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Digital
Photography
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Digital
Photography
Dave Huss
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DOI: 10.1036/0072254351
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to Dan and Margaret Beckwith —
my in-laws by marriage, but through their love and support
over the past 30 years—my closest friends.
About the Author
Dave Huss has been a photographer for 40 years. His work has been featured in Studio
Photography & Design magazine and Nikon’s Capture User magazine. Dave has been seen
on CNN and Tech TV, and is the author of several books including How to Do Everything
with Paint Shop Pro 8 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT 10: The Official Guide.
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
Contents at a Glance

Part I Digital Photography Basics
1
Discover the Excitement of Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2
Essential Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Part II Take Better Pictures Now!
3
Learn These Essentials for Great Photos Every Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4
Get the Best Lighting for Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5
Get Clear and Sharp Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6
Get the Right Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Part III Do More Than You Can Imagine
7
Discover All Your Camera Can Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8
Get Ready to Share Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9
Use Flash Photography to Your Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
10
Gain a New Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Part IV Special Opportunities for Stunning Photographs
11
Capture the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
12
Make Blurred Photos on Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
13
Take Great Photos of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

14
Get the Best Pictures of Babies and Small Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
15
Low-Light Photography: Taking Great Night Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
16
Create Great Close-up Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
17
Photograph Your Stuff Like a Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
18
Photographing a Panorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
vii
Part V Professional Tips, Tricks, and Other Stuff
19
Fixing Photo Goofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
20
The Magic of Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Quick and Easy Ways to Take Better Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
viii
How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
PART I
Digital Photography Basics
CHAPTER 1
Discover the Excitement of Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Your Approach to Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Novice or Casual Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Amateur or Professional Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Difference Between Digital and Film Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Film, Digital Cameras, and Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Digital Versus Film Quality Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Use the Creative Advantage of Taking Multiple Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Why More Photos Are Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CHAPTER 2
Essential Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Types of Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Low-Resolution Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Combination Video/Still Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Point-and-Shoot Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Semiprofessional (Prosumer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What Makes a Camera Semi-Professional? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Professional D-SLR Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
How a Digital Camera Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Pixels: The Foundation of Digital Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
What Features Are Important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Sensor Size: How Big Is Big Enough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Optical vs. Digital Zoom Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Media Storage (Digital Film) Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Which Brand of Camera Is Best? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
ix
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Essential Digital Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Buy Plenty of Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Choose the Best Battery Charger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Get Lots of Digital Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Nonessential Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
How Much Computer Do You Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Which is Better: PC or Mac? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Importance of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Add Hard Drive Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Add Archival Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LCD Monitors vs. CRT Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Which Photo Editor Is Best? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
PART II
Take Better Pictures Now!
CHAPTER 3
Learn These Essentials for Great Photos Every Time . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Know the Steps to Taking a Good Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Is There Film in Your Camera? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Are Your Batteries Charged and Is Your Lens Clean? . . . . . . . . . 34
What Are the Quality Level Settings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
What Are the White Balance (WB) Settings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Shooting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Fill the Frame with Your Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
See the Whole Picture, Not Just the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Change Your Camera Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Surefire Rules of Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Know Where the Light Is Coming From . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Ways to Ensure Proper Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Simple Ways to Steady Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
CHAPTER 4
Get the Best Lighting for Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Getting the Correct Amount of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
How Your Light Meter Reads an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Automatic Metering Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using a Photo Editor to Capture the Entire Image . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Shoot, Review, Adjust, and Shoot Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Evaluate Using A Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Understand Exposure Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Finding the Best Exposure with Auto Bracketing . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Making the Best of Available Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Block the Sun to Get the Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Block the Sun for Special Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
x
How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
CHAPTER 5
Get Clear and Sharp Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Reviewing Your Fuzzy Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
The Out-of-Focus Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Which Auto-Focus System Does You Camera Have? . . . . . . . . . 64
When Auto-Focus Doesn’t Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
When Auto-Focus Doesn’t Focus on the Right Subject . . . . . . . . 67
Using Focus Lock for Sharp Focus on the Correct Subject . . . . . 68
A Moving Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Depth of Field and How It Effects Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Eliminate Camera Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Push the Button Slowly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
How Shutter Speed Relates to Focal Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
CHAPTER 6
Get the Right Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Why Film and Digital Cameras See Colors Differently . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Understand Color Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
How Your Digital Camera Corrects White Balance . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Automatic White Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
White Balance Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
White Balance Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
How Color Temperature Affects Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Reflected Colors Also Create Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Available Light vs. Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
When to Use WB Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Adjusting WB and Auto-bracketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Alternatives to WB Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Fix WB Later Using Raw Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Working with Raw Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Putting Your Knowledge to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
PART III
Do More Than You Can Imagine
CHAPTER 7
Discover All Your Camera Can Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
How to Read Your Digital Camera Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Read Your Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Identify the Basic Controls and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
All Kinds of Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Menu Selectable Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A Sensible Approach to Learning About Your Camera . . . . . . . . 100
A Scavenger Hunt for Essential Camera Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Reset Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Changing Light Meter Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Contents
xi
Use Quality Settings for More Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
White Balance Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Control the Focus Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Flash Mode Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Finding the Diopter Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Control Your Time-Date Stamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Learn to Decipher Your Camera Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Discover Shortcuts for Your Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Alternatives to the User Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Online Digital Camera Forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Learn What You Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
CHAPTER 8
Get Ready to Share Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Moving Photos to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Using Card Readers to Import Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Printing Photos with Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Inkjet and Dye-Sub Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Printing Photos Without Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Advantages and Disadvantages of Printing Your Photos . . . . . . . 114
Photo Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Making Prints That Last:Dye-Based vs. Pigment-Based Inks . . . 115
Other Ways to Print Your Digital Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Local Photo Developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Online Photo Developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Advantages (and Cost) of a Professional Finisher . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Share Photos Using E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Image Size, ISPs, and Connection Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Attach a Photo to an E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Embedding a Photo in an E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
CHAPTER 9
Use Flash Photography to Your Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
What Your Flash Can Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

