How Digital Photography Works

How Digital Photography Works

Released September 2005
Publisher(s): Que
ISBN: 9780789733092

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Book description

Remember when digital cameras first came on the market a few years ago? Like most people, you probably waited to buy one, waiting to see if it was just a fad or if it was going to become a way of life, much like PCs did in the 1980s. Well, years have gone by and digital cameras are only getting better with time. Yet it seems like more people have digital cameras than know how to use them. How Digital Photography Works is a digital camera and photography book that actually tells you how it all works. Full-color, large illustrations take the guesswork out of understanding all of the cool things your digital camera and software can do, from capturing images to fixing mistakes. You will learn:

  • How a lens works

  • How exposure works

  • How digital cameras transform light to become data

  • How digital cameras manipulate photos

  • How digital tools correct picture-taking mistakes

  • How digital print-making works

  • So much more

    • How Digital Photography Works is the only book that gives you a behind the scenes look at digital photography, ultimately making you a better digital photographer.

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
      1. Dedication
    2. About the Author
    3. About the Illustrator
    4. Acknowledgments
    5. We Want to Hear from You!
    6. Introduction
    7. 1. Getting to Know Digital Cameras
      1. 1. The Workings of a Digital Camera
        1. Gathering the Light
        2. Crafting Light into an Image
        3. Storing the Image
    8. 2. How Digital Cameras Capture Images
      1. 2. How Lenses Work
        1. How a Lens Bends Light
        2. How a Lens Focuses an Image
        3. How Active Autofocus Makes Pictures Sharp
        4. How Passive Autofocus Sees Sharp and Fuzzy
        5. How a High-tech Motor Moves the Lens
        6. How the Eye Controls Autofocus
      2. 3. How Digital Images Trick the Eye
        1. How Viewfinders Frame Your Pictures
        2. How Lenses See Far and Wide
          1. The Normal Lens
          2. The Wide-angle Lens
          3. The Telephoto Lens
        3. How Digital Lenses Manipulate Space
        4. How Zoom Lenses Zoom
        5. How Digital Zoom Fakes It
        6. How We Perceive Detail
        7. How Perception Creates Depth of Field
        8. How Photographers Control Depth of Field
          1. Focal Length
          2. Distance
          3. Aperture
        9. How Digital Tech Changes the Way Lenses Work
        10. How New Technology Creates a Standard for Digital Cameras
        11. How Digital Cameras Cure the Shakes
          1. How Vibration Creates Blurred Images
          2. How Cameras Detect Movement
        12. Electronic Image Stabilization
        13. Vari-Angle Prism System
        14. Piezoelectric Supersonic Linear Actuator Stabilization
          1. Motion Correction
          2. Motion Detection
          3. Shift Image Stabilizer
      3. 4. How Digital Cameras Capture Light
        1. How a Diaphragm Controls Light
        2. How the Shutter Slices Time
        3. How Cameras Measure Light
        4. How Light Meters View the World
        5. How Digicams Juggle Exposure and Creativity
        6. How Exposure Systems Balance Aperture and Shutter
        7. How Digital Photographers Remain Masters of Their Domains
          1. How Bracketing Gives Digital Photographers Insurance
          2. How Photographers Use Exposure Compensation
          3. How Photographers Get in the Zone
        8. How Digital Cameras Create a Whiter Shade of White
        9. How Photos Make Noise
        10. How Histograms Run the Gamut
      4. 5. How Light Becomes Data
        1. How Film Photography Captures an Image
        2. How a Microchip Catches a Picture
        3. How Image Sensors Differ
          1. How the Fuji SR Sensor Has Double Vision
        4. How the Foveon Image Sensor Stacks It On
        5. How an Image Becomes Data
        6. How Algorithms Smooth Out a Picture’s Rough Spots
        7. How Big Photos Fit in Small Chips
    9. 3. How the Digital Darkroom Works
      1. 6. How Software Manipulates Pixels
        1. How Software Changes Photos by the Numbers
        2. How Software Focuses Pictures After They’re Taken
          1. When Unsharp Is Sharp
        3. How Blurred Becomes Better
        4. How Software Changes Exposure After the Shot
          1. Underexposure
          2. Overexposure
        5. How Software Corrects Bad Lighting
        6. How Bigger Photos Preserve Little Details
          1. Better Ways to Enlarge Images
        7. How a Digital Darkroom Makes Good Photos Better
      2. 7. How Digital Retouching Rescues Family Heirlooms
        1. How Software Removes Dust and Scratches
        2. How the Digital Darkroom Rescues Damaged Heirlooms
        3. How Software Brings Pictures Back to Life
      3. 8. How the Digital Darkroom makes Good Photos into Great Fantasies
        1. How to Make a Red Rose Blue
        2. How Digital Photos Make Fun of You
    10. 4. How Digital Print-making Works
      1. 9. How Computers and Printers Create Photographs
        1. How an LCD Screen Displays Your Photo
        2. How Colors Are Created
        3. How Calibration Keeps Your Colors Your Colors
      2. 10. How Printers Deliver Photo-quality Prints
        1. How a Printer Rains Ink to Create a Picture
        2. How Inkjets and Inks Differ
          1. Thermal Nozzle
          2. Piezoelectric Nozzle
          3. Dyes Versus Pigments
          4. Paper
        3. How a Dye Sub Photo Printer Works
    11. Glossary

    Product information

    • Title: How Digital Photography Works
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: September 2005
    • Publisher(s): Que
    • ISBN: 9780789733092