Julie Adair King has been writing about digital cameras and photography since 1997. Her current bestsellers include guides on various Nikon and Canon cameras as well as seven editions of Digital Photography For Dummies. When not writing, Julie teaches master workshops and image editing at such locations as the Palm Beach Photographic Centre.

Introduction 1

A Quick Look at What's Ahead 1

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 1

Part II: Working with Picture Files 2

Part III: Taking Creative Control 2

Part IV: The Part of Tens 2

Icons and Other Stuff to Note 2

eCheat Sheet 3

Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun! 4

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5

Chapter 1: Getting the Lay of the Land 7

Getting Comfortable with Your Lens 8

Attaching a lens 8

Removing a lens 10

Setting the focus mode (auto or manual) 10

Zooming in and out 12

Using a VR (Vibration Reduction) lens 12

Adjusting the Viewfinder Focus 13

Working with Memory Cards 15

Exploring External Camera Controls 18

Topside controls 18

Back-of-the-body controls 20

Front-left buttons 23

Front-right features 24

Hidden connections 24

Ordering from Camera Menus 25

Using the guided menus 26

Ordering off the main menus 31

Monitoring Shooting Settings 33

Changing Settings Using the Information Display 35

Displaying Help Screens 36

Customizing Your Camera: Setup Menu Options 37

Restoring Default Settings 44

Chapter 2: Choosing Basic Picture Settings 47

Choosing an Exposure Mode 48

Choosing the Release Mode 50

Single Frame and Quiet Shutter Release modes 52

Continuous (burst mode) shooting 52

Self-timer shooting 54

Wireless remote-control modes 55

Adding Flash 56

Enabling flash 57

Setting the Flash mode 58

Choosing the Right Quality Settings 61

Diagnosing quality problems 62

Considering image size: How many pixels are enough? 63

Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw) 67

My take: Choose JPEG Fine or Raw (NEF) 72

Setting Image Size and Quality 73

Chapter 3: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 77

Setting Up for Automatic Success 78

As Easy As It Gets: Auto and Auto Flash Off 82

Taking Advantage of Scene Modes 86

Getting More Creative with Guide Mode 90

Chapter 4: Exploring Live View Photography and Movie Making 97

Using Your Monitor as a Viewfinder 98

Live View safety tips 99

Customizing the Live View display 103

Focusing in Live View Mode 105

Choosing the right focusing pairs 110

Autofocusing in Live View and Movie mode 111

Manual focusing for Live View and movie photography 113

Shooting Still Pictures in Live View Mode 114

Shooting Digital Movies 116

Choosing the video mode (NTSC or PAL) 116

Setting video quality (frame size, frame rate, and bit rate) 117

Controlling audio 120

Manipulating movie exposure 123

Reviewing a few final recording options 124

Recording a movie 125

Screening Your Movies 127

Trimming Movies 129

Saving a Movie Frame as a Still Image 132

Part II: Working with Picture Files 135

Chapter 5: Playback Mode: Viewing, Erasing, and Protecting Photos 137

Customizing Basic Playback Options 138

Adjusting playback timing 138

Adjusting and disabling instant image review 139

Enabling automatic picture rotation 139

Viewing Images in Playback Mode 141

Viewing multiple images at a time (thumbnails view) 143

Displaying photos in Calendar view 144

Choosing which images to view 146

Zooming in for a closer view 146

Viewing Picture Data 148

File Information mode 150

Highlights display mode 152

RGB Histogram mode 153

Shooting Data display mode 156

GPS Data mode 157

Overview Data mode 157

Deleting Photos and Movies 159

Deleting fi les one at a time 159

Deleting all photos and movies 160

Deleting a batch of selected files 161

Protecting Photos and Movies 163

Creating a Digital Slide Show 164

Viewing Your Photos and Movies on a Television 168

Chapter 6: Downloading, Printing, and Sharing Your Photos 171

Choosing the Right Photo Software 171

Three free photo programs 172

Advanced photo programs 174

Sending Pictures to the Computer 176

Connecting the camera and computer for picture download 177

Starting the transfer process 178

Downloading using ViewNX 2 180

Processing Raw (NEF) Files 187

Processing Raw images in the camera 187

Processing Raw fi les in ViewNX 2 191

Planning for Perfect Prints 195

Check the pixel count before you print 195

Allow for different print proportions 197

Get print and monitor colors in sync 200

Preparing Pictures for E-Mail and Online Sharing 203

Prepping online photos using ViewNX 2 205

Resizing pictures from the Playback menu 206

Part III: Taking Creative Control 211

Chapter 7: Getting Creative with Exposure 213

Introducing the Exposure Trio: Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO 214

Understanding exposure-setting side effects 216

Doing the exposure balancing act 221

Exploring the Advanced Exposure Modes 222

Reading the Meter 224

Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 227

Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 227

Controlling ISO 230

Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 233

Sorting Through Your Camera's Exposure-Correction Tools 236

Applying Exposure Compensation 236

Using autoexposure lock 240

Expanding tonal range with Active D-Lighting 241

Investigating Advanced Flash Options 244

Choosing the right Flash mode 247

Adjusting flash output 253

Controlling flash output manually 256

Chapter 8: Manipulating Focus and Color 259

Mastering the Autofocus System 260

Reviewing autofocus basics 260

Understanding the AF-Area mode setting 262

Changing the Focus mode setting 267

Choosing the right autofocus combo 269

Using autofocus lock 269

Focusing Manually 270

Manipulating Depth of Field 274

Controlling Color 281

Correcting colors with white balance 281

Changing the White Balance setting 283

Fine-tuning White Balance settings 286

Creating white balance presets 287

Choosing a Color Space: sRGB versus Adobe RGB 291

Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 292

Chapter 9: Putting it All Together 299

Recapping Basic Picture Settings 299

Shooting Still Portraits 301

Capturing action 307

Capturing scenic vistas 310

Capturing dynamic close-ups 313

Part IV: The Part of Tens 317

Chapter 10: Ten Fun and Practical Retouch Menu Features 319

Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 320

Removing Red-Eye 322

Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines 324

Removing (Or Creating) Lens Distortion 326

Correcting Perspective 328

Cropping (Trimming) Your Photo 329

Shadow Recovery with D-Lighting 331

Boosting Shadows, Contrast, and Saturation Together 333

Two Ways to Make Subtle Color Adjustments 334

Applying digital lens filters 335

Manipulating color balance 337

Creating Monochrome Photos 338

Chapter 11: Ten Special-Purpose Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 341

Annotate Your Images 341

Creating Custom Image Folders 343

Changing the Function Button's Function 346

Customizing the AE-L/AF-L Button 347

Using the Shutter Button to Lock Exposure and Focus 348

Adding a Starburst Effect 349

Creating Color Effects 351

Creating a color outline 352

Producing a color sketch 353

Playing with the Selective Color Filter 354

Softening Focus for a Dreamy Effect 356

Creating a Miniature Effect 358

Combining Two Photos with Image Overlay 360

Index 365