David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

By David Pogue
January 2009
Pages: 304
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-15403-8 | ISBN 13: 9780596154035
Press Release
(5) (Average of 1 Customer Reviews)

Description

Ready to jump into digital photography? Bestselling author David Pogue provides a no-nonsense guide to the entire process. With David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual, you'll learn how to: buy and use a digital camera; get the same photographic effects as the pros; manage the results on your Mac or PC; edit photos; and, finally, share the results with your adoring fans.
Full Description

If you're ready to jump into digital photography or would like to increase the skills you already have, David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual is just what you need. Bestselling author David Pogue provides a no-nonsense guide to the entire process, including how to: buy and use a digital camera; get the same photographic effects as the pros; manage the results on your Mac or PC; edit photos; and, finally, share the results with your adoring fans -- on paper, online, or on mugs, jigsaw puzzles, and blankets.

After reviewing hundreds of digital cameras and photo services in his weekly New York Times column, David Pogue knows digital photography. With this new Missing Manual you will:

Get expert advice on how to choose a digital camera, including information on the only specs that matter. (Hint: it's not about megapixels).
Learn the basics of lighting, composition, and shooting lots of photos
Understand how to choose the best camera settings for 20 different scenarios
Unravel the problems of correcting images and storing them
Learn David's tips and tricks for sharing and printing images
Get a special troubleshooting section you can turn to when things go wrong

David Pogue's witty, authoritative voice has demystified the Mac, Windows, iPods and iPhones for millions of readers. Now, he offers step-by-step instructions and plenty of friendly advice to help you join in the fun and get real satisfaction from digital photography.

Featured customer reviews

Wonderful, June 04 2009

Rating:

Submitted by Jaxupra [Respond | View]

I started in serious digital photography in December, and have read many of the available books - most dealing with software, but several with photography itself. This is my favorite, not only because David gives a great deal of info in an easy manner, but also because he makes it fun!

For great reading and more pride in your photographs, March 12 2009
Submitted by Hartley Jackson [Respond | View]

The first half of David Pogue’s Digital Photography The Missing Manual is about getting the picture right. It covers digital cameras, and the features to look for that are important to photographers with enough information so that you can decide what camera is best for you. Then it goes on to describe the shoot, how to take different kinds of pictures you can be proud of under different conditions.

David Pogue briefly and clearly gives you the essential information you need with his famous sense of humor. As an example in describing how to take a self portrait he writes, “...to help frame the shot while you’re not actually on the stool, use a table lamp as a stand in.” And, a little later, “Check your hair and clothes, press the shutter button to trigger the self timer countdown and then sit on the stool (preferably after removing the table lamp).”

A few errors that are rather obvious somehow remain after the editing, but I considered them more humorous than harmful. For example, in describing shooting with sweat light he writes, “The hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset are known as the magic hours or the golden hours.” He follows this with “The 20 minutes before the sunrise and after the sunset can be pretty amazing to.”

The second half of the book starts with cataloging and saving you pictures and processing to improve them in iPhoto or in Picasa, a comparable free Google application. These applications are similar so that most of the time he is able to describe how to do an edit in both together. The information is excellent and the instructions are clear.

This is followed by how to print and other ways of using your results to please you audiences. I knew about the standard picture sizes, but I did not know that the 4 by 3 digital size is also the book and TV size. This part even covers using your pictures with Snapfish, Shutterfly, and legitimate US postage stamps.

Additional chapters on using your photos are available for downloading from the Missing CD-ROM.

The Appendix contains sources for more information in Where to Go From Here, and The Top Ten Tips of All Time

I believe that you will enjoy David Pogue’s Digital Photography The Missing Manual and that it will help you create pictures that you will show with pride.

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Media reviews
"Will I use Pogue's book to bring back the dead? Well, the corpse is stirring, but whether or not it will emerge from its tomb, only time will tell. I'm supposed to take a four day trip to Oceanside after my daughter-in-law has her first baby (my first grandchild), so who knows? I haven't seen a the Pacific ocean in a long time."
-- James Pyles, Million Chimpanzees

"David does an excellent job of breaking down technical jargon and allowing his readers to grasp the various functions and menu items that come with today's digital cameras. I do enjoy books that are easy to consume and this photography book is easy to read. It's filled with great cross reference points and little tips along the way. There are some really great explanations into some of the more technical aspects of capturing better photos. This book was actually pretty entertaining to read. I did actually chuckle a couple of times because of David Pogue's writing style. It's good."
-- Damien Franco, Your Photo Tips

"Pogue does a great job of explaining, in easy to understand language, what can sometimes be a complicated topic. It's nonintimidating, easy to read, and provides a good introduction to the breadth of digital photography topics from choosing a camera to keeping digital backups."
-- John Watson, PhotoDoto

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