Preface

Before we get to how cool your Rebel XS/1000D is, I want to clear up an important issue: Why in the world do you need this book? This camera comes with a very detailed manual, so you might be wondering why you should slog through another big batch of pages.

If you've already looked at the manual that came with your camera, then you've probably discovered that it details each and every button in reasonably clear language and it's well-organized, leading you from simple features to more advanced ones. However, knowing what each button on your camera does won't necessarily mean you can shoot great pictures. Personally, I know the basic concept of a paintbrush, but I can't paint a decent painting to save my life. To use a creative tool well, you must understand both the technique and the craft of the tool, as well as have some sense of artistry when you use it.

That's the idea behind this book. While the automatic systems in the Rebel XS/1000D mean you can shoot snapshots that are almost always properly exposed and possessed of great color, if you want to go further and create images that express something more than a simple documentation of an event, then you need to know something of the art of photography. This book is intended to serve as a full-on photography class, one that covers everything including technical matters and exposure theory, composition theory, and how to find images and expand your visual sense. However, unlike a regular photography class, the class presented in this book is built specifically around the XSi. That means every concept is written about in terms of the XS/1000D's controls and features.

By the way, for those of you outside the United States, please excuse my XS-centric terminology in this book. Unfortunately, Canon gives the same camera different names in different parts of the world. So, in the United States, it's the Rebel XS; in most other parts of the world, it's the EOS 1000D; and in Japan, it's the Kiss F. For the sake of readability, we decided not to refer to the camera as the XS/1000D/Kiss F, because that's simply too cumbersome and distracting. So when you see XS, Rebel XS, or Rebel in this book, know that I'm still talking about your camera (assuming you have a Canon Rebel XS/EOS 1000D/Kiss Fâoops, I was trying to avoid that).

Automatic cameras are great because they do a lot of the work for you, but sometimes you must take manual control and make decisions on your own. This Rebel XS companion will walk you through all the basic photography theories that apply to any cameraâwhether film or digitalâand that you need to understand to be able to fully exploit the capabilities of the XS.

So, by the time you're done with this book, you'll not only know how all the XS's controls function, but you'll also know how to recognize a good photo and how to use the XS's controls to represent that subject as a compelling image. In other words, you'll be a better photographer, whether you're shooting simple snapshots or aiming for something more.

I realize once you start using this camera, you probably won't be able to resist taking lots of pictures. This is a good thing; one of the reat advantages of digital photography is that it doesn't cost you anything to shoot. Because your storage media is reusable, and because there's not an expensive chemical process, you can shoot for free, making it easy to practice and experiment. The freedom to practice will do more to improve your photographic skill than anything else. However, all that practice and experimentation can also mean that you'll soon find yourself mired in a huge number of images. Managing the editing, output, and long-term storage of all of these files can be daunting, but there are a few strategies you can employ to ease your workflow. I've covered these in a bonus online chapter "Workflow: Managing Your Post-Production," available at www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596520861.

This book has been great fun to write, largely because the XS is a fantastic camera. At one time or another I've had my hands on just about every digital SLR made, and I own several that I shoot with all the time. The camera's image quality is top-notch, and the compact design and excellent interface make it a lot of fun to work with. This is a camera that delivers a tremendous amount of imaging power right out of the box, and with this book, you'll learn to get the most from it.