Rick Sammon's Digital Photography Secrets

Rick Sammon's Digital Photography Secrets

Released December 2008
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470428733

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Learn the tips and tricks used by a top photographer in the digital photography industry in Rick Sammon's Top Digital Photography Secrets. Filled with beautiful photographs and the techniques Rick Sammon used to capture them, this book offers you motivation to capture stunning photographs and the tools and tricks you need to capture them. With more than 100 techniques for use behind the camera, this book will improve the camera skills of both amateur and experienced photographers. Additionally, this book includes a chapter on post-production secrets, and a Rick Sammon DVD Guide lighting, camera, and digital photography basics. In this 1-hour DVD, Rick shows you how to get great photos using a variety of lighting sources, camera-specific techniques, and basic rules of photography.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Credits
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Foreword
  6. Preface
  7. Intro
    1. A Digital Photography Recipe for Smokin' Photos: 10 Ingredients for Dishing Up Successful Images
    2. Interesting Subject
    3. Good Composition
    4. Creative Cropping.
    5. Careful Focus
    6. See the Light
    7. Fine-Tune Your Exposure
    8. Control the Light
    9. Check Your Camera Settings
    10. Work and Play with Light
    11. Have Fun
  8. 1. Digital SLR Must-Know Info
    1. 1.1. Data Contacts and Mirror
    2. 1.2. Auto Focus vs. Manual Focus
    3. 1.3. Be Sensitive to Your Image Sensor
    4. 1.4. A Shutter's "Mileage"
    5. 1.5. Your Eyes vs. Your Camera's "Eye"
    6. 1.6. Brightness Values and the +/− Exposure Compensation Control
    7. 1.7. Control What Your Exposure Meter "Sees"
    8. 1.8. LCD Monitor Info
    9. 1.9. Customize Your Camera
    10. 1.10. Cooling Off and Warming Up Images
    11. 1.11. sRGB vs. Adobe RGB and RAW vs. sRAW
    12. 1.12. Get It All in Focus
    13. 1.13. F-stop Info
    14. 1.14. Internal Filter Flare
    15. 1.15. When Pixels Bloom
    16. 1.16. Memory Card Info
    17. 1.17. Full-Frame Image Sensor Advantage
    18. 1.18. Firmware Updates
    19. 1.19. Camera Care
    20. 1.20. Check Out Your Camera's Software
    21. 1.21. Recovering "Lost" Files
    22. 1.22. Cameras Don't Take Pictures, People Do
    23. 1.23. The Camera Looks Both Ways
  9. 2. Landscape and Scenic Photography
    1. 2.1. Be Prepared, Be Patient
    2. 2.2. Get It All in Focus
    3. 2.3. Pack a Polarizing Filter
    4. 2.4. Establish a Sense of Place
    5. 2.5. Think in Three Dimensions
    6. 2.6. Watch the Edges and Know Your Boundaries
    7. 2.7. Crop Creatively
    8. 2.8. Watch the Horizon Line
    9. 2.9. By the Light of the Moon
    10. 2.10. Shooting Sunrises and Sunsets
    11. 2.11. More Tips on Sunrise and Sunset Shots
    12. 2.12. After the Sun Sets
    13. 2.13. When It's Hazy, Hot and Humid
    14. 2.14. Golden Hours
    15. 2.15. Favorite Wide-Angle Zoom
    16. 2.16. Favorite Telephoto Zoom
    17. 2.17. Rules of Composition
    18. 2.18. Shooting from Above
    19. 2.19. Compose for a Cover or E-Card
    20. 2.20. Move Around a Subject
    21. 2.21. RAW Rules
    22. 2.22. Play with Picture Styles
    23. 2.23. Shooting on Overcast Days
    24. 2.24. Must Use a Lens Hood
    25. 2.25. Take Fun Shots
    26. 2.26. Using ND Graduated Filters
    27. 2.27. Convert to IR
    28. 2.28. Check Out a Postcard Stand and Get a Guide
    29. 2.29. Shooting by the Sea
    30. 2.30. Shooting at Night
    31. 2.31. Blurring Night Lights
    32. 2.32. Shoot for a Panorama
    33. 2.33. Don't Forget the Details
    34. 2.34. Envision the End Result
    35. 2.35. Photographing Fireworks
    36. 2.36. Always Look Up, Down and Back – and be Careful!
