Digital Photography Books

I've had my Nikon Coolpix for about six months now, and until I picked up this book I never felt comfortable using anything but the default settings. My coolpix is considered a point-and-shoot, but I didn't find it to be nearly that simple. This book not only showed me HOW to use the different settings, but it helped me understand WHEN I should use them too. This book covers both the equipment side of photography with your coolpix, and photography basics like composition, and lighting. I highly recommend this book - I feel more confident using my camera and my pictures have been better now that I have started using the different modes appropriately.

The Nikon Coolpix Digital Field Guide is a wonderful companion for any Nikon Coolpix camera owner. In just a few minutes of reading I learned about settings on my camera that I didn't even know existed. I liked the fact that in Chapter 1 the author compared various Coolpix cameras and I am sure others would think this could be annoying since you already own one. However I on the other hand found it nice to know what else was available. This book is so in depth the author even takes you through each screen and menu while explaining what they all do. This chapter alone proved to be more useful to me than the entire manual that came with the camera. Call me crazy, but being a photographer I prefer visual learning over long paragraphs of text.

No book about photography should be without a guide on composition and this book is no exception, the author explains the various rules you as the photographer should follow and adapt to. To me chapter 6 goes right along with the composition steps to include overall best practices of photography. Of course now that you have shot all these great photos it is safe to say you want them on your computer, well if that is the case than chapter 7 has all the information you need. The book ends off with a glossary of common photography terms that you will hear in various shooting locations.

Overall I have found this book to be very beneficial for not only Nikon Coolpix owners, but any photographers. You can take the concepts thoroughly explained within this book and adapt them to your own shooting habits, which in the end will make you a better photographer. I highly recommend this book and already have to my friends.

Very basic, that's all that can be said. And it chose to cover a whole range of models, so at least half of the book won't pertain to YOUR camera. The general photography info is delivered in a hasty manner with too few examples. It would be hard to actually learn a lot from this book. A little, yes. Some tips, some clear writing. But it's not the "missing book" you wish came with your camera, whatever model you might have.

Great introduction to the Nikon Coolpix cameras and to digital photography in general. There are useful tips and it highlights some really useful features. As a complete novice, I learned what the various modes were for as well as introducing me to basic things like depth of field, exposure composition, etc.

Also important: I also learned what the camera can't do.

The Nikon Coolpix Digital Field Guide is a wonderful supplement to the less than perfect "manual" that came with the Coolpix camera. The book covers the Coolpix L,S, and P series. At first I found this to be confusing and just wanted to "get on" with information for my camera. After recognizing the book set-up, I found it very helpful because if I didn't get it the first time, I could "peek" at the other series and reaffirm the information. Also,the book only uses two chapters where it specifically talks about your particular Coolpix camera series.

I started off with the "point and shoot" auto/default setting for everyday photos. The Coolpix offers So Much More and when you're ready for optional settings, menus, and modes, this book teaches it to you
in an easy to read and learn format. If you're a "visual learner" like myself, you'll love the life size and BIGGER than life size camera diagrams, menus, and settings which accompany the written part. The author uses "cross referencing", "tips", "notes", and "caution" tags to emphasize a point made in the sub-section just read.

After the introduction to the camera, menus, and modes, the book goes on to explain "how", to create great photos simply using the "point and shoot" OR "optional settings" function. The author also explains general photography and composition basics. My favorite part is the "Technique" chapter of 65 pages where the author shows a photo (17 different categories), then explains how he took the photo. He then gives you a "Practice Picture" and "On Your Own" challenge with all the needed settings to have your photo turn out just as great!

The book concludes with additional accessories and equipment you may want at a later time. The book also devotes a chapter to editing using your Nikon Picture Perfect which came with your Coolpix. You'll love the glossary at the end because it offers simple definitions of common terms used throughout the book.

This is a must-have book if you have a Coolpix camera!

Of all the things changing in the world today, few are as accepted globally by more people than the microchip and the electronic devices powered by microchips. Yes there are those we do not own a computer, and vow never to own one, but even those individuals use the microchip as part of their everyday life; whether it be in the car they drive, their household appliances, the electronic doors at their work, or just waiting at an intersection for the cross sign to change. This book documents, with big pictures, the extant to which computer chips are used in various facets of life around the world; and not just in rich countries, but in poor ones as well. The text is fairly easy to read, and gives just enough information on how microchips are made to convery the basic ideas. Overall, a good book, and better than other books of this type.

Released as the Internet boom was accelerating upwards, One Digital Day now seems like a work from another era. Picking it up today, one can't help but think it rather irrelevant, and one can't help but think of the shattered California economy that is the remnant of the corporate hubris of the boom times. Still, it is a very nice book to look at, which is the whole point of course. A wag has put up a parody web site at anotherdigitalday-dot-com.

