For most of us with traditional cameras, after the roll of film is exposed that's the end of our active participation unless we have access to a darkroom and the associated chemistry. With a digital camera, the fun is just beginning. Apply a variety of special effects to your images, adjust the colour balance or crop out unwanted elements, all without getting your hands wet. As with point-and-shoot film cameras, digital photography is not quite as simple as camera manufacturers would have us believe. This book from the "for Dummies" series helps the enthusiast make the transition from traditional to digital photography.
It also caters for the complete beginner with a section on photographic principles common to both forms.
The complicated menage a trois of photographic, computer and printing technologies is explained as simply as is feasible with such difficult and diverse subjects. The brain-scrambling relationship of resolution and image size, terms whose meanings have a chameleon-like quality which can confuse even the professional, is also made as understandable as possible.
File formats, different forms of compression and their relative merits are discussed (in possibly too much detail for the beginner) but then they are topics which do not lend themselves to simplification.
The author has included a very good section on assessing the merits of different makes and models of digital camera. This should help in choosing the equipment to suit your particular needs, not to mention your pocket. A glossary of digital photography terms will also help to navigate the world of megapixels and jaggies.
Even if you do not own a digital camera there is enough in the section on image manipulation to interest anyone who has access to digital images. With so many low-cost scanners available there is sure to be an increase in the demand for this kind of book.
The book also comes with a CD-Rom of image-editing utilities, such as Kodak Picture Easy 3.1 and Spin Panorama 1.0, and trial versions of several popular tools and programs. These include an evaluation copy of the very useful PaintShop Pro and a tantalising save-disabled copy of the latest version 5 of the industry standard Adobe Photoshop.