    37. 2.37. The Self-Assignment
    38. 2.38. Landscapes in HDR
    39. 2.39. Take HDR Inside
  10. 3. Photographing People
    1. 3.1. Fun Facts for Better People Pictures
    2. 3.2. Drag the Shutter to Create a Sense of Motion
    3. 3.3. Fine-Tune Flash Exposures with Exposure Compensation
    4. 3.4. Nice Nighttime Shots Using the Night Portrait Mode
    5. 3.5. Make Pictures, Don't Just Take Pictures
    6. 3.6. Position the Subject in the Foreground
    7. 3.7. Go with the Grain
    8. 3.8. Wonderful Window Light Pictures
    9. 3.9. Daylight Fill-in Flash Photos
    10. 3.10. Painting with Light
    11. 3.11. Soften the Light with a Diffuser
    12. 3.12. Fill in Shadows with a Reflector
    13. 3.13. Get Everything in Focus
    14. 3.14. The Classic Head Shot
    15. 3.15. Watch the Background
    16. 3.16. Capturing Sports Action
    17. 3.17. Always Look Back
    18. 3.18. Get Up Close and Personal
    19. 3.19. Add Catch Light to the Subject's Eyes
    20. 3.20. Don't Crop at the Joints
    21. 3.21. Choosing a Background
    22. 3.22. Pan to Create a Sense of Action
    23. 3.23. Avoid Hard Flash Shadows
    24. 3.24. Dress for Success
    25. 3.25. Evaluate Shooting at Eye Level
    26. 3.26. Break the Rules
    27. 3.27. When You Hand Over Your Camera
    28. 3.28. Don't Be a Dummy
    29. 3.29. The Home Studio
    30. 3.30. Get Involved
    31. 3.31. Create the Dis-Equilibrium Effect
  11. 4. Picturing Animals
    1. 4.1. Stopping Action
    2. 4.2. Focus Tracking Mode
    3. 4.3. See Art in Nature
    4. 4.4. Shoot for the Peak of Action
    5. 4.5. When Bracketing is a Good Idea
    6. 4.6. Make Fences Disappear
    7. 4.7. Place the Subject Off-Center
    8. 4.8. Steady as You Shoot
    9. 4.9. My Favorite Wildlife Telephoto Zoom Lens
    10. 4.10. My Favorite Wildlife Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
    11. 4.11. Shooting Silhouettes
    12. 4.12. Using Tele-converters
    13. 4.13. Noise and Sharpness
    14. 4.14. Don't Cheap Out on a Telephoto Lens
    15. 4.15. Shoot Sharper Pictures with a High Frame Rate
    16. 4.16. Expose for the Highlights
    17. 4.17. Shoot RAW Files
    18. 4.18. The Eyes Have It
    19. 4.19. Shooting in the Snow
    20. 4.20. Keep Both Eyes Open
    21. 4.21. Displaying Your Prints
    22. 4.22. Envision the End-Result
    23. 4.23. Play with Plug-ins
  12. 5. Close Ups
    1. 5.1. True Macro Photographs
    2. 5.2. Steady Your Shots
    3. 5.3. Compose Carefully
    4. 5.4. Add a Background
    5. 5.5. Add Creative Control with a Ring Light
    6. 5.6. Retouching When Using a Ring Light
    7. 5.7. Focus carefully
    8. 5.8. Learn About Your Subject
    9. 5.9. Shoot a Sequence, Tell a Story
    10. 5.10. Go Wide
  13. 6. Photo Gear that Rocks
    1. 6.1. Digital SLRs vs. Compact Cameras
    2. 6.2. SLR Lenses
    3. 6.3. Accessory Flash Units
    4. 6.4. Remote Flash Operation with Wireless Transmitters
    5. 6.5. Special Macro Gear
    6. 6.6. It's in the Bag
    7. 6.7. Third Carry-on
    8. 6.8. Snow and Rain Gear
    9. 6.9. Backgrounds
    10. 6.10. Reflectors
    11. 6.11. Diffusers
    12. 6.12. Hot Light Kits
    13. 6.13. Strobe Light Kit
    14. 6.14. Studio Accessory Flash Unit Set Up
    15. 6.15. My On-Location Light Controller and Tote
    16. 6.16. Tripods
    17. 6.17. Sensor Cleaning Kit
    18. 6.18. Test All Your Gear and Bring Back Up Gear
