Digital photography has changed the way people record, store, print, and share pictures. The basic rules of photography have not changed. Matters such as making the best exposure to express the subject, using different lenses for a unique point of view and working with various shutter speeds to express motion are all a part of the digital photography experience, as they are for film photography. It’s still about “writing with light,” but it’s more like working with a word processing program than a typewriter.

The essential digital difference is that pictures are now composed of large amounts of information: codes that represent color, brightness, and edge contrast. Digital pictures can be made up of millions of these codes, which require computation to integrate them into what we see as a photograph. But it is within these codes that the real excitement and creative opportunity in digital photography resides, as they can be easily changed to correct things like poor exposure and color, or radically changed to create fantasies and dream pictures that could only exist in a digital world, and in your own imagination. Luckily, none of us need know the intricacies of computers or code writing to accomplish these tasks. Both camera and image processing software allow us to make changes that affect both how the original image is recorded and how we can enhance that image later.

We see those changes happen in real time, the instant after the shutter release is pressed on the camera liquid crystal display (LCD) and on the computer monitor after an effect is applied in image processing software.

Digital photography is both art and craft. The art is what makes photography a very powerful form of self-expression, one that allows us to record both precious memories and our own unique view of the world. The craft is in understanding the potential: what you can do with a digital photograph, and how to do it. It is an amazing combination of science and poetry, a powerful medium that allows for a great deal of creativity and play. And, with today’s camera and software technology, there is greater access to this visual experience than ever before. While being visually aware and open to creative possibilities is as important now as it was with film photography, your ability to realize your personal vision, and to make consistently good pictures whether they be family portraits, vacation pictures or even fine art, is made so much easier via the digital route.

You might not agree that digital is easy if you are just starting out. By easy I mean that digital gives you the ability to be more experimental, more productive, and more creative with less toil. Image effects that could take a day in the old darkroom environment are now available with one click of the mouse. Having the ability to set the image characteristics of every frame you shoot is surely easier than having to change film mid-roll. And being able to share your pictures with one click e-mailing beats making prints, putting them in an envelope to mail them off, and hoping they get to family across the country in one piece.

I can think of no better guide on your digital photography journey than Joe Farace. Joe has been working with and reporting on digital photography since its inception. As the Editor of Shutterbug magazine, to which he contributes articles and regular columns, and in various workshops in which we taught together, I have had the good luck to be able to work with him and appreciate his knowledge, his photographic skill, and his ability to communicate both. He has always displayed the unique ability to make great pictures and explain how he made them, as well as to communicate the skills required in a way that makes it accessible and fun for his readers.

If you’re new to digital photography Joe will open the creative door for you. If you’ve delved into the craft and want to learn more, his writing and photography will bring a deeper understanding of what might at first seem complex and difficult tasks.

I trust that you will find this book invaluable in enhancing your digital photography experience.

George Schaub

Editorial Director, Shutterbug magazine