Digital Photography

Curtin D.P.

Photography has become pervasive in our society. Each of us sees hundreds, if not thousands, of images every day. The vast majority of images are those taken for personal enjoyment. These images either capture the moment or provide a form of self-expression. Many other images are used to lubricate the wheels of commerce. They appear in ads and on magazine covers and packages. Other images in magazines and newspapers are used to convey news or to make an editorial point. No matter what purpose images are put to, it is the images themselves that are transcendent. The way they have been captured is secondary. However, changes in technology can open new opportunities and approaches that change the way images look. For example, the introduction of the 35mm Leica back in the 1930s made it easier to capture fast moving action and images became more spontaneous and fluid, a far cry from the more formally posed images required by much larger and more ackward cameras.

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Table of contents :
PREFACE……Page 2
INTRODUCTION……Page 4
0.1 WHY GO DIGITAL?……Page 5
Free Photography, Photographic Freedom……Page 6
Step 1. Inputting Photographs……Page 8
Step 2. Processing Photographs……Page 9
Step 3. Outputting Photographs……Page 10
Perhaps Not the Best Place to Start……Page 11
Nature……Page 12
Multimedia……Page 13
Insurance……Page 14
Catalog Photography……Page 15
Print Publishing……Page 16
Newsletters……Page 17
Space Exploration……Page 18
Fine Art……Page 19
Toys……Page 20
Introduction……Page 22
Image Size and Number of Pixels……Page 23
Describing Image Sizes……Page 24
1.2 DIGITAL FILM—THE IMAGE SENSOR……Page 26
From Light to Images……Page 27
Aspect Ratios……Page 28
Sensitivity……Page 29
Image Quality……Page 30
Image Sensors and Colors……Page 31
From Black and White to Color……Page 33
Color Channels……Page 34
CCD Image Sensors……Page 35
Passive- and Active-pixel sensors (may drop)……Page 36
CMOS image sensor facts (may drop)……Page 37
Linear Sensors……Page 39
1.6 IMAGE SIZES……Page 41
Pixel Count—Optical and Interpolated……Page 42
Pixels on the Screen……Page 43
Pixels on the Page……Page 44
The Arithmatic of Bits and Colors……Page 45
Lossy Compression……Page 47
Image Sizes……Page 48
Converting dimensions in Pixels to Inches……Page 49
Converting Dimensions in Pixels to Pixels per Inch……Page 50
Resolution and Image Size……Page 51
Introduction……Page 53
Types of Digital Cameras……Page 54
Consumer Cameras……Page 55
Professional Cameras……Page 56
Flash Memory……Page 58
CompactFlash™ Cards……Page 60
PC Cards……Page 61
Floppy Disks……Page 62
PC Cards……Page 63
Clik! disk drive……Page 64
Hard Disks……Page 65
SCSI Ports……Page 66
FireWire……Page 67
Card Slots……Page 68
Floppy Disk Adapter……Page 69
Cellular……Page 70
Types of Rechargeable Batteries……Page 71
Battery Packs……Page 72
Prolonging your Charge……Page 73
Batteries Die Too……Page 74
Recycling……Page 75
2.5 OTHER CAMERA FEATURES……Page 76
Introduction……Page 80
Image size……Page 81
The Shutter and Motion……Page 82
Understanding Shutter Speed Settings……Page 83
Aperture and Depth-of-field……Page 84
Understanding Aperture Settings……Page 85
3.4 USING SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE TOGETHER……Page 86
 3.5 CHOOSING EXPOSURE MODES……Page 87
Introduction……Page 89
Supporting a Camera……Page 90
Increasing Sensitivity……Page 91
4.2 SHARPNESS ISN’T EVERYTHING……Page 92
Direction of Movement……Page 93
Distance to Subject and Focal Length of Lens……Page 94
Depth of Field……Page 95
Using focus lock……Page 96
4.5 CONTROLLING DEPTH OF FIELD……Page 98
4.6 CAPTURING MAXIMUM DEPTH OF fIELD……Page 99
4.7 USING SELECTIVE FOCUS……Page 101
4.8 CONVEYING THE FEELING OF MOTION……Page 102
Introduction……Page 103
Meter Averaging and Middle Gray……Page 105
Types of Metering……Page 107
5.2 HOW EXPOSURE AFFECTS YOUR IMAGES……Page 108
5.3 WHEN AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE WORKS WELL……Page 109
Scenes Darker than Middle Gray……Page 110
Subject Against Very Dark Background……Page 111
Scenes with High Contrast……Page 112
Hard to Meter Scenes……Page 113
Exposure Compensation……Page 115
Exposure Lock……Page 116