From Kirkus: The ubiquitous microchip is celebrated in some 200 color photographs, taken in the course of one day (July 11, 1997) by approximately 100 photojournalists scattered around the globe. While we may take it for granted that the microprocessor has infiltrated and altered almost every element of life having to do with technology, it's still startling to see how pervasive its influence is. A portrait of Thai monks gathered `round a computer to study the teachings of the Buddha, of a Chinese sailor steering his junk and blithely chatting on a cellular telephone, or of a group of rural South African pensioners lining up at a computer that will identify them by their fingerprints before issuing a monthly check are likely to surprise even a jaded technophile. Much of the book, however, focuses on the specific ways in which the microchip is expanding life's possibilities, with a heavy stress on how microchip-driven technology is helping to cure disease and enhance the lives of those with a variety of disabilities. The upbeat message throughout is hardly surprising, given that the project was sponsored by the Intel Corporation. Still, as a primer on cutting edge work in health, the environment, And other sciences, and as a vivid tour of the world's obsession with all things technological, One Digital Day is breezily effective. (First serial to Fortune, CNN TV special) -Kirkus Reviews END

The San Diego Union-Tribune 05/12/98 by Robert Hawkins

Real miracle of microchips: What people do with them

I remember when my father first brought a handful of microprocessors home. He was the new engineer responsible for improving their production. They weren't attached to anything, just processors. Defective ones at that. At the dinner table, my father excitedly traced the circuitry paths through the bed on which the microchip -- the "brains" -- would lie, explaining to me just what it was a microprocessor did, from an engineering perspective.

And it was impressive. But it also seemed so right, so natural, so logical, so within the reach of the bright minds of science. Impressed, yes. But I was not awed.

I've always had great faith in the technological process, how things are accomplished. I find it interesting that a single microchip today can hold 20 million transistors. And I'm fully confident that the number will continue to rise until it runs smack into the laws of physical nature. So be it.

There are now 15 billion microchips in use today around the world. OK, that's interesting. But what does it mean?

Over this past weekend I learned the answer, or part of it.

It means that Army Lt. Frank Holmes, stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia, can talk face to face with his wife, Amanda, and baby daughter, Morgan, 5,000 miles away at Fort Bragg, N.C.

It means that 320,000 itinerate and functionally illiterate pensioners in the KwaZulu region of South Africa will get their monthly checks because a computer can read their fingerprints.

It means that 5-year-old Amy Stewart, blind since birth, can keep up with other students in her first-grade class because a computer converts her lessons into Braille. It means that Sigrid Cerf was able to phone her husband and hear his voice for the first time in their 35-year marriage because research she conducted on the Internet led to a cure for the hearing ! impairment she's had since childhood. (Ironically, her husband is Vint Cerf. He co-wrote theTCP/IP protocol, earning the title "father" of the Internet.) It means that Mike Ward, an Intel engineer, was able to design a computer system that would enable him to continue working as his body gradually deteriorated from Lou Gehrig's disease.

See? This is what I get excited about. Not how a microchip works, but what it can do. And to what new uses our imaginations can put it. These examples and hundreds more are found in a new book that will be available May 28. It is called "One Digital Day: How the Microchip is Changing the World."

If you are familiar with Rick Smolan's hugely popular coffee-table books, the "Day in the Life" series, you'll grasp the nature of this one. Smolan's specialty is assembling hundreds of the best photographers in the world and throwing them at a single subject for one intense shutterbugging day. California, Japan, Hawaii, America, Vietnam have all been topics. Smolan sent 100 photojournalists out into the field for this one on July 11, 1997. Their objective was "to depict intimate and emotional stories of how this tiny chip -- a square of silicon the size of a fingernail, weighing less than a postage stamp -- has transformed our human culture forever.

And, yes, the project was underwritten by the largest maker of microprocessors in the world, Intel Corp., to celebrate its 30th birthday. But so what? In 30 years I've never heard a soul complain about the way Absolut Vodka has corrupted, commercialized and trivialized the art world with its "masterpiece" bottle ads.

"One Digital Day" is a brilliant illumination. It is both an explication and a justification of digital technology. The argument it presents, that our lives have been irrevocably changed by microprocessor technology is nearly impossible to refute.

Evidence? Check out Philip Quirk's photo of an aboriginal woman in ! the Australian Outback using a hand-held ATM machine. Or Lori Adamski-Peek's photo of an implant pump, smaller than a contact lens, that can dispense medication with precision.

One of the most celebrated of recent technological feats is featured: Sojourner, the 22-pound Mars rover with the ancient Intel 80c85 processor and 9,600 baud modem. This mighty little robot sent back spectacular pictures of the Mars terrain.

Anyone who insists that they have nothing to do with computers should take a close look at Peter J. Menzel's composition of a San Anselmo, Calif.,home. All of the products from within the house which run on microchips are spread across the front lawn. It is a very crowded front lawn. Menzel's photo is both whimsical and sobering.

It's been said a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's true, then perhaps the 200 photographs in ONE DIGITAL DAY: HOW THE MICROCHIP IS CHANGING OUR WORLD by Rick Smolan are worth millions of microchips.

In 24 hours, Smolan's team of the world's best photojournalists canvassed the world and captured pictures and accompanying stories which illustrate just how one little microchip -- something that didn't exist 30 years ago -- has changed, influenced and altered our world.  In so doing, the invention of the tiny microchip has succeeded in bringing the globe to us inside our homes and offices.

In the introduction, Michael Malone gives us a rundown on the microchip and how it is moving closer and closer to "the center of our lives." Malone estimates close to 15 billion microchips are currently in use.

