Introduction 5

About This Book  6

Whom This Book Is For  6

How This Book Is Organized  6

Icons Used in This Book  7

Part I: Choosing Your Camera                      5

Picking a Camera Type  6

Point & Shoot (P&S)  8

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)  12

Considering Camera Features  15

Exposure Settings or Modes  19

Examining Image Size and Storage  21

Image resolution  22

File formats  25

Removable memory cards  26

Accessorizing Your Camera  29

Part II: Fast and Easy Picture Taking               33

Setting Up Your New Camera  34

Setting Image Quality  37

Relying on Automatic Mode  40

Using Preset Scene Modes  42

Shedding Some Light on Your Subject  43

Finding the light  44

Using contrast  46

Taking Some Fun Shots  47

Shooting close-ups in Macro mode  48

Shooting from unexpected angles  50

Zooming in on your subject  51

Reviewing Photos and Videos on Your Camera  55

Part III: Composing Better Shots                   59

Seeing through the Lens  60

Nailing your focus  60

Working with depth of field  65

Composing the Photograph  69

Choosing your orientation  69

Finding a focal point  72

Reducing background clutter 74

Following the Rule of Thirds  75

Avoiding mergers 77

Looking for balance  78

Finding leading lines  81

Keeping the horizon straight  82

Framing the subject  84

Creating a mood with distance  85

Using texture and shape  87

Part IV: Transferring Photos from Camera to Computer                                  89

Deleting Photos from Your Camera Manually  90

Planning Before You Copy Photos  92

Naming files  93

Using folders  94

Getting Pictures Out of Your Camera  96

Copying photos from your camera automatically  98

Copying photos from your camera manually  101

Viewing Photos on Your Computer  104

Renaming Photos  105

Backing Up Your Photos  106

Deleting Photos from Your Computer  108

Part V: Getting the Right Exposure                111

Understanding Exposure  112

Setting the shutter speed  116

Changing the aperture  120

Compensating with Exposure Value  125

Setting ISO  126

Part VI: Ten Tips for Better Photos and Videos     131

Know Your Camera  131

Become One with Your Camera  132

Use a Tripod  132

Change Your Perspective  133

Take Lots of Pictures  134

Be Quiet  134

Keep It Short  135

Back Up Your Files  135

Learn to Edit  135

Share and Participate  136