Contrast……Page 117
Introduction……Page 118
6.1 WHERE DOES COLOR COME FROM?……Page 120
6.2 COLOR BALANCE……Page 121
6.3 COLOR BALANCE AND TIME OF DAY……Page 123
Sunsets and Sunrises……Page 124
The Moon……Page 128
6.4 COLOR BALANCE AND WEATHER……Page 130
6.5 PHOTOGRAPHING AT NIGHT……Page 135
6.6 LIGHT: ITS DIRECTION……Page 139
6.7 LIGHT: FROM DIRECT TO DIFFUSE……Page 142
Introduction……Page 144
7.1 HOW A LENS WORKS……Page 146
7.2 ZOOM LENSES AND FOCAL LENGTH……Page 148
7.3 NORMAL LENSES……Page 150
7.4 WIDE-ANGLE LENSES……Page 152
7.5 LONG LENSES……Page 154
Digital Zoom……Page 156
7.6 PORTRAITS WITH A LENS……Page 157
7.7 CONTROLLING PERSPECTIVE……Page 158
Introduction……Page 160
8.1 TYPES OF FLASH……Page 162
8.2 HOW FLASH WORKS……Page 164
Positioning the Flash and Subjects……Page 165
Red-eye……Page 166
8.4 USING FILL FLASH……Page 167
8.5 USING SLOW SYNC……Page 168
8.6 USING AVAILABLE LIGHT……Page 169
Introduction……Page 170
Notebook Computers……Page 171
Storage Devices……Page 172
Organizing Images……Page 173
Scanners……Page 174
Odds and Ends……Page 175
Resolution……Page 176
White Point……Page 177
Gamma Correction……Page 178
9.3 IMAGE MANAGEMENT……Page 180
9.4 PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE……Page 182
Vector graphics……Page 183
Transfer Formats……Page 184
BMP (.BMP)……Page 185
JPEG (.JPG)……Page 186
GIFs (.GIF)……Page 187
Photo CD (.PCD)……Page 188
9.6 SHARPENING IMAGES……Page 191
9.7 RESIZING IMAGES……Page 194
9.8 CROPPING IMAGES……Page 195
9.9 ROTATING IMAGES……Page 197
9.10 CHANGING BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST……Page 198
9.11 ADJUSTING COLOR BALANCE……Page 199
9.12 SATURATION……Page 200
9.13 USING FILTERS……Page 201
9.14 COMPOSITE IMAGING……Page 202
Introduction……Page 203
CMYK Colors……Page 204
Color Gamut……Page 205
Materials……Page 207
Transfer Process……Page 208
Transfer Process……Page 209
Solid Ink-jet Printers……Page 210
Transfer Process……Page 211
Color Laser Printers……Page 212
Other Printers……Page 213
Printing Services……Page 214
Iris Prints……Page 215
Fiery……Page 216
Film Recorders……Page 217
Fine Art Media vs. Conventional Media……Page 218
Unique Properties……Page 219
Inks and Longevity……Page 220
What’s a Color Management System?……Page 222
What is a Color Profile?……Page 223
Using Computers……Page 224
Capturing Images……Page 226
The Digital Darkroom……Page 227
Reaching an Audience……Page 228
Introduction……Page 229
11.1 E-MAILING IMAGES……Page 230
11.2 POSTING IMAGES ON THE WEB……Page 231
11.3 ADOBE PDF FILES……Page 232
11.4 MOUNTING AND FRAMING PRINTS……Page 233
What are copyrights?……Page 235
What is fair use?……Page 236
What is public domain?……Page 237
Visible Watermarks……Page 238
Artistscope……Page 239
CHAPTER 12, SPECIAL PURPOSE PHOTOGRAPHY……Page 240
12.1 MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY……Page 241
Macro Lenses……Page 242
Focusing and Depth of Field……Page 244
Exposures and Backgrounds……Page 245
Arranging Lighting……Page 246
Using a Light Tent……Page 247
Ring Flash……Page 248
Animated GIFs……Page 250
Lenticular Prints……Page 251
Software and Supplies……Page 253
Printers……Page 254
Early Panoramic Photographs……Page 255
Panoramas with Digital Cameras……Page 256
Capturing the Images……Page 257
Leveling the Camera……Page 258
Incrementing the Images……Page 259
Exposure……Page 260
Panoramic Stitching Software……Page 261
12.4 OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY……Page 263
QuickTime VR……Page 265
Experiencing the IPIX Image……Page 267
IPIX Applications……Page 268
Shooting the Scene……Page 269
Types of IPIX Images……Page 270
Student Activities……Page 271
The First Stereo Photographs……Page 272
Taking Stereo Images……Page 273
Viewing Stereo Images……Page 275
Stereo Pairs……Page 276
Shutter Glasses……Page 277
Autostereo Images……Page 278
DepthCharge……Page 279
Photoshop……Page 280
Stereo Panoramas……Page 281
1.0 PHOTOJOURNALISM……Page 283
BUYING A DIGITAL CAMERA……Page 284
The Curse Of Moore’s Law……Page 285
Check Price Comparison Sites……Page 286
Check Postage and Handling Rates……Page 287
Camera Selection Checklist……Page 288
Downloading Images……Page 289
Preview Screens & Viewfinders……Page 290
Creative Controls……Page 291
Other Features……Page 292