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42877FM.qxd 9/22/06 5:40 PM Page iii
Pro Tips for Taking Great Pictures
with Your Digital Camera
SHOOTING DIGITAL
Second Edition
Mikkel Aaland
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Pro Tips for Taking Great Pictures
with Your Digital Camera
SHOOTING DIGITAL
Second Edition
Mikkel Aaland
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Acquisitions Editor: PETE GAUGHAN
Developmental Editor: JIM COMPTON
Technical Editor: FRED SHIPPEY
Production Editors: DARIA MEOLI AND RACHEL MEYERS
Copy Editor: LIZ WELCH
Production Manager: TIM TATE
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: RICHARD SWADLEY
Vice President and Executive Publisher: JOSEPH B. WIKERT
Vice President and Publisher: DAN BRODNITZ
Book Designer: LORI BARRA, TONBO DESIGNS
Compositor: FRANZ BAUMHACKL
Proofreader: NANCY RIDDIOUGH
Indexer: TED LAUX
Anniversary Logo Design: RICHARD PACIFICO
Cover Designer: RYAN SNEED
Cover Image of jumping man by Getty Images. Inset photos of horse and church by Mikkel Aaland.
Copyright © 2007 by Mikkel Aaland
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13: 978-0-4700-4287-8
ISBN-10: 0-4700-4287-7
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise,
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically
disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose.
No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strate-
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Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To Rebecca, Miranda, and Ana
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Acknowledgments
A lot of people made this book possible: For the second edition I’d like to thank Pete Gaughan,
who patiently finessed me and this book to completion, and Jim Compton, who worked on the
first edition and was luckily available to lend his invaluable advice and help on the second edition
as well. Thank you, Dan Brodnitz, for helping making both editions possible.
I’d also like to thank Ed Schwartz, who likewise worked on the first edition and jumped in
to help on this edition, and Fred Shippey, tech editor for both editions and friend for more years
than I can remember. Thanks to Daria Meoli, Rachel Meyers, and everyone else at Wiley who
worked on this edition. Starting with Bonnie Bills, I want to acknowledge the “team” for the first
edition who helped lay the groundwork for making this a great book: Dennis Fitzgerald, Amy
Changar, Margaret Rowlands, and Yaniv Soha.
Thanks, of course, to Studio B’s Neil Salkind and David Rogelberg, who counsel me well. Liz
Grady found and contacted many of the contributing photographers and was a joy to work with.
The book would be very slim if it weren’t for the advice and contributions of its contribu-
tors: Richard Anderson, Morton Beebe, Robert Birnbach, Rudy Burger, Craig Carraher, Doug
Clark, Jorge Colombo, Bruce Dale, Dave Drum, Peter Figen, Bitsy Fitzsimmons, Helmi Flick,
Kate Grady, Scott Haefner, Dave Harp, Scott Highton, Jack Holm, Bruce Avera Hunter, John
Isaac, Leonard Koren, Tinnee Lee, Wendi Marafino, Tom Mogensen, Richard Morgenstein, Michael
Reichman, Mark Richards, Steve Rosenbaum, Doug Salin, Terry Schmitt, Chester Simpson, Carol
Steele, Andrew Tarnowka, and Chris Wahlberg. Their names and contact information are found at
the end of the book. I encourage you to go online and explore more of their wonderful work.
I’d also like to thank Monica Suder, Michelle Vignes, Alexis Gerard, Karen Thomas, John
Knaur (Olympus), John McDermott, Paul Persons, Michael Langberg, Luis Delgado, Mark
Brokering, Richard Koman, Bernard Ohanian, Hunter Freeman, Paul Agus, Michael Borek, Tony
Barnard, Jim Kane (Nikon), Jacques Gauchey, Cotton Coulson, Joy Tessman, Matt Dibble, Daniel
Watz, Sean Parker, Laura Levy, Sebastian DeWitt, Maggie Hallahan, Eric Hyman (Bibble Labs), Eric
Zarakov (Foveon), Beth Avant (Sony), Pam Barnett, Peter Skinner, Kris Aaland, Michael Taggart, Sr.,
Steve Schneider, Michael McNamara, Kakul Srivastava (Adobe), Saurabh Wahi (Nikon), Amy K.
Podurgiel (Nikon), Jane Kimberly Foley (Nikon), and John Edling (Dycam), who all provided
valuable advice and information.
Thanks also to Leo Laporte, a true lover of photography, for his wonderful foreword, and
Michael Rogers, who has shared the digital path with me for so long.
Last but by no means least, thanks to my wife, Rebecca Taggart, and my daughters,
Miranda Kristina and Ana Mikaela, who make it all worthwhile.
—MIKKEL AALAND, SAN FRANCISCO, 2006
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Foreword
The power of the computer revolution is simple: once you
convert real-world objects into bits and bytes, anything is possible. Nowhere is this
more apparent than in photography.
Digital photography represents the latest step in a technological revolution
that began almost two centuries ago with Louis Daguerre’s silver chloride prints.
Daguerre amazed the world by fixing the light from a pinhole camera onto a piece
of glass, thereby preserving a moment in time for an eternity.
