Lots of photography books include beautiful photos of exotic locations and scenery. Not this one. I hope you’ll enjoy the photos, of course, but I also hope you’ll see that the photos included in this book are similar to the ones you’ve been taking—or would like to take. Graduations, babies, weddings, vacations...the list of photography possibilities goes on—and so do the frustrations.
If you have a digital camera and you’re frustrated with your photos, you’ve opened the right book—I wrote it just for you. Whether you have a modest digital point-and-shoot camera or have laid out the big bucks for a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses (DSLR), you’ve been taking photos of the most important events in your life—and you’ve probably been disappointed by the results.
Believe me, I understand. This book was conceived as a result of conversations I had with friends and family who’d gotten new cameras, taken them to special events, and been frustrated by the poor-quality photos they’d taken. I want to help you stop being frustrated with your camera and start enjoying it.
This book is the end result of more than 35 years as a photographer and more than 6 years as a digital camera user. During that time, I’ve developed a series of recipes I use in different situations to help ensure better photos. And while I prefer to do most of my “serious” shooting with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi DSLR camera, the majority of the photos in this book were shot with various point-and-shoot cameras made by Canon, Nikon, and Kodak; the same types of cameras you use for family, everyday, and vacation photos. In most cases, I provide methods that can be used either with scene-driven cameras or cameras with traditional aperture, shutter, and manual exposure control.
To get the most out of this book, I suggest the following:
Read your camera’s manual—. This book will tell you how and why to use particular features, but your camera manual provides the nitty-gritty details. I recommend carrying both this book and your camera manual with you.
Shoot, look, evaluate, and change settings—. Digital cameras make seeing your work easy: Photos show up on the LCD display as soon as you take a picture, and you can play back your photos anytime you want. If you’ve been accustomed to taking a bunch of photos and then reviewing them, it’s time for a change. Take a photo or two, look over the pictures, and if you’re not satisfied, use the appropriate parts of the book for suggestions. Make those changes and reshoot. I think you’ll see a big difference.