Your digital camera is more than new incarnation of your old film camera. Yes, it still produces photos, but it also offers new outlets for creativity, including instant gratification of seeing your photos now, the ability to experiment without worrying about expense, the technology to fine-tune your photos with advanced professional techniques, and the means to share your work instantaneously with anyone, anyplace in the world. It's no wonder that digital cameras are outselling traditional cameras for the first time ever. But the question most digital camera users ask is this, "How do I get from taking 'decent' photos to doing the things I'd really like to do? How do I tap into that potential?"
Digital Photography Hacks is your passport to taking the kind of digital photos you've always aspired to. Written by Derrick Story, photographer and author of Digital Photography Pocket Guide and other books, it goes beyond the standard fare of most digital photography books—such as camera basics, understanding memory cards, and when to use a flash—to the things that professional photographers have learned through thousands of shots' worth of experience, years of experimentation, and fiddling and hacking. The book includes a foreword by photographer Rick Smolan, author of America 24/7.
With exquisite, full-color photos throughout, the book presents a collection of tips, tricks, and techniques for photographers ready to move beyond the basics. And if you don't have the latest in digital camera photography, this book will show you how to extend the life and functionality of your existing camera. All the hacks in the book are platform-agnostic, designed for use on both Mac on Windows-based computers. You'll find 100 proven techniques in the areas of:
CreditsForewordPrefaceChapter 1: Digital Camera AttachmentsChapter 2: Daytime Photo SecretsChapter 3: Nighttime Photo HacksChapter 4: Magic with FlashChapter 5: The Computer ConnectionChapter 6: Photoshop MagicChapter 7: Camera-Phone TricksChapter 8: Weekend Photo ProjectsColophon
Anonymous
Posted June 29, 2004
When I first looked at this book, I assumed it was a hundred nifty tricks in Photoshop. Because that is the standard digital image editing tool. But in actuality, only 13 of the hacks involve it. Because digital photography is more than just editing an image. First and foremost, it involves capturing an image, and all that this entails. From what I can tell, over half the hacks discuss this. Several are independent of whether you might be using a digital or analog camera. Like creating a maximum depth of field. The techniques for this probably predate Ansel Adams. Story makes a good overall point in his book. Digital photography is more than bit editing of an image. Many ideas learnt over decades of photography are still applicable. Ideally, you would use Photoshop only as a last resort. But there are some hacks about the latest hot thing. Camera phones. What these lack in resolution, they make up for in other dimensions of ubiquity and ease of use. Because of their increasing importance, Story devotes an entire chapter to them. Some of you will head straight here.
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Posted June 6, 2004
If you haven¿t picked up a book from the O¿Reilly ¿Hacks¿ line, then you¿re doing yourself a disservice. Each book contains 100 or so tips on the subject of the book. Depending on the subject matter, some of these are actual hacks, while others are simply really cool tips. Like the other ¿Hacks¿ book, this one is not only fun to read but very well worth the tips it provides. In what I found to be a very welcome step, the authors have provided only a few Photoshop hacks. Instead they have opted to concentrate on the many various other issues involved in digital photography. Some of the hacks you might find interesting include how to un-erase an erased CF card, how to use various filters and gels to make photos with impact, and how to use your iPod to store your photographs. While there are a couple of hacks involving Photoshop, they are totally appropriate for this type of book (which include tips for resampling and sharpening) and are not simply a rehash of what you might read in other digital photography books. The hack I most enjoyed reading was #25 (Painless Infrared Photography). Having done a fair amount of traditional infrared photography (it¿s a pain), I was pleased to read just how easy it is to do with a digital camera. Some other hacks I enjoyed include #74 (Hand Color with the History Brush) and #55 (Virtual-Reality Movies from Your Digicam). This is a really fun book to read and has a lot of very useful and interesting digital photography information that I haven¿t seen in other books. This is definitely a book that digital photography enthusiasts and traditional photographers who are turning to digital will enjoy.
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Overview
Your digital camera is more than new incarnation of your old film camera. Yes, it still produces photos, but it also offers new outlets for creativity, including instant gratification of seeing your photos now, the ability to experiment without worrying about expense, the technology to fine-tune your photos with advanced professional techniques, and the means to share your work instantaneously with anyone, anyplace in the world. It's no wonder that digital cameras are outselling traditional cameras for the first ...