Malone reminds us that, even though we might not have a PC in our home, should the microchips we use daily be stricken from our lives, we would be dumbfounded. Quite simply, we take their existence in our lives for granted in many ways.

Got a microwave? A telephone? A television for watching that Sunday football game? How about that streetlight outside? Without the microchip, your car wouldn't even start, writes Malone. Pretty amazing for a "tiny square of silicon the size of a fingernail," indeed.

What's it all about, Alfie? For all its wonder, the microchip is made up of metal, fire, crystal and water. During manufacturing, Malone notes a single speck of dust can mean disaster. In fact, he writes, the water used to rinse the surfaces of finished chips is more pure than water used for open heart surgery!

Past the fascinating introduction, readers will find a graphic photograph of just how many microchip-related items we could find in our homes if we tried. One family's home in San Anselmo, California is emptied, literally on the front lawn, and featured in a two-page layout with the home in the background and various

possessions, appliances and electronics, etc. are displayed on the lawn.

From Hong Kong, China to Bristol, Connecticut or from Rostov, Russia to Memphis, Tennessee, it doesn't really matter which country you choose or even what city or town -- you'd be hard-pressed to find a spot that the microchip hasn't touched.

In bold, dashing fashion, DIGITAL DAY takes the reader on a virtual tour of each place in rapid succession. The photographs are so clear, the captions so informative, you could easily lose hours poring through this book.

For instance, in Tokyo, Japan we discover there is a word for computer-crazed youths who can't get enough of technology: otaku. One photo features an otaku by the name of Masakazu Kobayashi, who clearly has his cyberlife wired to the max.

His microchip-driven bounty includes not one PC, but seven networked PCs, six video game systems, a palmtop, a laptop, and a motherlode of peripherals to boot.  Instead of having a room littered with comic books, magazines, CDs and other youth-driven materials,Kobayashi's room reeks of technology run amok.

But microchips and PCs aren't all for fun or convenience -- sometimes those thin slivered devices can mean the difference between life and death. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, DIGITAL DAY photos introduce the reader to new helmets worn by the city's firefighters.

These helmets, equipped with small digital video screens and infrared sensors, actually allow

firefighters to see through smoke.  When searching for victims amid smoke, unbearable heat and soaring flames, these helmets can mean saving lives instead of searching frantically in near-blinding conditions.

Worlds away, in South Africa, readers are captured in a surreal moment as a cheetah is scanned for identification purposes. Yes, scanners aren't just for groceries and department store purchases anymore!

More poignant, yet just as thrilling, is the photograph taken on Father's Day, 1997, of a young mother and her child making a video conference connection with the husband/father, a jubilant Army lieutenant stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Whether in the field of sports, business, science, health, or in your own backyard (situated in Bangor or Bangalore), this book makes clear through stunning, meticulous photographs,how microchips and technology coexist peacefully and practically amid our daily routine. 

At the end of DIGITAL DAY, readers will find a bonus in the section which introduces each of the book's photographers and offers a biography for each. It's rewarding not only to see the magnificent photos they've taken, it's equally as rewarding to read about the person, the artist, behind the photograph.

DIGITAL DAY is more than a dormant coffee table book. It's a book you'll find yourself going back to over and over -- and taking to work to show your friends. It's crisp, fresh, hip, blazing with color and vibrancy as this 24-hour microchip-laden tale is recounted for the reader.

If you're looking for a classy addition to your book collection that mixes modern tech with classic photography, DIGITAL DAY is the book for you.

The information and pictorial displays housed within make for a virtual feast that's fascinating, optically elegant and intellectually easy to digest.

I was using only a small fraction of the capability of the PhotoDeluxe program before I learned of its full capablilities from this book. I guess I would have gradually - by trial and error - become more capable - but I needed this capability NOW. The book answered many questions and gave me much more insight. Highly recommended

I browsed this book at a Hastings' and was amazed at all I hadn't been using, even if this book was written for 1.0. I look forward to a new version of this book and will buy it pronto.

The Grottas have written a clear and detailed intro to using Adobe's PhotoDeluxe version 1.x. Unfortunately, PhotoDeluxe is now at ver 2.0, so this book is dated and needs revision.

Good contents but completely out of date. Don't know which version of PhotoDeluxe they were using but it certainly wasn't the current edition.

Thanks to a previous review, I knew that this book was written for the first version of PhotoDeluxe, which is what I have. This is not obvious and should be made so now. That said, the book was still helpful, although I have had the program for four years, and have learned a lot by experiment and reading the on-line manual which is not as thorough. The software was bundled with my scanner and did not include any text (or did Adobe never provide one?). As a 'third party" text, this book includes tips and projects--tutorials that are always helpful in getting to know a program.

McClelland presents a set of 12 tutorials in the form of this book. It may appeal to you if you are the type who gets fidgety and impatient by just reading a book. Most of us can learn a subject better by doing some problems or tasks in it. Some can only learn in this fashion.

Hence the book and its enclosed CD could be handy. Perhaps aided by the CD containing not just the usual data files used in the tutorials, but also a 2 hour video of the author. Most other technical books with CDs don't go to this extent of providing a video.

The tutorials themselves delve rather deeply into many aspects of Elements. Like the way it handles both raster and vector objects, where the latter is often text. So you get true proportional scaling of text.

