Digital Photography: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals) [Paperback]

In actuality, only the first of the four parts of this book is about the art and science of digital photography itself. The rest of the book is about moving your photos to the PC, editing them, and sharing them via printing, email, or even coffee mugs. The part that is about photography is helpful when it is discussing artistic techniques, and somewhat frustrating when it is trying to give you specific instructions on operating a generic camera such as "If your camera has a portrait mode, indicated on this camera and many others by a silhouette of a human head, you may not have to fiddle with manual aperture settings". The question is, how do I know whether or not my camera even has a portrait mode? This is not the vague type of instruction I am accustomed to when dealing with the Missing Manual series.

Outside of my general frustration with part one, though, the rest of the book is quite good. That is because the author now has a limited set of software packages to work with as far as instructions go, and here we get back into the high quality specific Missing Manual instructions that are so familiar. The author talks about specific aspects of using Easyshare, Picasa, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Flickr, and Photoshop Elements for organizing, editing, and sharing your photos with good comparisons of the different software packages and specific instructions for each. Overall, I recommend this book. Just realize that the part on photography itself is somewhat vague. I notice that the table of contents are not shown, so I do that below:

Part One: DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS
Chapter 1. DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS
Point-and-Shoot or Single Lens Reflex?
Image Resolution and Memory Capacity
Batteries
Deciphering Optical and Digital Zoom
Image Stabilizer (Vibration Reduction)
Flip Screens for Multiple Viewpoints
Optical Viewfinder
Taking Control with Manual Options
Improving Autofocus
External Flashes and Other Attachments
Minimizing Shutter Lag
Burst Mode for Rapid-Fire Shooting
Creating Panoramas
Software That Comes with Your Camera
Eliminating Specks (Noise Reduction)
Taking Movies with Your Camera
Chapter 2. POINTING, SHOOTING, AND BASIC COMPOSITION
Composition Explained
Apply the Rule of Thirds
Get Closer for Better Pictures
Eliminate Busy Backgrounds
Go Low, Go High
A Final Thought
Chapter 3. BEYOND THE SIMPLE SNAPSHOT
Shooting Sports and Action
Taking Portraits
Kids and School Performances
Weddings and Celebrations
Sunsets and Nighttime Photos
Landscape and Nature
Photographing Objects
Digital Movies
Cameraphone Photography

Part Two: ORGANIZING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 4. GETTING PHOTOS ONTO YOUR PC
Moving Pictures from Camera to Computer
Moving Pictures from a Card Reader to a PC
Importing Photos with a Scanner
Three Ways to Scan an Image
Using Windows Scanner Wizard
Chapter 5. ORGANIZING PHOTOS ON YOUR PC
Organizing Photos with Windows XP
Organizing Photos with EasyShare Albums
Organizing Photos with Picasa
Chapter 6. STORING YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE
Why Put Your Photos Online?
Choosing an Online Photo Service
Getting Photos Online with EasyShare
Organizing Photos with EasyShare
Getting Photos Online with Shutterfly
Organizing Photos with Shutterfly
Getting Photos Online with Snapfish
Organizing Photos with Snapfish
Getting Photos Online with Flickr
Organizing Photos with Flickr
Chapter 7. BACKING UP YOUR PHOTO LIBRARY
Strategies to Protect Your Photos
CD, DVD, or Hard Drive?
EasyShare's Backup Tools
Picasa's Backup Tools
Chapter 8. ORGANIZING AND BACKING UP WITH ELEMENTS
Importing with the Photo Downloader
Browsing Photos in the Organizer
Creating Tags and Categories
Assigning Tags to Photos
Creating Collections
Searching for Photos
Backing Up with the Organizer

Part Three: EDITING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 9. BASIC PHOTO FIXES
Common Problems, Easy Fixes
Rotating & Cropping with EasyShare
Improving Photos with EasyShare
Fixing Red Eye with EasyShare
Rotate and Straighten with Picasa
Cropping Photos with Picasa
Fixing Exposure Problems with Picasa
Fixing Contrast and Color with Picasa
Fixing Red Eye with Picasa
Chapter 10. ROTATING, CROPPING, AND SIZING WITH ELEMENTS
Changing Your View of Your Photos
Rotating Photos
Straightening Photos
Cropping Photos
Changing the Size of Your Photos
Chapter 11. THE QUICK FIX
A Tour of the Quick Fix Window
Quick Fix Suggested Workflow
Fixing Red Eye
The Smart Fix
Adjusting Lighting and Contrast
Correcting Color
Sharpening
Chapter 12. ADVANCED PHOTO RETOUCHING WITH ELEMENTS
Fixing Exposure Problems
Sharpening Your Images
Fixing Blemishes: An Introduction
Correcting the Colors on Your Screen
Taking Control with Levels
Removing Unwanted Colors
Making Your Colors More Vibrant
Chapter 13. CREATING SPECIAL EFFECTS
Adding Effects with EasyShare
Adding Effects with Picasa
Adding Effects with Elements
Creating Panoramas with Elements

Part Four: SHARING YOUR PHOTOS
Chapter 14. SHARING YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE
Choosing a Photo-Sharing Service
Sharing Photos with EasyShare
Sharing Photos with Shutterfly Express
Sharing Photos with Snapfish
Sharing Photos and Hobbies: Flickr
Sharing with the Pros: Photo net
Chapter 15. EMAILING YOUR PHOTOS
Understanding the File Size Dilemma
Emailing Photos with EasyShare
Emailing Photos with Picasa
Emailing Photos with Elements
Chapter 16. PRINTING YOUR PHOTOS
How to Make Great Prints at Home
Printing Photos with EasyShare
Printing Photos with Picasa
Printing Photos with Elements
Printing at Photo Kiosks
Ordering Prints Online
Ordering Prints Online with EasyShare
Ordering Prints Online with Picasa
Ordering Prints Online with Shutterfly
Ordering Prints Online with Snapfish
Ordering Prints Online with Elements
Chapter 17. CREATIVE PHOTO PROJECTS
Making Slideshows with PhotoShow
Simple Slideshows in Elements
Custom Slideshows in Elements
Posters, Calendars, and Photo Books
More Elements Creative Projects
Photo Mugs, T-Shirts, and More

Very well written - clear, simple, easy to follow. And it does have some great tips - even for the intermediate photographer. But this is really a book for someone who has never used a digital camera before or who has never taken the time to understand their camera's features. It also spends a lot of space discussing several specific photo management software programs (EasyShare, Picasa, Elements), as well as some common on-line photo sharing sites. If you're new to this art then this book will be a great start. But if you're already familiar with your camera and with digital photo editing and on-line sharing, you probably won't get much new out of this. Plus, if you don't plan on obtaining the specific software the authors discuss, at least half the book will be of no use to you.

I found the book to be comprehensive. It is a great starting point for the novice and a good reference for someone who is familiar with the subject, but not a pro. The chapter headings are "tabbed" in the upper corner of the page, which makes topics easy to find. Also, the numerous illustrations and various fonts made the book extremely readable.

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