Take your Best Shot: The Illustrated Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

Take your Best Shot

The Illustrated Beginner’s Guide to Digital Photography

Kevin Wilson

Take your Best Shot

Copyright © 2021 Elluminet Press

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Publisher: Elluminet Press

Director: Kevin Wilson

Lead Editor: Steven Ashmore

Technical Reviewer: Mike Taylor, Robert Ashcroft

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Proof Reader: Steven Ashmore

Indexer: James Marsh

Cover Designer: Kevin Wilson

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Table of Contents

Digital Cameras 10

How a Digital Camera Works 10

Optics 11

Crop and Full Frame Sensors 12

Storage 13

Image Formats 16

Digital SLR (or DSLR) 17

Mirrorless Cameras 19

Bridge Cameras 20

Compact Point-and-Shoot 21

Smart Phone Camera 22

Some Points to Consider 24

Exploring your Camera 26

LCD Panels & Menus 27

Compact Cameras 28

SLR Cameras 30

Mirrorless Cameras 31

Optical vs Digital Zoom 32

Macro Modes 33

Light Metering Modes 33

Shooting Modes 33

Other Features 34

White Balance 34

Exposure Compensation 34

Burst Mode 35

Time Lapse 35

Slomo 35

Filters & Effects 35

Panoramic 36

Timers 36

Image Stabilizers 37

Storage 37

Lenses 38

Lens Basics 39

Focal Length 39

Types of Lenses 40

Prime Lens 40

Zoom/Telephoto Lens 41

Macro Lens 45

Fisheye Lens 46

Lens Filters 48

UV Filters 49

Polarizing Filters 49

Neutral Density Filters 52

Other Equipment 54

Photography Tripods 55

Monopods 57

Video Tripods 58

Bags 58

Lighting 60

Light Sources 61

Light Modifiers 62

Reflectors 63

Types of Light 64

Lighting Angles 66

Front Lighting 66

Side Lighting 67

Back Lighting 67

Background Lighting 67

Composing your Shot 70

Lining up your Shots 71

Rule of Thirds & Golden Ratio 71

Golden Triangle 75

Horizon Lines 76

Leading Lines 77

Vanishing Points 78

Looking Room 79

Head Room 80

Depth 82

High Angle 84

Low Angle 85

Bird’s Eye 86

Dutch Tilt 87

Depth of Field 88

Exposing your Shot 90

Aperture 91

Shutter 92

ISO 94

Exposure Triangle 95

White Balance 97

Metering 98

Focus Modes 99

Taking Pictures 100

Shooting Modes 101

Auto Mode (A+) 101

Aperture Priority (AV) 101

Shutter Priority (TV) 101

Full Manual Control (M) 101

Preset Scenes (SCN) 101

Low Light Photography 102

Night Photography 103

Using a Flash 104

Freezing the Action 106

Touching up Photos 108

Import Photos 109

Camera RAW 112

Opening 112

Reading a Histogram 113

Adjusting a Photo 115

Leveling Photos & Removing Lens Distortion 116

Video Resources 120

Using the Videos 121

About the Author