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Digital Photography: A Basic Manual

by Henry Horenstein, Allison Carroll (With)

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 23 ratings · 13 reviews

This thorough, concise, and easy-to-use guide to capturing digital photographs provides an entire step-by-step course for budding digital photographers. All concepts are fully illustrated with sample work by internationally renowned professionals, representing editorial work, photojournalism, and everything in between. Topics covered include essential information for bot

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Paperback, 240 pages

Published November 2nd 2011 by Little, Brown and Company

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Jan 15, 2012 Digna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Equally engaging and informative, whether for the beginner, or more seasoned digital photographer looking to improve technique.

Digital Photography: A Basic Manual I feel teaches more than the basics when it comes to the DSLR, DSLRs, or the hybrid cameras on the market. There were a few times I found myself having to go over chapters again to clarify things, not because the book is not well written, but because there are some aspects of digital photography that can be quite confusing. For example...more Equally engaging and informative, whether for the beginner, or more seasoned digital photographer looking to improve technique.

Digital Photography: A Basic Manual I feel teaches more than the basics when it comes to the DSLR, DSLRs, or the hybrid cameras on the market. There were a few times I found myself having to go over chapters again to clarify things, not because the book is not well written, but because there are some aspects of digital photography that can be quite confusing. For example, when it comes to lenses and their focal, length, and angle of view of different lenses it can be quite time consuming if you would like to learn more than the basics. For me, these were some pages in the book I just could not quickly skim through without some confusion.

The introduction of this book has a Quick Start Guide which is helpful for those who have never used a digital camera before. From there you move on to Chapter 1: Digital Capture, which lists the different types of cameras available on the market. This part of the chapter then goes into more details on different types of cameras while covering some specifics of each type of camera. Then the main focus turns to the digital camera itself. Specifics then covered on the digital camera are the image sensor, pixels and image processor. You are also given basic information on setting up a digital camera and you are taught about file formats, image sizes, white balance and miscellaneous camera settings your camera may or may not have. It continues into memory cards, types and speed, and transfer rates. This section on memory cards I found interesting and helpful, especially the information about how memory cards come in different classes and how they are rated according to their speed, also called data transfer rate. All of which affects how fast a memory card can capture a picture or how fast the card can transfer photos to a computer. This chapter ends with miscellaneous camera capture equipment and trouble shooting.

Chapter 2: Camera Lenses, begins with information on the camera lens itself and its focus and auto-focus capabilities, including its reaction to low-light, reflective surfaces, snow, sand and sky, close-ups and the also the manual focus mode. This was another chapter that helped me by teaching me why my camera behaves the way it does when in auto-focus mode during certain times. This instilled in me more confidence now to switch to manual focus and use it more often when my needs are not met with auto-focus. In the next topic, Exposure, I learned about aperture, exposure, and f-stop. Here I learned the most commonly available f-stops which include whole f-stops, and full f-stops. It also goes into more complicated lens aperture changes, partial f-stop, half f-stop and third f-stop. One important aspect I learned here was that a lens is described (mm on a lens) according to its widest f-stop. This is the widest it can open, which explains why fast lenses are the most expensive lenses on the market due to their large aperture. Another thing to keep in mind is also the higher the number of your lens the smaller the lens opens. The chapter continues with disadvantages and advantages of different size lenses and with minimal instructions on setting f-stops due to the wide variations in cameras. The information after this point gets a little more complicated with the focal lengths and millimeter sizes of zoom lenses and prime lenses describing normal, wide angle and telephoto lenses and how an optical measurement of a focal length is determined.

These were only the first couple of chapters in this book, which should give you an idea that this book has a lot of information in it. The title can be misleading to one who thinks they know everything there is to know about photography, may have missed learning some basics along the way, or might need a refresher in some aspects of digital photography. Because of this I would recommend Digital Photography: A Basic Manual to anyone, whether you just received your first digital camera or you have had one for years and would like to improve your digital photo taking abilities. Overall, I enjoyed reviewing Digital Photography and learned many important aspects of that I benefited from and will help me be a better photographer. (less)

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Dec 31, 2011 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Once upon a time, you had a choice. You could buy a simple Instamatic camera where everything was pre-determined and locked in place, or you could buy a fancy SLR camera for a lot of money, and you got to (or had) to set everything. Then came digital photography when suddenly not only did we not have to worry about the cost of film (though batteries can eat you alive) but we could decide, even with the simplest cameras whether we wanted to play with the settings or have the camera decide what th...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Allizabeth Collins rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Digital Photography: A Basic Manual is the camera enthusiast's best friend. It is a full-color guide with textbook quality pages and images that teaches camera usage basics- no matter the type of digital camera owned. There are chapters about each basic camera function including: Digital Capture, Camera Lens, The Shutter, Camera Exposure, Subject Lighting, Scanning, Image Editing, Printing and Other Outputs, which show the reader how to get the most out of their digital camera exper...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Mary (BookHounds) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, from-publisher-author

Digital Photography is a wonderful way to get acquainted with your digital camera or if you plan on buying a new one, it will help you decide which is best for you. I plan on buying something more than the point and shoot that I currently own, so this book is very timely. It explains exactly what all those numbers mean and how to get the most of your camera even if it is a point and shoot, something a lot of photography books don't mention. It not only goes into detail about what settings to use...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Cheryl "Mash" rated it 4 of 5 stars