Elements, as you might know, is a stripped down version of Photoshop, in terms of its image editing abilities. Its forte is cataloging and publishing that catalog on the web. But in going through this book, it seems mostly about the image editing. The most difficult lessons seem to be here. Which may not be a bad thing. Even if your primay goal is to put up photos on your website, being able to enhance them is a good skill to master.

I've never even heard of Photoshop Elements before this book. I downloaded the trial version, and gave it a whirl. Like many others, I have oodles of unused pictures that have been sitting on my computer for quite some time. As I was going through the book, I managed to learn how to do so many things with those pictures that I now print them out for display. I can't believe it: me, literally a beginner, doing things that I would never imagine, thanks to this book. Although the book was quite wordy, it has plenty of illustrations and screenshots to keep me on track.

A quick recap of what I think of Photoshop Elements 3 for Windows One-on-One

Pros:
Easy to follow
Shows many tricks that I would have never imagined
Plenty of illustrations, screenshots, and before/after photos
Training video of CD
Shows how to use the Organizer, a great plus

Cons:
Alot of reading
Training video uses Quicktime, (but I'm just being picky)

Overall: I definitely would recommend this book

Deke McClelland and Galen Fott's Photoshop Elements 3 For Windows One-on-One bundles a 2-hour 'total training' video hosted by author McClelland with a fine reality-based program which offers the next best thing to a personal trainer. Learn how to organize and categorize photos, how to make corrections and edt, and how to solve common color problems using Quick Fix. Want more? Use Photoshop Elements 3 For Windows One-on-One as a classroom text, too: each lesson ends with a test quiz.

Here is a book that can really help you use Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0. The author uses his experience as Photoshop teacher to offer a comprehensive learning tool in the form of a book and a CD. The book contains all color pictures, illustrations, and screen shots with step by step instructions with which one can easily follow along. The CD not only contains the pictures from the book but instructional quick time movies for each chapter which really add to the learning experience.

Sprinkled throughout the book are "Pearls of Wisdom" paragraphs or pages with important facts and tips about the program. And for those who can't be bothered with menus, each chapter lists the lots of speed keys. To insure one has completely grasped a topic, there is a multiple choice quiz after each chapter. You will learn something by reading this book!

I'd give this book 5 stars even if it didn't have the fantastic video lessons on the included CD. I knew nothing about digital photography or image editing before buying this book, and now my pictures look great. Thanks, Deke! I strongly recommend this book.

This book is absolutely the thing for people who need to use Adobe Photoshop. It doesn't cover the methods of actually taking a picture, but it is great for learning how to correct, add effects, alter and manipulate pictures with Photoshop. It gives detailed, step-by-step instructions, with helpful shots of what your computer screen should show and where to find each tool and menu item. Because of the differences in the versions of Photoshop, some of the processes mentioned were under different menu locations than stated in the book, but you'll find them if you look. If you own a digital camera and any version of Adobe Photoshop, you need this book.

Excellent!! No problems, my book was sent to me in a very short time and was exactly what I needed.
Service was super!

I found this book on digital photography to be a good introduction, though its focus not so much on picture taking techniques, but rather on what to do with a picture with Photoshop once you have the image, and yet the author assumed that one was already familiar with Photoshop. I can imagine how difficult it must be to write a book on digital photography and not include Photoshop, as the two are inter-related. Had I to do it again, I would probably just purchase something on Photoshop like "Classroom in a Book."

This book makes working with your digital photos soooo, so easy! The easy to follow step by step instructions are the best. I really had fun transforming snap shots into a real photograph. Lee Frost is a very good teacher. He makes it easy to follow, understand, and recreate. Anyone who enjoys working with digital photos would absolutely LOVE this book! Great!

With this book, Lee Frost has proved once again that he is one of the best photography authors. This book does an excellent job of breaking down the various photoshop techniques into easy to follow step-by-step instructions. Over the last couple of years I have purchased a number of digital photography books and even though I'm fairly competent with a computer, they never helped me to fully grasp the power of Photoshop. This book does exactly that in an organized fashion (topics are sorted A-Z). A must have for your photo collection (also try his other books including A-Z of creative photography and guide to low light and night photography).

Digital nature photographers are also travelers and naturalists, facing different challenges in capturing their image goals than other photographers. Here to address these special needs is an advanced guide to shooting, composition and editing results using Photoshop. Half the book focuses on computer equipment and camera gear; the second half surveys editing techniques - so photographers get a healthy dose of both worlds and how they work together. Skills are revealed using a step-by-step focus that builds upon a foundation of knowledge. Add screen shots, color photo examples, and tips on image management and you have a all-in-one blend of field guide and computer tech teacher both geared to the nature photographer's unique needs.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I wasn't very familiar with navigating Photoshop before I read and used this book. I did, however, use this book to work on my own nature photographs. I found this book a perfect tool for someone like myself- interested in nature photography and needing the skills to edit them on the computer. Moss focuses only on the essential tools for processing nature photography in Photoshop. I'm not a graphic designer, so I have no need or interest to know how to become a graphic designer. What I do want to learn is how to process an overexposed sky in one of my favorite landscape photos. Moss will teach you exactly what you need to know, without getting users bogged down with every aspect and every tool in Photoshop. And that's what I wanted - someone to wade through the functions and present the ones I want and need to use for nature photos.