The Need for Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
How Your Flash Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Choosing the Best Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Preventing Red-Eye in Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Other Ways to Reduce Red-Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Asking Too Much from Your Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Typical On-Camera Flash Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Preventing Flash Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Overexposing Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Shooting from Too Far Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Shooting Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
xii
How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
CHAPTER 10
Gain a New Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Go Beyond the Common and Mundane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Look for Contrasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Using Contrast for Better Fall Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Use Your Camera as a Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Record Works of Great Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Change Your Camera’s Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Adding a Point of Reference to a Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Establishing Where You Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Capturing Names, Numbers, or Letters for Impact . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Getting More than a Single View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Looking for Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Don’t Miss the Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
PART IV
Special Opportunities for Stunning Photographs

CHAPTER 11
Capture the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
The Reality of Shutter Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Compensating for Shutter Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Catch the Action Like a Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Set Up Your Camera to Freeze the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Pan the Camera with the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Tips for Better Action Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Blurring for Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Capture Action Coming Toward You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Changing Auto-Focus Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
CHAPTER 12
Make Blurred Photos on Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Photographing Creeks and Waterfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Capture the Motion Slowly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Use Still Motion Camera Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Position the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Adjust Your Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Circular Polarizer (CP) Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Weather Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
After You Take the Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Blurring Other Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Photographing Blurred Traffic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Using Blurring for Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Creative Blurring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Contents
xiii
CHAPTER 13

Take Great Photos of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
The Basics of People Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Rules of Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
To Pose or Not to Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Taking Photos of Couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Taking Great Bio Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Photographing Musicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Taking Great Photos of Young People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Taking Good Group Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
More People, More Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Arrange the Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Taking Great Vacation Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Travel Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
CHAPTER 14
Get the Best Pictures of Babies and Small Children . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Photographing Babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Shoot at Their Level When Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Be Creative When Holding the Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
The Effect of Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Shooting at Other Than Eye Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Photographing Toddlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Make Photo Taking a Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Using Distraction Works—Sometimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Add Friends for Greater Photo Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Using Your Zoom to Get a Priceless Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Photographing Children on Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Alternatives to Dress Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Candid Shots vs. Posed Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Make Children Feel Comfortable and Secure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Shoot, Talk, Shoot, Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
CHAPTER 15
Low-Light Photography: Taking Great Night Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Low-Light Photographic Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Low-Light and Night Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Advantages of Early Morning and Evening Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
The Beauty of Night Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Photograph Holiday Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Digital Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Night Photography and Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Remove the Noise Using an Image Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Photographing Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Tips for Getting Great Fireworks Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
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How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
Photographing Lightning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
CHAPTER 16
Create Great Close-up Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Mastering Macro Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Does Your Camera Have Macro Capability? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Decipher the Technical Descriptions of Your Macro Settings . . . 230
How to Set Up Macro Mode on Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Position Your Camera for a Better View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Find Subjects Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Take Low-Light Macro Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Capture Macro Photos of Shy (Moving) Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
CHAPTER 17
Photograph Your Stuff Like a Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Real Estate Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Professional Ideas for Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Photograph Your Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Visually Inventory Your Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
How to Manage a Home Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Photograph Stuff for eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Photograph Your Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
CHAPTER 18
Photographing a Panorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Why a Panorama? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
How Panoramas Are Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Stitching (Panorama) Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Selecting the Best Panorama Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Panorama Software Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Taking Pictures for a Panorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
What You Need to Take Panoramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Taking Vertical Panoramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
A Different Way to Make a Panorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Printing Panoramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
PART V
Professional Tips, Tricks, and Other Stuff
CHAPTER 19
Fixing Photo Goofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Make Good Photos Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Sorting Before You Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Use Automatic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Photo Editors Have Similar Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Contrast: Instant Zip for Your Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Unleash the Power of Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Contents

