Skip to Content
Digital Photography: The Missing Manual
book

Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

by Chris Grover, Barbara Brundage
June 2006
Intermediate to advanced
432 pages
13h 34m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Taking Control with Manual Options

Cheapo digital cameras are often called point-and-shoot models with good reason: You point, you shoot.

Sometimes these cameras let you pick from a few pre-programmed settings like Night Snapshot or Kids & Pets, but for the most part your camera is doing all the thinking for you. More expensive cameras, on the other hand, let you take your camera off autopilot.

If you’re a first-time buyer, you may think a point-and-shoot is a safe starting point. Before you decide, read Chapter 3 to learn about special situations—sports photography, nighttime shots, fireworks, indoor portraits, and so on—where you can get amazing results with the help of manual controls. If you’re looking for a camera that you can grow with as your photo skills increase, manual controls are worth paying for.

On the other hand, you may have chosen your digital camera for its gorgeous flip screen or powerful zoom lens, but never use the manual modes that these models often include. If so, you need Chapter 3 even more. It will help you unleash your camera’s potential—and your own creativity.

The following are the most popular manual features (see Chapter 3 for full coverage about when to use each setting).

Aperture-Priority Mode

In aperture-priority mode, you specify how wide the camera’s shutter opens, and the camera takes care of the other settings (like shutter speed or flash). It’s probably the most popular manual mode, because it puts you in control while ensuring proper exposure. ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

The Photography Teacher's Handbook

The Photography Teacher's Handbook

Garin Horner
PCs: The Missing Manual

PCs: The Missing Manual

Andy Rathbone, David A. Karp

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596008414Catalog PageErrata