Cards | p. 323 |
Create a Newsletter | p. 329 |
Using Your Images | |
Printing Your Pictures | p. 333 |
Using the Right Printer | p. 334 |
Choosing a Printer | p. 335 |
What to Look For | p. 340 |
Printing Your Images | p. 341 |
The Right Resolution | p. 341 |
Working with Paper | p. 343 |
Making Your Prints | p. 347 |
Which Side Is the Right Side? | p. 351 |
Caring for Your Prints | p. 351 |
Working with Printing Services | p. 352 |
Sharing Your Pictures | p. 353 |
Send Images via Email | p. 354 |
Attaching Pictures in Email | p. 357 |
Distributing Images on Floppy and Zip Disks | p. 361 |
Strategies for Sharing Lots of Images | p. 361 |
Creating Your Own Web Pages | p. 362 |
Choosing an Image Size and File Format for the Web | p. 364 |
Sharing Images on the Web Without Designing a Web Site | p. 365 |
Which Is Best? | p. 365 |
Showing Off Images on a Palm | p. 368 |
Showing Off Images in a Digital Picture Frame | p. 371 |
Create a Slide Show on Videotape | p. 373 |
Record Video Directly from the Camera | p. 373 |
Index | p. 377 |
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