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY by Henry Horenstein
Published by Little Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-316-02074-9
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a TPB was sent at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: This thorough, concise, and easy-to-use guide to capturing digital photographs provides an entire step-by-step course for budding digital photographers. All concepts are fully illustrated with sample work by internationally renowned professionals, representing editorial wo...more DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY by Henry Horenstein
Published by Little Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-316-02074-9
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a TPB was sent at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: This thorough, concise, and easy-to-use guide to capturing digital photographs provides an entire step-by-step course for budding digital photographers. All concepts are fully illustrated with sample work by internationally renowned professionals, representing editorial work, photojournalism, and everything in between. Topics covered include essential information for both film and digital photography, such as exposure controls and shutter speed, as well as digital-specific information on image editing, printing methods, and even file storage. The first digital textbook by legendary photography teacher Henry Horenstein, Digital Photography is the best guide yet for aspiring digital photographers, essential both for photographers transitioning from film to digital and those learning the art of photography for the first time.

My Thoughts and Opinion: I feel that this review needs to start with a few caveats. I know very little about cameras. I sometimes even forget to take it with us to special events, and then even if I do take it, we hardly use it. Why? The pictures do not turn out that great. They are out of focus, off center, fuzzy, etc etc. That's why I so enjoyed this book. It was a how to for those, like me, that know very little and also for those who are more experienced using different lenses and lighting. How to deal with the dreaded red eye to back lighting. How to copy your pictures to your computer to light meters and shutter speed.

In my opinion, the best way I can describe this book is to compare it to a cook book. There are many "recipes" or in this book, "instructional guides". You can read it either at the stage of a photographer you are at, a how to, a trouble shooting issue, or like me, who knows very little, where to start. The photographs in the book are beautiful. Now with this manual, I plan on taking my camera wherever I go, and practice taking pictures and hopefully share some with you.

My Rating: 4 (less)

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Dec 10, 2011 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, photography

In the not too distant past, high quality camera equipment was expensive to buy and complex to operate. Today, digital cameras make it easy and affordable for everyone to take great pictures. With a little knowledge even the beginner can make shots that look like those of the pros.

This book is a beginning guide to learning and understanding the basics of digital photography. It is not an instruction manual for any one brand or type of camera. It is a guide which takes you through the process of...more In the not too distant past, high quality camera equipment was expensive to buy and complex to operate. Today, digital cameras make it easy and affordable for everyone to take great pictures. With a little knowledge even the beginner can make shots that look like those of the pros.

This book is a beginning guide to learning and understanding the basics of digital photography. It is not an instruction manual for any one brand or type of camera. It is a guide which takes you through the process of taking the photo, editing the image, printing the picture and storing the digital copy. It is geared more toward a DSLR (Digital single-lens reflex) camera, but the author also includes point and shoot cameras in his discussion. Some of the point and shoot cameras are limited in the features they offer but many of the new ones are very sophisticated and techniques discussed in the book can be applied to them too.

There is a lot to learn but this book makes it easy with a multitude of examples and detailed explanations. There are many sidebars with helpful tips, definitions of terms and illustrations. Example photos are included to demonstrate many of the techniques being described. The book covers the same topics and points that would be taught in an introductory photography class. Chapters cover types of lenses, shutter speed, exposure, lighting, editing and printing.

This manual is very comprehensive; learn as much as you need to get started, play around with the camera, and then come back and learn something more complex. I have been taking digital photos since 2003 and have had my DSLR for a few years now but even I learned something new from this book. My Canon will shoot in RAW format but I always shoot in JPG, for convenience. Shooting in RAW will give me much more control in editing so I’m going to be working on those techniques.

Whether you are new to digital photography or just want to increase your skills with the camera, this is the book for you. One of the best things you can learn is how to change your camera settings and not rely on “auto”. The difference will be amazing.(less)

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Nov 10, 2011 Patricia D. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Won this as a Goodreads giveaway!
Digital Photography: A Basic Manual does an excellent job of breaking each aspect of photography and the camera down in a manner that is easy to understand. The images chosen as examples are extremely helpful an clearly demonstrate the technique being explained.

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Jun 30, 2012 Jennise Conley rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent and very informative book. It is great for both beginner and veteran photographers.

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Nov 08, 2011 Jaclyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Explains topics really well and clearly....very informative. easy to read and understand.

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Nov 30, 2011 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I won this in a goodreads giveaway, and was impressed. I plan to buy copies for my daughters. The "suggested workflow" sections are an excellent way to learn (or practice) your photo skills. Horenstein's selected images, diagrams and drawings were excellent and made this book easy to use. I highly recommend it.

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Oct 25, 2011 Samuel Binns rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own

I read a lot of it and really liked how the book was organized and detailed. I'm getting a camera soon and this helped me understand a lot of features and gave good tips.

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Oct 28, 2011 Allison Fisher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, photography, books-i-own

I won this book in the Goodreads giveaway. Great manual, very informative.

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Apr 05, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, goodreads

A great digital photography guide to beginner's like me. Easy to follow.

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About Henry Horenstein

Henry Horenstein (b. 1947, Boston) is an American artist photographer. Henry Horenstein has worked as a photographer, teacher and author since the early 1970s. He is the author of over 30 books, including a series of photographic textbooks that have been used by hundreds of thousands of students over the past 30 years. In 2003, Chronicle Books published Honky Tonk, Horenstein's documentary survey...more

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