The Digital Photography Book, Part 4

The Digital Photography Book, Part 4

by Scott Kelby
Released February 2012
Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780132736060

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Book description

Scott Kelby, author of The Digital Photography Book (the best-selling digital photography book of all time), is back with another follow-up to his smash best-seller, with an entirely new book that picks up right where volume 3 left off. It's even more of that "Ah ha, so that' s how they do it," straight-to-the-point, skip-the-techno-jargon stuff people can really use today, and that made volume 1 the world's best-selling book on digital photography.

This book truly has a brilliant premise, and here's how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot and you asked me, 'Hey Scott, I want the light for this portrait to look really soft and flattering. How far back should I put this softbox?' I wouldn't give you a lecture about lighting ratios, or flash modifiers. In real life, I'd just turn to you and say, 'Move it in as close to your subject as you possibly can, without it actually showing up in the shot.' Well, that's what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned, just like I would with a friend--without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak."

Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you're tired of taking shots that look "okay," and if you're tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.

This isn't a book of theory, full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it. With another 200 of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade," this book gets you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos every time.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Other Books By Scott Kelby
  6. About the Author
  7. Table of Contents
  8. Chapter One. Shooting People Like a Pro: Yet Even More Tips to Make People Look Their Very Best
    1. 9 Things You’ll Wish You Had Known...
    2. ...Before Reading This Book!
    3. That Was Only 6. Here Are the Last 3
    4. Getting Shallow Depth of Field with Studio Strobes
    5. Shooting Multiple Exposures In-Camera
    6. One Person, Multiple Times, in the Same Shot
    7. How to Freeze Motion in Portraits
    8. Avoid Seeing Too Much “Whites of the Eyes”
    9. More Tips for Great Group Shots
    10. Better Than the Self Timer for Group Shots
    11. Focus on the Subject’s Eye, Then Recompose
    12. That Works Unless You’re Shooting at f/1.4
    13. Creating the Blown-Out Look
    14. A Better Way to Direct Your Subject’s Posing
    15. Only Photographers Care About the Characteristics of Catch Lights
    16. What Not to Shoot with Your 50mm Lens
    17. Getting Both What’s in Front & Back in Focus
    18. Two Quick Composition Tips
    19. How to Get Better Full-Length Photos
    20. Controlling the Size of Your Subject
  9. Chapter Two. Using Hot Shoe Flash Like a Pro, Part 3: Picking Right Up Where the Last Book Left Off
    1. Shooting Your Flash in Manual Mode
    2. The Trick to Keep from Lighting the Ground
    3. Using Studio-Quality Softboxes with Your Flash
    4. Mounting a Flash on a Monopod
    5. How to Put the Background Out of Focus Using Flash
    6. Don’t Have a Gel? Change Your White Balance
    7. Put Nikon’s Commander Mode One Click Away
    8. Making Your Flash Fire Every Time
    9. Creating a Tight Beam of Light
    10. The Advantages of Using Flash in Daylight
    11. How to Use Your Hot Shoe Flash’s Modeling Light
    12. Keep Your Flash from Powering Off
    13. How Far to Place the Flash from the Umbrella
    14. Why Would Anyone Use Studio Strobes On Location?
  10. Chapter Three. More Tips on Using Your Studio Like a Pro: In Volume 3, We Took It Up a Notch. Now, Let’s Do It Again!
    1. The Pro Trick for Creating Falloff
    2. Getting a Different Look Without Moving the Lights
    3. Using Lens Flare as an Effect in the Studio
    4. How Far Should Your Subject Be from the Background?
    5. Let Your Main Light Do Double Duty
    6. Rim-Light Profile Silhouettes Made Easy
    7. Using a Ring Flash
    8. Use Almost Any Softbox You Want with Your Brand of Strobe
    9. When It Comes to Softboxes, Bigger Really Is Better
    10. What to Do When You Can’t Turn Your Strobe Power Down Any Further
    11. How to Light a Couple or Small Group
    12. The Trick to Staying Out of Trouble
    13. Where to Put Your Softbox Demystified, Part I
    14. Where to Put Your Softbox Demystified, Part II
    15. Let Lightroom Fix Your Color as You Shoot
    16. How to Set a Custom White Balance In-Camera
    17. Taking Your Existing Strobes On Location
  11. Chapter Four. More Tips on Lenses: Going Way Beyond Which Lens to Use
    1. Why Your Background Is Still in Focus at f/2.8
    2. What You Need to Know About Lens Compression
    3. Seeing a Real Preview of Your Depth of Field
    4. Auto-Correcting the Fisheye Lens Effect in Photoshop
    5. Shoot at the F-Stop You Bought the Lens For
    6. How to Deal with Lens Fogging
    7. Avoiding Sensor Dust from Your Body & Lens Caps
    8. How to Focus Your Lens to Infinity
    9. Don’t Shoot at the “Beginner” Focal Lengths
    10. Where to Hold a Long Lens to Steady It
    11. Which Lens for Outdoor Portraits?
  12. Chapter Five. Pro Tips for Shooting in Natural Light: How to Take Advantage of the Most Beautiful Light on Earth
    1. Beautiful Backlit Shots
    2. Shooting Silhouettes
    3. Jay’s Trick for Not Missing the Shot
    4. How to Make Sure Your Sunset Looks Dark
    5. Tips for Using a Reflector Outdoors
    6. Control the “Power” of Your Reflector
    7. How to Deal with Underexposed Daytime Shots
    8. The Trick for Shooting at Night
    9. Shooting Light Trails
    10. Shooting Star Trails
    11. The Gear for Shooting Star Trails
    12. Another Reason to Avoid Shooting at High ISOs