xv
CHAPTER 20
The Magic of Digital Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Using the Power of Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Understanding Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
What a Selection Does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Using Basic Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Adding Text to a Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Feathering the Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Rounding Up the Lasso Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Using Automatic Edge Detecting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Using the Magic Wand Tool to Make Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Moving a Subject from One Photo to Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Replacing an Overcast Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Removing and Replacing Objects in Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Removing Unwanted Stuff from Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Switching Faces with the Clone Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Creating Classic Black-and-White Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Creating Hand-Tinted Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Achieving Painterly Effects with Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Quick and Easy Ways to Take Better Photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
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How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
Foreword
Inspiration.
A couple of years ago, my then eleven-year-old son ran his first marathon. I watched from the
curb as he crossed mile twenty-four. Together we jogged the last few miles of the race, and when
he finally saw the finish line, he sprinted toward it, leaving me behind. He made it look so easy.
“Next year, Mom,” he shouted over his shoulder, “we cross this line together.”

I am now training to run my second marathon and my son will be running his third.
You just never know where inspiration will come from.
Back in my office at PhotoSpin, a royalty-free subscription service for photos and
illustrations, I shared this story with Dave Huss, who is also a runner. Dave and I instantly
became friends and he began sharing with me his stories of inspiration through his photographs.
What was most interesting to me about Dave was that he shared a lot more than the photos.
He would also share the exact recipe for creating them digitally. Along with each photo he’d list
out the hardware and software he’d used and special filters that had been applied to the photo. It
was no surprise to me that he would write a book on how to do everything with digital photography.
I think his personal goal is to inspire the world to create beautiful photos.
How to Do Everything with Digital Photography goes well beyond the camera. It is the
David Huss personal cookbook on accomplishing exactly what the title offers. It just doesn’t
get any better than this. He’ll share with you his secret recipes (not that he keeps secrets) on
composition and set up. Then, once you have a digital file, Dave will show you how to import it
into a computer and use filters and other techniques to enhance your image well beyond what the
camera can capture. He’ll make it look so easy you’ll be taking pictures like a pro in no time.
At PhotoSpin, we are very fortunate to be able to offer Dave’s images as part of our online
subscription of royalty-free images. He has shot many series of images for us, for our customers
to use. And many times, I have had customers send me examples of the graphic design work they’ve
created. Often, those designs include Dave’s photographs: pictures of colorful electrical storms
illuminating brochures on energy; close-ups of the prismatic tones of oil, used as backgrounds
for music websites. Like dominoes, the inspiration just moves on down the line.
That’s the beauty of Dave.
Although his book may be about technique, David is all about inspiration.
Stephanie Robey, president and co-founder of PhotoSpin, and marathon mom
xvii
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
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Acknowledgments
This is, as always, my favorite part of the book. This is the one part of the book where the secrets