Today an inexpensive digital camera can transform that light into electrical
impulses with accuracy and brilliance that even film can’t match. It can store hun-
dreds of images on a sliver of silicon no bigger than your thumbnail. Those images
can easily be sent across the country in seconds, be shared with hundreds of people
at once, and even be modified to create an utterly new reality. The tools and skills
necessary to do all this are within the reach of nearly anyone. You hold in your
hands the book that will unlock those skills for you.
It’s fitting that the author himself has traveled a similar path. Mikkel Aaland
has worked as an itinerant photographer, making pictures much as his 19th-century
counterparts must have, in a makeshift studio-on-wheels, capturing images of any-
one with a few dollars to spare. After nine years on the road, the result was his 1981
book, County Fair Portraits.
Shortly thereafter, another legend, Ansel Adams, told Mikkel that if he were
beginning all over again he’d be shooting digital. Mikkel took the great man at his
word and became one of the first to use, and write about, digital photography.
When Photoshop was first released in 1990, Mikkel reviewed it. In 1992, he
wrote Digital Photography, one of the earliest books published on the subject, and
he has written many more since. He has worked as a professional photographer,
using top-of-the-line digital equipment, and as a proud husband and father he has
captured his own life with the same consumer-grade cameras the rest of us use. He’s
also been teaching digital techniques for the past several years on my TV, radio, and
online shows. There is no better guide to the magical transformation of light and
dark into bits and bytes.
Photography, from the Greek for “writing in light,” has rewritten our notion of
time and history. Digital photography is reworking our notion of reality itself. One of
the great technological innovations of the 19th century is once again leading the way in
the 21st. Here is your chance to be a part of the revolution—to start Shooting Digital.
LEO LAPORTE
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Contents
Chapter 1 Before You Shoot 1
Bridging the Film/Digital Gap 2
The Right Digital Camera 11
Knowing Your Digital Camera 15
Software Solutions 18
Accessories That Make a Difference 19
Finding Up-to-Date Information and Support 19
Chapter 2 Shooting RAW 21
viii
CONTENTS ■
When to Shoot RAW 23
Critical—and Less Critical—Digital Camera Settings 25
Getting the Correct Exposure for RAW 29
RAW Data Revealed 31
Optimizing a Raw Image with Software 36
Preparing RAW to Share 40
Chapter 3 Shooting Great Portraits 45
The Digital Photographer and the Subject 46
Preparing for Your Shoot 46
Working with Your Subject During the Shoot 49
Making Head and Shoulders Shots 51
Environmental Portraits 61
Group Portraits 64
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Chapter 4 Photographing Children, Pets, and Social Events 69
Beating the Odds 70
Overcoming Camera Lag 71
Photographing Children 74
Photographing Pets 81
Photographing Social Events 88
Chapter 5 Shooting Action 97
The Zen of Shooting Action 98 ix
■ CONTENTS
Optimal Digital Camera Settings for Speed 99
An Ideal Digital Camera for Action Shots 103
Panning for Action 105
Composition and Motion 107
Capturing the Decisive Moment 109
Focus on Reaction 112
Chapter 6 Shooting Digital on the Road 115
Packing Digital for the Road 116
Storage and Archiving on the Road 120
Shooting Digital Candids 122
A Digital Road Trip 124
Shooting in the Cold 126
Shooting in Heat and Humidity 128
Using the Movie Mode 129
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Chapter 7 Shooting Interiors and Exteriors 133
A Different Approach 134
Choosing Light and Location 135
Maximizing Image Quality 138
Playing with Scale 145
Adding Motion 145
Considering Keystoning 147
Composing the Shot 151
Interior and Exterior Light 154
Mixing Interior and Exterior Light 155
Attention to Detail 157
Chapter 8 Shooting Beautiful Landscapes 159
What Makes a Good Landscape? 160
x
Maximizing Image Quality 160
CONTENTS ■
Composition and Content 173
Chapter 9 Shooting Black and White 177
Black-and-White Shooting Considerations 178
When to Convert: Camera or Computer? 181
Using Photoshop’s Channel Mixer 182
Advanced Localized Black-and-White Control with RAW 184
Chapter 10 Shooting Your Stuff 193
Using Indirect Natural Light 194
Shooting Loose with Software in Mind 195
A Basic Digital Photography Studio 198
A Digital Studio in a Box 202
Studio Lighting Techniques 202
The Art of Composition 210
Pushing the Envelope 212
Shooting Flat Objects with Lights 214
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Chapter 11 Shooting Past the Boundaries 217
Shooting Beyond Visible Light 218
Shooting Digital Underwater 219
Shooting Digital from the Sky 223
Night Shots 225
Digital Grid Photos 228
Shooting Digital Minimovies 234
Shooting Simple Panoramas 240
Chapter 12 Organizing and Sharing Digital Photos 245
Direct to Print 246
Digital Camera to Computer 247
Organizing and Managing Digital Photos 249
Sharing Digital Photos 253
xi
■ CONTENTS
Appendix An In-Depth Look at Digital Technologies and Procedures 267
Reading the Histogram 268
Fine-Tuning White Balance 269
Sensors Expanded 270
Extending Exposure Latitude with Software 271
Index 275
Contributors 285
42877FM.qxd 9/22/06 5:40 PM Page xii
“Shooting Digital
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