I also found myself memorizing small tips and techniques as I read the beginning portion of the book on taking pictures. Moss has a very creative eye, and helps readers learn these creative techniques and then apply them to their own photography. I defiantly feel that my eye for nature photography will be different (for the better) the next time I go out to shoot the landscapes that I love. If you are using Photoshop to process nature photography, this is the book you should purchase, and don't waste your time on the Photoshop Bible or other books when you can get a book edited to your specific needs. This book is excellent for beginners to both Photoshop and digital photography.

Digital Nature Photography and Adobe Photoshop is really two books in one and a great value for anyone interested in digital nature photography. The first half of the book serves as a helpful, well organized, and excellent book on taking nature photographs. It covers all the basics and more - from equipment selection, photo composition, aperture settings, location selection and safety, to the art of photographing wildlife. This half of the book covers all aspects of taking great pictures out in nature.

The other half of the book details how to process these photographs on the computer. This part provides all the tools you need to process and print amazing nature photos. Moss covers every possible topic related to computer processing of images, starting with the author's preference for processing files in raw form using Adobe Raw. He then details the most useful tools available using Adobe Photoshop. There is so much one can do with Photoshop that it isn't fair to expect this book to teach every aspect of the program. That being said even newbies can use this book to get started in Photoshop. The book is intended to augment already existing Photoshop skills to meet the needs of digital nature photographers. As such, Moss covers in straightforward, easy to understand language Photoshop tools such as: shadow adjustment, correcting exposure, making tonal and color corrections, and converting color images to black and white. If you already know the basics of navigating Photoshop, you will find this half of the book a superb and essential way to get the most out of this powerful software. This book is a must have for nature photographers!
-Jessica Teel

More and more books that teach Photoshop are trying to capture the full spectrum of digital photography from capture to post processing. I can't call this a full spectrum book, since the author does not discuss anything about output once the image is adjusted in Photoshop, but it certainly dwells more on capturing the image then many books.

Like so many photography books today, it presumes the reader is using a digital single lens reflex camera, and Photoshop as image editing software. Compact digital users will probably benefit from this book, but users of image processing software other than Photoshop or Photoshop Elements will not benefit very much.

The author first describes the equipment one needs for digital nature photography including cameras, computers and even clothes to wear. He provides a description of the different types of nature photography including landscapes, wildlife, macro and abstracts. Then he jumps into post processing, including the use of Adobe Bridge, camera raw and Photoshop tools. He covers the Photoshop tools that the average nature photographer will have occasion to use.

The design of the book is lovely with many full page nature photographs by the author and generous use of white space. Unfortunately, I found that he did not cover any of the subjects in enough detail to be of use to the beginning photographer, unless that reader was willing to take the author's instructions and then work out things on his or her own. There are a few tips along the way that the advanced photographer may not have learned, but not enough to make the reading worthwhile for experienced individuals.

For example, in his description of the advantages of digital cameras, he mentions the benefit of immediate feedback, including the availability of histograms, but that's the last mention of this tool to help get the proper exposure. When he discusses macro photography he mentions that accessory lenses and extension tubes exist to help in getting close, but never explains what benefits they provide or how to use them. His discussion of levels in Photoshop indicates that the sliders control highlights and shadows but never tells very much about how to set the sliders.

I suppose if one wants to learn something about digital nature photography without actually learning any techniques this book might help. Most nature photographers would be better off with an old standby, John Shaw's "Nature Photography Field Guide" when it comes to capturing images, even though it doesn't deal with digital cameras. Individuals wanting to learn more about digital capture could rely upon David Busch's "Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies" or Mikkel Aalands "Shooting Digital". As to using Photoshop for nature photography, Ellen Anon and Tim Grey's "Photoshop for Nature Photographers" is recommended.

Very well written - clear, simple, easy to follow. And it does have some great tips - even for the intermediate photographer. But this is really a book for someone who has never used a digital camera before or who has never taken the time to understand their camera's features. It also spends a lot of space discussing several specific photo management software programs (EasyShare, Picasa, Elements), as well as some common on-line photo sharing sites. If you're new to this art then this book will be a great start. But if you're already familiar with your camera and with digital photo editing and on-line sharing, you probably won't get much new out of this. Plus, if you don't plan on obtaining the specific software the authors discuss, at least half the book will be of no use to you.

I found the book to be comprehensive. It is a great starting point for the novice and a good reference for someone who is familiar with the subject, but not a pro. The chapter headings are "tabbed" in the upper corner of the page, which makes topics easy to find. Also, the numerous illustrations and various fonts made the book extremely readable.

In actuality, only the first of the four parts of this book is about the art and science of digital photography itself. The rest of the book is about moving your photos to the PC, editing them, and sharing them via printing, email, or even coffee mugs. The part that is about photography is helpful when it is discussing artistic techniques, and somewhat frustrating when it is trying to give you specific instructions on operating a generic camera such as "If your camera has a portrait mode, indicated on this camera and many others by a silhouette of a human head, you may not have to fiddle with manual aperture settings". The question is, how do I know whether or not my camera even has a portrait mode? This is not the vague type of instruction I am accustomed to when dealing with the Missing Manual series.

