Your personal photographs have a worth that can’t be measured in dollars and cents. They’re likely the one thing you would grab on the way out of a burning house – an irreplaceable record of the life you lead, of friends and family, and of the occasions with which you mark passing years.
The funny thing is, most people aren’t entirely happy with their photographs. And that's where Photography For Dummies comes in. You don't need a fancy camera with multiple, removable lenses to get good pictures. The problem is, nearly every book on photography assumes that you're using one. But this book assumes that you're using a point-and-shoot camera for all your pictures. In fact, this may be the most complete guide available for taking pictures with a modern point-and-shoot camera.
This revised edition of Photography For Dummies helps you choose film (much simpler than you’d think), load film into the camera (no big sweat), and understand how to hold the camera (yes, there are right and wrong ways). You'll also discover tips about dealing with your photofinisher – a far more important factor in getting good results than most people realize, especially in the digital age. What's more, you'll gain insight into
- Working with your camera, and how different settings make your camera do different things
- Understanding the importance of light in a photograph, and applying design strategies that make your subjects stand out
- Getting shots that both flatter people and capture their personalities
- Shooting landscapes, and the special considerations of travel photography
- Taking pictures filmlessly, and the pleasures and pitfalls of digital photography
- Troubleshooting your camera, and discovering what do try if it won't shoot
Today’s point-and-shoot cameras are remarkably reliable devices. So why aren’t your pictures better? The main secret to better photographs is knowing what to shoot, when to shoot it, and how to shoot it. You need Photography For Dummies, because it lets you in on this secret.
The inimitable Dummies format, which has distilled everything from the Internet to Italian cooking, is an excellent way to organize information for photographers. The chapters cover single topics like film, flash, and composition, and are easy to both access and understand. Icons (which are defined in the introduction) call out "tips," "technical stuff," and "bloopers." This layout is designed for quick reference while you're shooting, providing, of course, that you care to lug the book with you.
Writer Russell Hart, who is the technology editor for American Photo magazine and an exhibiting photographer, takes readers from the very basics of loading film and batteries into a camera, through such invaluable technical and practical information as how best to photograph kids and choose the right photofinisher (including scoop on the Advanced Photo System), right up to a glossary of "photo jargon" so that even neophyte photographers (or those readers who've only scanned the book) can at least sound like they know what they're doing. Chapter 10, in which Hart waxes somewhat poetic on the value of a photograph--documents of family history, insurance evidence, etc.--and disputes "ten lame excuses for not taking along your camera," can turn even the most reluctant camera operator into a rampant shutterbug. --Jordana Moskowitz