  14. 7. Home and On-Location Digital Darkrooms
    1. 7.1. Computer – The Heart of the Digital Darkroom
    2. 7.2. Monitor – Where Your Creative Vision Develops
    3. 7.3. Software – Applications to Awaken the Artist Within
    4. 7.4. Accessory Hard Drives – Your Key to Image Survival
    5. 7.5. Printers – How to Show and Share Your Work
    6. 7.6. Wacom® Tablet – Paint with Precision
    7. 7.7. Card Readers – Movin' Images from Card to Computer
    8. 7.8. Power Backup – Prevent a Blackout
    9. 7.9. Field Setup – Digital Photos on the Go
    10. 7.10. Love Your On-Line Lab
  15. 8. Top Digital Darkroom Ideas
    1. 8.1. Always Envision the End-Result
    2. 8.2. Don't be So Quick to Delete
    3. 8.3. Add a Digital Frame
    4. 8.4. Warm It Up
    5. 8.5. Boost Contrast, Saturation and Sharpness
    6. 8.6. Create the Mirror Effect
    7. 8.7. Think Selectively
    8. 8.8. Create the Panning Effect
    9. 8.9. Simulate Using a Long Lens
    10. 8.10. Age a Photo
    11. 8.11. Go Black-and-White
    12. 8.12. Add a Digital Graduated Filter
    13. 8.13. Create the Swirl Effect
    14. 8.14. Correct for Lens Distortion
    15. 8.15. Make Your Subject Stand Out
    16. 8.16. Create a Nice Note Paper Image
    17. 8.17. Discover Duotones
    18. 8.18. Fade a Filter
    19. 8.19. Awaken the Artist Within
    20. 8.20. All about Hue
    21. 8.21. After Midnight
    22. 8.22. Posterize an Image
    23. 8.23. Retouch an Old Photo
    24. 8.24. Explore Shadow/Highlight
    25. 8.25. Double Process an Image
    26. 8.26. Merge to HDR
    27. 8.27. Enter Photomatix
    28. 8.28. Variations on the Theme
    29. 8.29. Never Stop Playing with HDR
    30. 8.30. Reflection on an Image
  16. 9. Cool Web Sites for Great Info
    1. 9.1. Rick Sammon www.ricksammon.com
    2. 9.2. Canon Digital Learning Center www.usa.canon.com/dlc
    3. 9.3. onOne software www.ononesoftware.com
    4. 9.4. Westcott www.fjwestcott.com
    5. 9.5. Lexar www.lexar.com
    6. 9.6. NikSoftware www.niksoftware.com
    7. 9.7. Mpix www.mpix.com
    8. 9.8. Kelby Training www.kelbytraining.com
    9. 9.9. ExOfficio www.exofficio.com
    10. 9.10. Layers www.layersmagazine.com
    11. 9.11. PCPhoto www.pcphotomag.com
    12. 9.12. DoubleExposure www.doubleexposure.com
    13. 9.13. Photo.net
  17. 10. With a Little Help From My Friends
    1. 10.1. Parts Can Create a New Whole
    2. 10.2. Digital Duo
    3. 10.3. Go Wide!
    4. 10.4. Dive In!
    5. 10.5. Think in Black- and-White
    6. 10.6. Learn about Nature and the Nature of Your Camera
    7. 10.7. Challenge and Reward Yourself
    8. 10.8. Blend and Tone
    9. 10.9. Book It
    10. 10.10. The Bottom Line about the Horizon Line
    11. 10.11. What If?
    12. 10.12. Family First
    13. 10.13. Create Dramatic Images
    14. 10.14. Closeness to Nature
    15. 10.15. Summer into Winter
    16. 10.16. Experience the Emotion, Experiment in Photoshop
    17. 10.17. Be Spontaneous
    18. 10.18. Shoot, Don't Think
    19. 10.19. Freeze It
  18. 11. What Does Your Photography Mean to You?
  19. A. DVD Appendix
    1. A.1. Rick Sammon's Sampler DVD
      1. A.1.1. What you'll see and how to see it!
  20. Wiley Publishing, Inc. End-User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Rick Sammon's Digital Photography Secrets
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: December 2008
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470428733