Outside of my general frustration with part one, though, the rest of the book is quite good. That is because the author now has a limited set of software packages to work with as far as instructions go, and here we get back into the high quality specific Missing Manual instructions that are so familiar. The author talks about specific aspects of using Easyshare, Picasa, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Flickr, and Photoshop Elements for organizing, editing, and sharing your photos with good comparisons of the different software packages and specific instructions for each. Overall, I recommend this book. Just realize that the part on photography itself is somewhat vague. I notice that the table of contents are not shown, so I do that below:

Part One: DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS
Chapter 1. DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS
Point-and-Shoot or Single Lens Reflex?
Image Resolution and Memory Capacity
Batteries
Deciphering Optical and Digital Zoom
Image Stabilizer (Vibration Reduction)
Flip Screens for Multiple Viewpoints
Optical Viewfinder
Taking Control with Manual Options
Improving Autofocus
External Flashes and Other Attachments
Minimizing Shutter Lag
Burst Mode for Rapid-Fire Shooting
Creating Panoramas
Software That Comes with Your Camera
Eliminating Specks (Noise Reduction)
Taking Movies with Your Camera
Chapter 2. POINTING, SHOOTING, AND BASIC COMPOSITION
Composition Explained
Apply the Rule of Thirds
Get Closer for Better Pictures
Eliminate Busy Backgrounds
Go Low, Go High
A Final Thought
Chapter 3. BEYOND THE SIMPLE SNAPSHOT
Shooting Sports and Action
Taking Portraits
Kids and School Performances
Weddings and Celebrations
Sunsets and Nighttime Photos
Landscape and Nature
Photographing Objects
Digital Movies
Cameraphone Photography

Part Two: ORGANIZING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 4. GETTING PHOTOS ONTO YOUR PC
Moving Pictures from Camera to Computer
Moving Pictures from a Card Reader to a PC
Importing Photos with a Scanner
Three Ways to Scan an Image
Using Windows Scanner Wizard
Chapter 5. ORGANIZING PHOTOS ON YOUR PC
Organizing Photos with Windows XP
Organizing Photos with EasyShare Albums
Organizing Photos with Picasa
Chapter 6. STORING YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE
Why Put Your Photos Online?
Choosing an Online Photo Service
Getting Photos Online with EasyShare
Organizing Photos with EasyShare
Getting Photos Online with Shutterfly
Organizing Photos with Shutterfly
Getting Photos Online with Snapfish
Organizing Photos with Snapfish
Getting Photos Online with Flickr
Organizing Photos with Flickr
Chapter 7. BACKING UP YOUR PHOTO LIBRARY
Strategies to Protect Your Photos
CD, DVD, or Hard Drive?
EasyShare's Backup Tools
Picasa's Backup Tools
Chapter 8. ORGANIZING AND BACKING UP WITH ELEMENTS
Importing with the Photo Downloader
Browsing Photos in the Organizer
Creating Tags and Categories
Assigning Tags to Photos
Creating Collections
Searching for Photos
Backing Up with the Organizer

Part Three: EDITING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 9. BASIC PHOTO FIXES
Common Problems, Easy Fixes
Rotating & Cropping with EasyShare
Improving Photos with EasyShare
Fixing Red Eye with EasyShare
Rotate and Straighten with Picasa
Cropping Photos with Picasa
Fixing Exposure Problems with Picasa
Fixing Contrast and Color with Picasa
Fixing Red Eye with Picasa
Chapter 10. ROTATING, CROPPING, AND SIZING WITH ELEMENTS
Changing Your View of Your Photos
Rotating Photos
Straightening Photos
Cropping Photos
Changing the Size of Your Photos
Chapter 11. THE QUICK FIX
A Tour of the Quick Fix Window
Quick Fix Suggested Workflow
Fixing Red Eye
The Smart Fix
Adjusting Lighting and Contrast
Correcting Color
Sharpening
Chapter 12. ADVANCED PHOTO RETOUCHING WITH ELEMENTS
Fixing Exposure Problems
Sharpening Your Images
Fixing Blemishes: An Introduction
Correcting the Colors on Your Screen
Taking Control with Levels
Removing Unwanted Colors
Making Your Colors More Vibrant
Chapter 13. CREATING SPECIAL EFFECTS
Adding Effects with EasyShare
Adding Effects with Picasa
Adding Effects with Elements
Creating Panoramas with Elements

Part Four: SHARING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 14. SHARING YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE
Choosing a Photo-Sharing Service
Sharing Photos with EasyShare
Sharing Photos with Shutterfly Express
Sharing Photos with Snapfish
Sharing Photos and Hobbies: Flickr
Sharing with the Pros: Photo net
Chapter 15. EMAILING YOUR PHOTOS
Understanding the File Size Dilemma
Emailing Photos with EasyShare
Emailing Photos with Picasa
Emailing Photos with Elements
Chapter 16. PRINTING YOUR PHOTOS
How to Make Great Prints at Home
Printing Photos with EasyShare
Printing Photos with Picasa
Printing Photos with Elements
Printing at Photo Kiosks
Ordering Prints Online
Ordering Prints Online with EasyShare
Ordering Prints Online with Picasa
Ordering Prints Online with Shutterfly
Ordering Prints Online with Snapfish
Ordering Prints Online with Elements
Chapter 17. CREATIVE PHOTO PROJECTS
Making Slideshows with PhotoShow
Simple Slideshows in Elements
Custom Slideshows in Elements
Posters, Calendars, and Photo Books
More Elements Creative Projects
Photo Mugs, T-Shirts, and More