are kept because no one except the author and those who work with the author ever reads the
acknowledgments. For example, do you want to know the truth about Area 51? It can be found
in the acknowledgments section of The Collected Recipes of the Moose Breath Cafe. So, what
secrets are hidden in these pages? Read on.
Here is a compilation of the fine folks that made this book great (these are also the people
that will be blamed if it doesn't sell well). First on the list is my acquisitions editor, and friend,
Megg Morin. She has the unenviable job up putting up with me, my delayed schedules, and lame
excuses (not only from me but from other authors, as well). The fact that she has continued to
work with me for almost 10 years could bring her state of mind into question but the fact is, she's
the best. A tip of the hat goes to Scott Rogers (one of the head honchos at Osborne) who made
some excellent suggestions that improved the content of this edition (oh well, there's a first time
for everything, Scott). Elizabeth Seymour (project editor) has done a fantastic job of juggling
multiple chapters, finding missing figures, and somehow producing a coherent book out of the
sea of cumulative changes, deletions, and insertions that were scattered throughout the book
during the editing process. Many thanks to my friend Jim Patterson who, as an experienced and
accomplished photographer, shared his wisdom, experience, and technical knowledge while
serving as the book's technical editor.
There are several others whose contributions have made this book possible. First is Steve
Heiner of Nikon who loves digital photography almost as much as I do and is a wealth of
knowledge when it comes to getting the most out of a digital camera. My heartfelt thanks also
go to John Schwartzman (cinematographer) who taught me more about shooting in available
light on a two-hour flight than I could have learned in a lifetime, and who deserves to win the
Oscar for the movie, Seabiscuit. I also must acknowledge Val Gelineau (photographer and CEO
of PhotoSpin) who reminds me how much fun photography is, and Stephanie Robey (president
and co-founder of PhotoSpin), for her encouragement and acceptance of my work. My thanks
also to Arlen Bartch for helping me to define and find my style of photography.
In the more important non-technical side of the book, I give thanks to my wife, Elizabeth,
for putting up with long absences when I am out shooting, and for teaching me new ways to use
mathematics. For example, when we got married (30 years ago this month) she was 3 years older
than I was. Last week we celebrated her birthday and I discovered she is now 12 years younger

than me. I'm still trying to figure out what happened there. On the bright side, by the time I am
65 years old, I figure she'll be a 28-year-old.
xix
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
Did you find the secret in the acknowledgments section yet? It is that is takes a lot of talented
people to put together a book like this, unlike Paris Hilton's new book which gives advice like “You
should only sleep on a 600-800 count linen sheet made from Egyptian cotton.” That kind of book
only requires a team of publicists (a very large team).
Lastly, a thank you to Cooper Morin who is the one-year-old who keeps popping up throughout
the book. Thanks, Coop.
Dave Huss, February 2004
xx
How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
Introduction
Digital photography is a blast. Whether
you only want to take pictures to prove
you have been somewhere or you are
trying to capture a moment in time like
a wedding, graduation, or just the pure
joy of your baby enjoying a bath from
mom like the one shown at right,
let’s face it: Photos last longer than
memories.
Before digital cameras were
within the consumer price range, the
only choice was film; but it was still
better than hiring an artist to paint a
portrait. Film costs money to buy and
develop; in addition, you don’t know
if that fantastic sunrise behind the

nation’s Capitol you photographed
actually came out until the pictures
were developed hours or weeks later—
and by then it is too late to reshoot.
xxi
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
With digital cameras you get instant feedback on the
photo you just took. You know immediately if it is out of
focus, under- or over-exposed, or just right, like the little
girl in the bunny costume shown here.
Not tethered by either the expense or hassle of film, a
digital camera can unleash your creative potential—if only
you’ll let it. This book is all about learning to look at the
world that surrounds you in a different way than you have
before and then daring to capture what you see, using your
camera. You will learn how to find the extraordinary in the
ordinary and use your camera to harnass it, like the rainbow
of colors in a bicycle race or the unexpected hues in a stack
of drill stems waiting to ship to an oil platform.
To capture the eye candy that surrounds you takes
some effort on your part. It involves a little reading
(especially of your camera’s manual) and a lot of practice.
In this book you will discover how to compose and take
a portrait like the one shown in Figure 1.
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How to Do Everything with Digital Photography
F
IGURE
1 Forget paying for
glamour photos. Learn to take

flattering photos and use the money
you save to take your spouse out
to dinner.
Your digital camera is a virtual Swiss
Army knife of features that includes the
capability to take close-up photographs
in nature, from a flower’s eyeview of a
butterfly, …
… to the contrasting colors and textures found
in your garden,
…to a humorous angle. While the rest of the
world is going wireless, this caterpillar thinks
a world with wires might be a little safer.
You will also learn how to take action photos
with your digital camera that will make you
look like a professional.
In case you think that the ability to take
good photos doesn’t apply to you, and that the
photos in this introduction were taken by some
professionals that we borrowed from the
National Geographic Society—think again. Did
you like the photo of the baby getting his bath?
So did I. The photographer is my friend and
editor, Megg. Is she a professional? Not by a
long shot. Point in fact, every photo she sends
me of her baby boy has one of those fluorescent-
colored time-date stamps in the corner. I have
been asking her for months to turn the darn
thing off and she hasn’t figured it out yet.
Introduction