Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

• An 816-page All-in-One guide designed for both beginning and experienced digital photographers, offering seven minibooks on everything from buying a camera and choosing the right equipment to editing with high-end tools and restoring photos digitally
• Includes chapters on basics such as point-and-shoot photography, with later chapters exploring editing, printing, and shooting portraits or high-speed action
• This new edition covers the latest technology changes in digital photography, including Photoshop 7, new low-priced SLR cameras, updated storage and output options with DVD technology, and how each of these changes affects photography techniques
• David Busch is the author of more than fifty technology books, most covering digital photography, image editing, and digital restoration

This book is big enough and thick enough to deal with all the topics I wanted to read about. There's the usual material about how digital cameras work, and some helpful chapters on image editing, but the most useful parts are the photography chapters in the middle. These chapters seem to have been written by an actual professional photographer with tons of experience with digital cameras. There are tips about lighting, posing, shooting close-ups, and taking pictures for publication.

Everything is written with the special needs of digital cameras in mind. For example, I've had problems shooting sports photos because of the noticeable lag between the time that I press the shutter button and when my digital camera finally takes the photo. The author addresses this problem, along with many other digital camera peculiarities, such as the noise problems you get when you use higher ISO ratings to increase sensor sensitivity.

Even though some of the advice is fairly technical in nature, the author never resorts to jargon. Everything is explained quite clearly in terms that even a beginner can understand. I never really understood why selective focus was so difficult to achieve with a digital camera until I read the explanation here.

I recommend this book for all photographers, from beginner to advanced. The neophyte can learn how to vastly improve their skills, and even veteran photo hobbyists will learn something.


Everything you need in one book!   August 27, 2003
104 out of 105 found this review helpful

What a great extension to the Dummies concept! I love Dummies books, but always finished each book wishing there were more information. This "All in One Desk Reference" has that information! It's two or three times the size of a typical Dummies book at 800 or so pages, and it's all meat. Everything you need to know about digital photography and basic image editing is in here.

The emphasis on photography, rather than digital technology, is refreshing. Certainly, there are chapters on how digital cameras operate, and guidelines for choosing a digital camera. But the center of the book has solid chapters on good old fashioned photography, as it applies to digital cameras. There's a chapter on composition, one on close-up photography, another on sports photography, and a great travel photo section. The thick section of color photos are great, too. It's good to see color images in a book about color photography.

The sections on image editing are fairly complete and will get beginners started and more experienced people trying some new things. Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are covered, but there is a chapter that evaluates most of the popular image editors and compares and contrasts them. This book really is thorough.

However, if you want to buy this book, purchase it for its great coverage of digital photography. That alone makes this the leading digital photography book. The other chapters make it a useful "All in One" reference book.


I'm using this as a textbook in my classes.   May 15, 2004
72 out of 74 found this review helpful

I teach digital photography at a community college, both for college credit and in evening adult education classes, and have found this book to be the perfect textbook for my beginner and intermediate courses. The first Overview book is about 82 pages long, and provides a good introduction to digital photography. My students learn a little about digital equipment, how to acquire photos, do simple editing, organize them, and make prints. I generally either skip the second book or assign it for extra credit, because it talks about choosing a camera and accessories, setting up a computer, and working with printers and scanners.

The Taking Great Pictures chapters in the third book are the core of my curriculum for both the beginner and intermediate classes, as the content is easy to understand, explains photographic techniques clearly, and can be applied by any digital photographer. The beginner classes simply receive less challenging picture taking assignments, as they work with composition, close-ups, portraits, and sports photography. They also get a lot of use out of the section on scenic photography, as the landscapes here are spectacular.

The beginner classes stop when they finish the fourth book on the Basics of Image Editing. The more advanced image editing chapters, which use Adobe Photoshop Elements, are reserved for the intermediate classes. I do put both groups to work learning to restore old photos, because everyone seems to enjoy this.

All in all I have found this book to be a wonderful learning tool, and like it better than traditional textbooks for teaching digital photography.


Excellent whether you're a beginner...or not.   May 12, 2004
Eldris J. (New Jersey)
41 out of 42 found this review helpful

This book is easy to read, has plenty of examples, tells you what to do to get good composition, talks about how digital cameras can get great photos, and much more. I have read the "Complete Idiot's" version of Digital Photography and while that book was OK, this one covers more information that I was looking for, particularly how to store and archive/organize digital photos as well as go into impressive detail on a lot of basic photography stuff. While this book isn't perfect, it's very, very good for a beginner to intermediate user and is fun to read. I have learned a lot so far. Also, it helps to have different books to read on the same subject of digital photography and this is a welcome edition to that learning "package."

I've looked at other books besides the Dummies and Idiots guides, and this may be the most complete reference to date for digital photography. There's lots of stuff in the book that pertains to ANY kind of photography. If photographers use the book the way Dummies books are really meant to be used--by turning to the topic that most interests them at the moment, or the part that will help them with a specific (photographic) problem--they'll find plenty of valuable information. One thing they won't find, however, is much about setting f-stops and shutter speeds (though there's quite a bit about the connection between film speed and shutter speed). But then most digital photographers just put their cameras on "P" (for program) and let the camera make those settings for them! While the reading and presentation is easy, the depth of material is actually surprisingly thorough. Beginning, or even some advanced photographers, will be referring to this book more than once, over time.. Hey, where was this book when I started in photography?


Just what I needed. It's all in there!   May 10, 2004
Anth H. (Phoenix)
36 out of 38 found this review helpful

As an advanced film photographer, I've had my eye on the recent advances in digital photography for quite some time, and this book will help anyone, experienced or beginner grasp a good thorough understanding of what digital photography encompasses. This writing does not go into the specifics of all the digital cameras in today's market, there are plenty of equipment review sites online to handle that task. Instead, the book provides excellent material regarding how digital cameras work; what components are common and present in the various models; how to match a camera to your particular shooting requirements; the "similarities" and the "differences" between digital photography and traditional film-based photography. It further gives a good basic understanding of photography fundamentals which apply to picture taking in any medium. There are some excellent Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements image editing lessons included.

This is BEST digital photography book I have read and I have purchased over 10 different books on the subject. It is comprehensive and covers not only digital photography but also the principles of photography in general. It is complete! I am totally impressed by this book. I could ramble on, but let me just summarize and say that if you are serious about digital photography and/or are interested in making the transition from film to digital photography or just want to get the very best results from your digital equipment, this book should greatly help you achieve your goals.