Digital Photography Just the Steps For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)) - 2nd Edition

Love taking pictures with your digital camera? Want to improve your skills, but don’t have a lot of time to spend? How about some straight-to-the-point tips that cut to the chase and show you step by step how to accomplish a task? If that sounds like just what you had in mind, Digital Photography Just The Steps For Dummies, 2 nd Edition is exactly what you need. This handy, full-color guide breaks down the most important tasks into simple two-page, illustrated instructions. You choose what you want to do, flip to the right page, follow the instructions, and voilà! A new skill is yours! Digital Photography Just The Steps For Dummies, 2 nd Edition covers important tasks from choosing a camera to printing your photos or turning them into slideshows or galleries. You’ll be able to: Select and use various lenses Take advantage of your meters Use tripods, screens, and scrims when shooting Work with depth of field Shoot and process Camera Raw images Download and organize your pictures Understand and use color profiles Edit in the “quick fix” mode Restore a vintage photo Create an online photo gallery, greeting cards, calendars, or CD jackets More than 170 digital photography tasks are presented in this easy-to-use, full-color reference. Grab a copy and find out how much more fun you can have with your digital camera! Digital Photography Just the Steps For Dummies, 2nd Edition 3 About the Author 5 Dedication 5 Author’s Acknowledgments 5 Contents at a Glance 7 Table of Contents 9 Introduction -1 About This Book 13 Why You Need This Book 13 How This Book Is Organized 14 Get Ready To . . . 14 Part I: Acquiring Digital Photos 15 Chapter 1: Purchasing a Camera and Accessories 17 Check Out Camera Features 18 Examine Image-Capture Features 20 Determine Your Needs 21 Understand Resolution 22 Choose the Right Camera 23 Evaluate Lenses 24 Look at Zooms 25 Choose Flash Features 26 Look at Storage Media 27 Pick and Choose Accessories 28 Chapter 2: Understanding Camera Basics 29 Understand Exposure 30 Set the Shutter Speed 31 Know about Aperture 32 Understand ISO Settings 33 Use Exposure Compensation 34 Set Image Quality 35 Set White Balance 36 Nail Your Focus 37 Use the Zoom Feature 38 Match Your Meter to Your Environment 39 Use EXIF Data 40 Chapter 3: Taking Digital Pictures 41 Use Filters 42 Set Up a Tripod 43 Use Reflectors 44 Use Diffusers 45 Light Your Subject 46 Shoot in Auto Mode 47 Shoot in Manual Mode 47 Take Close-Ups in Macro Mode 48 Shoot in Aperture Priority Mode 49 Bracket Your Exposures 50 Work with Depth of Field 51 Work with Camera RAW Images 52 Chapter 4: Getting the Best Shot 53 Find a Focal Point 54 Compose with the Rule of Thirds 55 Avoid Mergers 55 Find Leading Lines 56 Use Framing 56 Shoot from Unexpected Angles 57 Create a Mood with Distance 57 Reduce Background Clutter 58 Look for Balance 59 Keep the Horizon Straight 59 Use Contrast 60 Find the Light 60 Watch Movement In and Out of Frames 61 Choose a Depth of Field 62 Use Texture and Shapes 62 Chapter 5: Capturing Your Subject 63 Take a Portrait 64 Get That Group Shot 66 Capture Animals 67 Capture Action or Sports 68 Shoot Landscapes 70 Take a Night Shot 71 Shoot in Bad Weather 72 Shoot Food 73 Photograph a Wedding 74 Shoot for Online Auctions 75 Chapter 6: Transferring Your Images 77 Transfer Images from a Camera or Card Reader to Your Computer 78 Transfer Images from a Camera or Card Reader in Elements 79 Import Images from Your Hard Drive into Elements 80 Import Images from a CD or DVD into Elements 81 Scan an Image 82 Scan Negatives and Slides 84 Capture a Still Image from a Video 85 Transfer Mobile-Phone Photos to Elements 86 Part II: Editing and Enhancing Digital Photos 87 Chapter 7: Quick-Editing Your Images 89 Prepare to Edit 90 Choose Image Modes 91 Choose among File Formats 92 Establish Color Settings 94 Work with Resolution and Dimension 95 Crop Your Photo 96 Resize Your Canvas 97 Change Image Bit Depth 98 Divide Scanned Photos 98 Straighten a Photo 99 Edit in Quick Fix Mode 100 Use the Auto Fixes 102 Enhance with Cloning 104 Tone with the Dodge and Burn Tools 105 Saturate and Desaturate with the Sponge 106 Blur and Sharpen Small Areas 107 Smooth with the Smudge Tool 108 Chapter 8: Correcting Content, Contrast, Color, and Clarity 109 Correct Camera Distortion 110 Use Adjustment Layers 112 Adjust Lighting and Color with Smart Fix 113 Adjust Lighting with Shadows/Highlights 114 Correct Contrast with Levels 115 Remove Color Casts 116 Use Hue and Saturation 117 Remove Color 118 Replace One Color with Another 118 Correct with Color Curves 120 Fix Skin Tones 121 Defringe to Clean Up Edges 122 Adjust Color with Color Variations 123 Adjust Color Temperature with Photo Filters 124 Eliminate Artifacts and Noise 125 Heal Wrinkles and Blemishes with the Healing Brush 126 Eliminate Red Eye 128 Repair Quickly with the Spot Healing Brush 129 Blur for Effect or Elimination 130 Sharpen to Improve Focus 132 Chapter 9: Creating Selections 133 Select with the Rectangular Marquee 134 Select with the Elliptical Marquee 135 Apply Marquee Options 136 Select Straight-Sided Polygons 137 Create Selections with the Magnetic Lasso 138 Wrangle Pixels with the Magic Wand 140 Brush with the Selection Brush 142 Freeform Select with the Lasso 144 Select with the Quick Selection Tool 145 Use the Cookie Cutter 146 Eliminate with the Eraser 147 Pluck Out an Element with Magic Extractor 148 Delete with the Background Eraser 150 Modify Selections 151 Transform Selections 152 Paste into a Selection 153 Save and Load Selections 154 Chapter 10: Using Layers 155 Get Familiar with the Layers Panel 156 Convert a Background into a Layer 157 Create a New Layer 158 Duplicate a Layer 159 Copy or Cut to Create a Layer 159 Drag and Drop a Layer between Two Files 160 Select a Layer 161 Delete a Layer 161 View and Hide Layers 162 Rearrange the Stacking Order of Layers 162 Rename a Layer 163 Link Layers 163 Lock Layers 164 Select the Contents of a Layer 164 Transform a Layer 165 Adjust the Opacity of a Layer 165 Simplify a Layer 166 Merge Layers 166 Flatten Layers 167 Chapter 11: Adding Type, Blend Modes, Filters, and Effects 169 Add Type 170 Edit Type 172 Create Paragraph Type 173 Simplify Type 174 Create a Type Mask 175 Adjust Type Opacity 176 Apply Text Effects 177 Mix with Blend Modes 178 Apply Photo Effects 179 Add Filters 180 Modify a Filter’s Effects 181 Use Liquify 182 Apply Layer Styles 184 Chapter 12: Getting Creative with Compositions 187 Make a New Color Photo Look Old 188 Combine Color and Grayscale Layers 190 Produce an Angelic Glow 191 Construct a Panorama 192 Create High-Contrast or Posterized Art 194 Photomerge a Group Shot 195 Create a Photomerge Faces Image 196 Part III: Managing and Sharing Your Photos 197 Chapter 13: Organizing and Managing Your Images 199 Open the Elements Organizer 200 Add Files to the Organizer 201 View Files in the Organizer 202 Create Catalogs 203 Create Albums 204 Find Files in the Organizer 205 Sort Images with the Timeline 206 Create and Tag Images with Keywords 207 Add a Caption 208 Chapter 14: Sharing Your Photos 209 E-Mail Photos or a Slide Show from Elements 210 Send a Photo Using Photo Mail in Elements 212 Upload to an Online Sharing Site 213 Burn a Slide Show to a CD or DVD by Using Elements 214 Publish to a PDF Slide Show 215 Publish to Video 216 Send Photos to a Mobile Phone 217 Add Photos to a Blog 218 Chapter 15: Printing Your Images 219 Prepare Images for Printing 220 Print a Single Photo from Windows 222 Print a Single Photo from a Mac 224 Specify Color-Management Settings 225 Print a Contact Sheet in Windows 226 Print a Contact Sheet from a Mac 227 Create a Picture Package in Windows 228 Create a Picture Package from a Mac 229 Submit Files to a Service Provider 230 Order Prints Online 230 Index 231