  13. Chapter Six. Shooting Landscape Photos Like a Pro: Yet Even More Tips for Creating Stunning Scenic Images
    1. You Don’t Need Fast Lenses for Landscapes
    2. Three More Tips for Silky Waterfalls & Streams
    3. Long Exposure B&W, Part 1 (the Accessories)
    4. Long Exposure B&W, Part 2 (the Settings)
    5. Long Exposure B&W, Part 3, (the Setup)
    6. Long Exposure B&W, Part 4 (the Shot)
    7. Keeping Your Gear Dry Outdoors
    8. Use Grid Lines to Get Straight Horizon Lines
    9. Instant Duotones for Landscape Images
    10. Amplifying Size in Your Landscape Images
    11. Need a Darker Sky? Lower the Brightness
    12. Shoot Before a Storm or Right After It
    13. Doing Time-Lapse Photography
    14. Seek Out Still Water for Reflections
    15. Tip for Shooting Those Low-Angle Landscapes
    16. Make Your Cloudy White Balance Even Warmer
    17. The Landscape Image Post-Processing Secret
    18. What Helped My Landscape Photos the Most
  14. Chapter Seven. Pro Tips for Shooting Travel Photos: How to Come Back with Images You’re Really Proud Of
    1. Wait for the Actors to Walk Onto Your Stage
    2. Look for That Classic “Lone Tree” Shot
    3. Camera Bags That Won’t Attract the Wrong Kind of Attention
    4. How to Avoid Blurry Travel Shots
    5. My Favorite Travel Lenses
    6. The Trick to Capturing Real Lives
    7. Tourist Removal Shooting Techniques
    8. Learn How to Work the Scene
    9. Finding Which Travel Photos You Like Best
    10. Shooting from the Roof of Your Hotel
  15. Chapter Eight. Shooting Sports Like a Pro: How to Get Professional Results from Your Next Sports Shoot
    1. A Tip and a Secret on Panning
    2. Finding the Right Shutter Speed for Panning
    3. Freezing Motion Trick for Motorsports
    4. Your Problems Start at Night or Indoors
    5. Turn Off VR (or IS) When Shooting Sports
    6. The Advantage of Using Fast Memory Cards
    7. How the Pros Focus for Sports
    8. Why Many Pros Shoot Sports in JPEG
    9. Using a Remote Camera
    10. Adding a Teleconverter to Get Really Tight
    11. Why You Need to Shoot the Warm-Ups
    12. Shoot Little Details Surrounding the Event
    13. Getting More Football Shots In-Focus
  16. Chapter Nine. Shooting HDR Like a Pro: How to Shoot and Process HDR Images
    1. Shooting HDR: The Gear
    2. Shooting HDR: The Basic Idea
    3. Setting Up Your Camera to Shoot Bracketing
    4. A Canon Shooter’s HDR Helper
    5. What If Your Camera Doesn’t Have Bracketing?
    6. Which F-Stop to Use for HDR
    7. Don’t Shoot One Bracketed Shot at a Time
    8. Shooting Hand-Held HDR Shots
    9. Which Types of Scenes Make Good HDR Shots
    10. Shooting HDR Panos
    11. Easily Find the Images You Bracketed for HDR
    12. The Programs We Use for Creating HDR
    13. A Good Preset for Photoshop’s HDR Pro
    14. Sharpening HDR Photos
    15. The HDR Look Without Shooting HDR
    16. What They’re Not Telling You About HDR
    17. Fixing Halos & Other HDR Problems
  17. Chapter Ten. Pro Tips for Shooting DSLR Video: How to Get the Most Out of Your Built-In Video Capabilities
    1. You’re Gonna Want an Eyepiece
    2. Learn the Popular “Rack Focus” Technique
    3. Adding Effects to Your Video in Your Camera
    4. Why You Want an External Mic
    5. Bad Audio = Bad Video
    6. Making Certain You’re In Focus
    7. Don’t Shoot Video Vertical
    8. Why You Need to Lock Your Exposure
    9. F-Stops Matter Here, Too, But...
    10. How to Avoid “Flicker” While You’re Shooting
    11. Want More of a “Film” Look?
    12. Don’t Touch That Aperture
    13. Why Zooming on Your DSLR Is Different
    14. How to Use Autofocus for Shooting Video
  18. Chapter Eleven. Pro Tips for Getting Better Photos: More Tricks of the Trade for Making Your Shots Look Better
    1. Fit a Lot More Shots on Your Memory Card
    2. Sneaky Trick When You Can’t Use Your Tripod
    3. When Exposure Compensation Doesn’t Work
    4. Avoid Signs Because They Draw the Eye
    5. The “Gotcha” of Using Picture Styles
    6. Rotate Tall or Rotate Image or Both?
    7. Reducing Noise in Low-Light Shots
    8. What People Looking at Your Photos See First
    9. Keeping Your Camera Info from Prying Eyes
    10. Why JPEGs Look Better Than RAW Images
    11. When You Don’t Need to Shoot on a Tripod
    12. What to Do If Your Image Isn’t Quite Good Enough to Print
    13. When to Switch to Spot Metering
    14. Try Cinematic Cropping for a Wide-Screen Look
    15. Sharpening Your Images for Print
    16. How to Rescue a Damaged Memory Card
  19. Chapter Twelve. Yet Even More Photo Recipes to Help You “Get the Shot”: The Simple Ingredients to Make It All Come Together
    1. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    2. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    3. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    4. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    5. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    6. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    7. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    8. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    9. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    10. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    11. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    12. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    13. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    14. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    15. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    16. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    17. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
    18. The Recipe for Getting This Type of Shot
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Digital Photography Book, Part 4
  • Author(s): Scott Kelby
  • Release date: February 2012
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780132736060