Any newcomer to digital photography who longs to get the most from a camera will find DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: THE MISSING MANUAL goes beyond brand-named camera books to cover the extent of digital possibilities. Camera tricks from pros supplement tips on editing photos on the PC, picture sharing, and much more, taking full advantage of the digital format's versatility and potentials. Plenty of books have been written on the topic, but DIGTAL PHOTOGRAPHY: THE MISSING MANUAL is the most comprehensive.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Physical limitations now prevent me from diving, but I started young, very young! In fact, in the late 1940's by simply holding my breath and going as deep and as long as possible to see `nature' in areas along the east coast of North America and various areas in the Caribbean. And in the following decades when traveling to other global areas where the ocean was a short distance away, I always made time to explore the local depths. And even though I've never owned sophisticated diving equipment, or had the skill to photograph underwater creatures, those adventures brought much pleasure and an appreciation for the complexities in the underwater world. I've also been an aquarist for over 60 years, and have tried to duplicate nature in all my aquariums, whether they were freshwater or marine aquariums.

And in the past where certain world areas where not available to me, I depended upon the `icons' such as Jacques Cousteau and others to publish the results of their diving adventures so I could enjoy seeing the fruits of their underwater travels. Today is no different, and thank goodness there are people like Andrea & Antonella Ferrari! Their new book `The Art Of Underwater Photography' is a welcome addition to my library, and even though I cannot comment on its photography techniques and equipment, except to say it appears quite informative, I can say I'm impressed with their organization of the material and its artwork. Therefore, whether you're an armchair adventurer or diver, (even a past diver like myself), you'll enjoy slowly going through this massive 360 page book and viewing their and their co-contributors stunning contributions!
Bob Goemans

This is truly an amazing book, featuring 360 richly illustrated color pages with hundreds of incredible full-page underwater images (most by the authors and several by the world's best underwater photographers, like Doug Perrine), plus informative, wonderfully accessible texts. Be aware this really isn't a technical, dry, boring guide in the strictest sense of the word like most of the others available on the market. It's rather more of a highly inspirational book which begs to be read and re-read again to find creative inspiration, to bring out the inner hidden artist. I loved the amazing photos and highly enjoyed the clever suggestions in the text - and I can already see how my own underwater photography has incredibly been enriched by this book. It's like having your own personal tutor! Go on and buy it - this is something you'll treasure for many years to come.

Its a terrific book, fantastic pictures. Liked that you could get helpful hints for point and shoot UW cameras, not just the expensive ones. Only thing I didn't care for was that the commentaries were not continued on the next page - you had to go 2 or 3 pages for them to continue.

I recently had the chance to read this book. As with all the books by the Ferraris (of which I own several), this one is thoughtfully assembled, crammed with photos, and jammed with great tips. Of course, the images and the text are excellent, but there are other reasons to like it:

* I like how they explain what's good about the guest photographers' images. Rather than just say "Yes, another fascinating shot!" they take the time to explain it, so the rest of us, as we move along, can try to emulate.
* I like how they explain the rules of photography -- and then show they can be broken to great effect.
* I think comparing underwater photography to movie-making is a great idea. Everyone has seen movies they love and can recall some powerful scenes from them.

One small criticism: I disliked how the images broke up the text. I'd be reading along with the narrative, wholly immersed, and then I'd come up to a Guest Photographer shot. I never knew whether I should read the GP synopsis (and therefore forget what the teachings were) or skip ahead to finish the teachings and then flip back to the GP bits. Clearly, this was not a major pitfall by any stretch, but I would've liked to've seen all the GP shots between chapters, maybe -- so as to avoid this situation? Just a thought, and this is no reason not to read the book.

In total, the book is fantastically conceived and the images selected beautifully complement the teachings. It's a very dense book, though, and I know for my own part, it was somewhat intimidating to pick up and go through. In reality, it's dense mostly because it's thick with images -- not because it's thick with theory -- and is therefore far more accessible than you would believe by just looking at it. Though I'm going diving this weekend, it's merely a pleasure dive -- no camera -- but next time I do go diving with a camera, I'm going to go through the pages once more, to see how I can make my images pop. In the meantime, I plan to study the last topside shooting chapter so my general photos can be as amazing as theirs.

This comment was made to me by a very talented photographer, and now I know what he meant!
There is so much info here, it will never expire....

I don't normally take the time to write recommendations, but I thought I would take the time to comment on this book. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who are frustrated, like I was, because they can't find a comprehensive and technical piece of literature that explains in great detail the many laws, properties, and techniques that comprise the field of photography. If you are one of these people then this is your book.

I have been searching for months and all I had found was an endless list of simple self-help books geared toward amateur photographers. This is all fine and dandy, but what I wanted was a book written for the professional photographer that explained all the education that I learned back in college, but then forgot. If you want to learn in great detail about topics that other books just gloss over, briefly mention or skip altogether then this is your book.