Love taking pictures with your digital camera? Want to improve your skills, but don’t have a lot of time to spend? How about some straight-to-the-point tips that cut to the chase and show you step by step how to accomplish a task? If that sounds like just what you had in mind, Digital Photography Just The Steps For Dummies, 2nd Edition is exactly what you need.

This handy, full-color guide breaks down the most important tasks into simple two-page, illustrated instructions. You choose what you want to do, flip to the right page, follow the instructions, and voilà ! A new skill is yours!

Digital Photography Just The Steps For Dummies, 2nd Edition covers important tasks from choosing a camera to printing your photos or turning them into slideshows or galleries. You’ll be able to:

• Select and use various lenses
• Take advantage of your meters
• Use tripods, screens, and scrims when shooting
• Work with depth of field
• Shoot and process Camera Raw images
• Download and organize your pictures
• Understand and use color profiles
• Edit in the 'quick fix' mode
• Restore a vintage photo
• Create an online photo gallery, greeting cards, calendars, or CD jackets

More than 170 digital photography tasks are presented in this easy-to-use, full-color reference. Grab a copy and find out how much more fun you can have with your digital camera!

Step by step to shooting, sprucing up and sharing great photos Get That Group Shot Find the best location and try props or natural elements such as trees to arrange people. Try a variety of poses. Have some sit and others stand. Stagger people in front and behind.