Introduction

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Introduction

Although compact digital cameras have improved over the years, they still suffer from relatively slow shot-to-shot speeds and small imaging sensors (which often can’t produce the quality of a photo shot with a DSLR). Those limitations have frustrated people who want to go the extra steps necessary to get great shots, but who don’t want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on professional cameras. The Canon PowerShot G12 jumps into that middle area between compacts and DSLRs. Shoot everything in fully automatic mode if you want, and when you’re ready to move up to more complexity, advanced features are all there. I’ve put together a short Q&A to help you get a better understanding of just what you can expect from this book.

Q: IS EVERY CAMERA FEATURE GOING TO BE COVERED?

A: Nope, just the ones I felt you need to know about in order to start taking great photos. The owner’s manual is a great resource that covers every feature of your camera. Writing a book that just repeats this information would have been a waste of my time and your money. What I did want to write about was how to harness certain camera features to the benefit of your photography.

Q: SO IF I ALREADY OWN THE MANUAL, WHY DO I NEED THIS BOOK?

A: The manual does a pretty good job of telling you how to use a feature or turn it on in the menus, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you why and when you should use it. If you really want to improve your photography, you need to know the whys and whens to put all those great camera features to use at the right time. The manual is a great resource on the camera’s features, so I treat it like a companion to this book.

Q: WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO LEARN FROM THIS BOOK?

A: Hopefully, you will learn how to take great photographs. My goal, and the reason the book is laid out the way it is, is to guide you through the basics of photography as they relate to different situations and scenarios. By using the features of your camera and this book, you will learn about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, and many other photographic concepts. You will also find plenty of large full-page photos that include captions, shooting data, and callouts so you can see how all of the photography fundamentals come together to make great images. All the while, you will be learning how your camera works and how to apply its functions and features to your photography.

Q: WHAT ARE THE ASSIGNMENTS ALL ABOUT?

A: At the end of most of the chapters, you will find shooting assignments, where I give you some suggestions as to how you can apply the lessons of the chapter to help reinforce everything you just learned.

Q: SHOULD I READ THE BOOK STRAIGHT THROUGH OR CAN I SKIP AROUND FROM CHAPTER TO CHAPTER?

A: I recommend reading the first four chapters to get the building blocks you need to know about your camera. After that, move around the book as you see fit because those chapters are written to stand on their own as guides to specific types of photography or shooting situations. Or, you can read it straight through. The choice is up to you.

Q: IS THAT IT?

A: One last thought before you dive into the first chapter. Take some time to learn the basics and then put them to use. Photography, like most things, takes time to master and requires practice. It’s not the camera but the person using it who makes beautiful photographs. Have fun, make mistakes, and then learn from them. In no time, I’m sure you will transition from a person who takes snapshots to a photographer who makes great shots.

The G12 Great Shots Community

When I wrote the original edition of this book, which covered the G10 and G11, it was clear that I couldn’t possibly populate the book entirely with my own images and still hit a tight deadline (and I couldn’t convince Peachpit to fly me in luxury around the world to shoot photos). So we embarked on an experiment. We set up a group on the photo sharing site Flickr (www.flickr.com) where owners of the cameras could add their images to the pool as submissions for possible inclusion in the book. For the G12 we did the same, and solicited images from both groups. We’ve since changed the focus of the groups from searching for publishable candidates to anyone who has purchased, or is interested in, this book.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/canon_g10g11_from_snapshots_to_greatshots/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/canon_g12_from_snapshots_to_greatshots/

I’m humbled by the interest and awed by the quality of the photos. All the images that appear in these pages were shot either by me or by the Flickr group members listed here. When you find a picture you like, I encourage you to note the photo credit at the end of each figure caption and return to these pages for the Flickr Web address where you can see more of the photographer’s work.

You can view a Flickr Gallery that contains all of the book’s photos at the following URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/g12greatshots/galleries/72157625507585789/

I also want to point out that although we required each photographer to grant us permission to use the work, the copyright remains with the original owner. We’re thrilled that so many people contributed a large amount of quality work.

Thomas Baake
www.flickr.com/photos/poyas52/

Jeff Carlson
www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/

Charlwood Photography
www.flickr.com/photos/charliecharlwood/

Lynette Coates
www.flickr.com/photos/42959385@N08/

Crystal Photo Memories (Robert Keiser)
www.flickr.com/photos/bobusn/

Nick Damiano
www.flickr.com/photos/nickdamiano/

Bob Eddings
www.flickr.com/photos/associatedpixels/

Dean Ducas
www.flickr.com/photos/deanspic/

Scott Edwards
www.flickr.com/photos/smeracing/

Michael Gerpe
www.flickr.com/photos/mgerpe/

Patrick Gervais
www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgervais/

Anthony Goto
www.flickr.com/photos/anthony_goto/