Be forwarned, however, that there is probably more information in this book than you can wrap your head around. It delves deeply into physics, chemistry, and mathematics. You don't need to know all of this stuff to understand the book or photography for that matter, but if you want to learn the underlying principles of what makes photography possible it is all here.

I highly recommend this book as a complete reference manual for the advanced amateur or professional photographer.

I have bought this book based on the prior two reviews. Read it with a pen and paper a few times. And the overall impression is "indifference bordering on disappointment".

Let me though first mention the positives that I found about this book. It covers a lot of topics on photography. It can provide the first (more technical) understanding of photography. It provides references that you can research if you want a greater in-depth understanding of photography. It is what I would call an encyclopedic, i.e. reference, text, albeit quite inadequate.

Yet, it is incomplete and some sections are inaccurate. Subject that are incomplete include photographic flashes, densitometry, color film development chemistry (not pre-mixed Kodak solutions), color reproduction with negative films, and many many others. When different sections of the book are interrelated, they are not even cross-referenced within such sections. If they use formulas, such formulas may have even different designations for the same quantities.

The section on electronic flash is especially troubling. Let me tell you what bothers me here. The book is written by two PhD's, one MS and one BS, i.e people that should supposedly know basic physics. Yet they use a term W-s^(-1) [sorry, I cannot reproduce exponents here: the term reads Watt-second to the minus 1, i.e. W/s Watt per second). Originally I thought that this was just a typo, but they use it throughout this section. They even go farther to say that this quantity is "often STILL called Joules" (quote). Watt/s is not a Joule. Joule is a basic SI measure of energy or work and nobody, to my knowledge, has replaced the SI metric system. So the usage of words "often still" is completely inappropriate. Watt is the SI measure of power, i.e. the rate of change of work or energy. Watt per second measures a rate of change of power. Watt per second is related to energy like acceleration is related to distance. The proper formula for Joule is: J = W x second. So everywhere, when you see Ws^(-1), you should replace it with Ws (i.e. Watt-second)

Let's go farther to formula 11 of this chapter. It uses "J" designation in it. But J is never defined. NOWHERE. After spending many hours on the Internet, I still could not find what J is suppose to represent. The only thing I could deduce is that if flash efficacy is measured in lumens per Watt as the authors define on page 24, the J must be a unitless constant, provided however that the flash tube efficacy formula is correct (but can I trust it now?)

The basic rating formula for a flash relating BCPS or ECPS to the Guide Numbers is not given at all. I can only guess that it can be deduced by equation 12 if BCPS (beam candle power-seconds) = R x P x E-sub-i of the formula if GN is measured in meters. You need to research this outside of the book. GN is never derived and it is not mentioned that it is dependent on the units of measure (i.e. meters or feet) - pretty basic information I would say.

I can go on and take apart the majority of sections of this book that I consider inadequate. I will not do that - it is too time consuming. I will only mention as my final comment, the book is written in an inconsistent manner. Some topics are replete with mathematical formulas and derivations, from basic to complex. A great number of chapters, though, that beg for more detailed information, derivations, formulas, and descriptions are very rudimentary.

My grade for this book is "two stars" and only for its compilation of topics and its limited references. I spent too much money on this book and so will you if you buy it.

This book is simply wonderful. It is a detailed and comprehensive treatise on the physical, optical, chemical and otherwise scientific theory behind photography (the authors all have a bevy of these wonderfully quaint British learned society titles, in addition to a hefty list of PhDs and graduate degrees). Also distinctive is that the first edition was published in 1890 and thus it spans three centuries!

That said, the coverage of the latest developments like digital photography is impressive, and this is one of the first photography textbooks that have been updated completely for the coming migration to digital, rather than treating it as an afterthought.

I've been looking for a long time for such a book, that explains the theory without patronizing a scientifically literate reader. For instance, the book explains how ISO ratings are defined for film and for electronic sensors, how depth of field is computed, the diffraction limit on sharpness at small apertures and so on. If you are afraid of equations, this is not the book for you.

The verdict is I was dissappointed. Why?

The book is well laid out and very easy to quickly navigate around. Finding information on specific tasks is no trouble.

The one fact I couldn't overlook though was that this book is really just a re-presentation of the information contained in the Microsoft Digital Image Suite manual and help menu.

While there are "No-Nonsense" tips scattered throughout the book, it is not enough to make it a great addition to the software manual.

To add context, I was looking for a book that went beyond the manual. There are a multitude of books that cover the technicalities of digital image editing and they nearly all use Adobe Photoshop as the basis for examples, "how to", "when to", and "why to".

I was hoping this book offered more advanced technical editing information using the MS software, e.g. using layers, adjusting curves, etc. This could have been the book that fully explored the prosumer potential of the software suite. Sadly it missed the opportunity and seems more suitable to the point-n-shoot first-timer rather the digital photography hobbyist.

If you are looking for a replacement for a lost manual, go for it. If you want more advanced help and guidance, give it a miss and look for a more generic book and then just experiment with the software.

It's a fantastic program, but Microsoft has terminated this product due to the fact that all the features are now included Windows Vista. What a shame!

For anyone new to Digital Image Suite, this book is a must have. It's extremely easy to follow and fun examples keep it interesting. Well worth the $$$!

Not just how to, buy why to! Clear, concise and worth every penny.