A ShortCourse Book
Nikon Coolpix 950 Photography

Nikon Coolpix 950 Photography

Nikon Coolpix 950 Photography

This clearly written and easy-to understand short course on your Nikon Coolpix 950 explains step-by-step how, why and when you use your camera's controls for better pictures. This guide is available as a traditional 106 page large-format (8.5 by 11) spiral bound book printed in black and white.

 

Introduction

New, a Short Courses digital photography book for people who own the Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera and want to get better pictures. This beautifully written and illustrated guide, drawing on the much more comprehensive information on the ShortCourses Web site, pulls together answers to the questions you might have about using the Nikon 950, including the following:
 
  • Taking a Picture in Automatic Mode
  • Selecting a Quality Mode
  • Selecting a Shutter Speed
  • Selecting an Aperture
  • Changing Exposure Modes
  • Using the Self-Timer
  • Reducing Blur in hand-Held Images
  • Increasing Sensitivity
  • Increasing Sharpness of Moving Objects in Automatic Mode
  • Using Manual Focus
  • Increasing dept of Field in Automatic Mode
  • Using Focus Lock
  • Getting Maximum Depth of Field
  • Decreasing Depth of Field in Automatic Mode
  • Conveying Motion in Automatic Mode
  • Changing the Metering Mode
  • Using Exposure Compensation
  • Using Exposure Lock
  • Adjusting Brightness and Contrast
  • Adjusting White Balance
  • Using Lens Adapters
  • Zooming the Lens
  • Using Automatic Digital Zoom
  • Using Digital Tele
  • Using Autoflash
  • Combating Red-eye
  • Using Fill Flash
  • Using Slow Sync
  • Turning off the Flash
  • Taking Macro Close-ups
  • Locking Exposure and Light Balance for Panoramas
  • Using the Fisheye Lens Converter
  • Shooting in Black & White
  • Using Multi-shot Photography


The book is designed to work with the www.shortcourses.com site. The book explains how to get better pictures but you'll find more on that subject on the site. In addition, there is lots of information on the site about what you can do with your pictures after you've taken them.

Contents

Chapter 1
Camera Controls and Creativity

Automatic all the way
What is a digital photograph?
How a digital camera works
Image quality
The shutter controls light and motion
The aperture controls light and depth of field
Using shutter speed and aperture together
Exposure modes

Chapter 2
Controlling Sharpness

Eliminating camera movement
Sharpness isn't everything
How to photograph motion sharply
Distance to subject and focal length of lens
Focus and depth of field
Controlling depth of field
How to get maximum depth of field
Selective focus: when you don’t want everything sharp
Conveying the feeling of motion

Chapter 3
Controlling Exposure

How your meter works
How exposure affects your images
When automatic exposure works well
When to override automatic exposure
How to override automatic exposure
Brightness and contrast

Chapter 4
Capturing Light & Color

Where does color come from?
Color balance
Color balance and the time of day
Sunsets and sunrises
The moon
Weather
Color choices
Photographing at night
Light: its direction
Light: from direct to diffuse
Using light and color creatively

Chapter 5
Understanding lenses

How a lens works
Lens focal length and angle of view
Normal-focal-length lenses
Wide-angle lenses: short focal length
A telephoto view: long focal length
Portraits with a long lens
Zoom lenses
Perspective: how a photograph shows depth

Chapter 6
Using Automatic Flash

Types of flash
How automatic flash works
Portraits with flash
Fill flash
Slow sync
Using available light
Using flash creatively

Chapter 7
Exploring Close-up Photography

Macro lenses
Focusing and depth of field
Parallax, the curse of point-and-shoot cameras
Exposures and backgrounds
Arranging lighting
Using flash

Chapter 8
Special Features

Panoramas
Ipix images
Shooting in black & white
Multi-shot photography

Appendix
The Camera's Controls



Preface

A great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or subject. But recognizing a great opportunity isn't enough to capture it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared involves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see. Getting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this book is all about. It doesn't matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure, there's a lot here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from your photography.

To get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand both concepts and procedures; the "whys" and "hows" of photography.

  • Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply regardless of the camera you are using. They include such things as how sharpness and exposure affect your images and the way they are perceived by viewers. Understanding concepts answers the "why" kinds of questions you might have about photography.
  • Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and explain step-by-step how you set your camera's controls to capture an image just the way you want to. Understanding procedures gives you the answers to the "how" kinds of questions you might have.
This book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because that's how photographers think. You think about scenes and subjects, highlights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color and tone. The procedures you use with the Nikon 950 camera are integrated throughout the concepts, appearing in those places where they apply. This integrated approach let's you first understand the concepts of photography and then see step by step how to use the Nikon 950 in all kinds of photographic situations.

To get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you only need to understand how and when to use a few simple features on your camera such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If you've previously avoided understanding these features and the profound impact they can have on your images, you'll be pleased to know that you can learn them on a weekend afternoon. You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how their infinite variety of combinations makes it possible to convey your own personal view of the world. You'll be ready to keep everything in a scene sharp for maximum detail or to blur it all for an impressionistic portrayal. You'll be able to get dramatic close-ups, freeze fast action, create wonderful panoramas, and capture the beauty and wonder of rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, and nighttime scenes.

As you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no "rules" or "best" way to make a picture. Great photographs come from using what you know to experiment and try new approaches. Digital cameras make this especially easy because there are no film costs or delays. Every experiment is free and you see the results immediately so you can learn step by step.

This book assumes you've mastered the mechanics of your camera. It's about getting great pictures, not about installing batteries and connecting your camera to your computer. That information is well presented in the user guides that came with your camera, however it is summarized in the Appendix of this book.

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Click to order a copy of the printed book for $24.95US.


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