Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Boxed Set, Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Scott Kelby 2 Table of Contents The Digital Photography Book, Part 1 The Digital Photography Book, Part 2 The Digital Photography Book, Part 3 The Digital Photography Book, Part 4 The Digital Photography Book, Part 5 3 4 The Digital Photography Book The step-by-step secrets for how to make your photos look like the pros’! Scott Kelby 5 The Digital Photography Book, part 1 PUBLISHED BY Peachpit Press ©2013 Scott Kelby All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Composed in Myriad Pro (Adobe Systems Incorporated) and LCD (Esselte) by Kelby Media Group Inc. The Digital Photography Book, part 1 Team CREATIVE DIRECTOR Felix Nelson ART DIRECTOR Jessica Maldonado TECHNICAL EDITORS Kim Doty Cindy Snyder EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Bill Fortney PRODUCTION MANAGER Dave Damstra PHOTOGRAPHY Scott Kelby STUDIO AND PRODUCTION SHOTS Brad Moore Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Peachpit Press cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in the book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. Nikon is a registered trademark of Nikon Corporation. Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. Sony is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation. Warning and Disclaimer 6 This book is designed to provide information about digital photography. Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty of fitness is implied. The information is provided on an as-is basis. The author and Peachpit Press shall have neither the liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it. ISBN 13: 978-0-321-93494-9 ISBN 10: 0-321-93494-6 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in the United States of America www.peachpit.com www.kelbytraining.com 7 Dedicated to the amazing Dr. Stephanie Van Zandt for her excellent advice, for taking such good care of my wife, and for delivering the sweetest little baby girl in the whole world. 8 Acknowledgments Although only one name appears on the spine of this book, it takes a team of dedicated and talented people to pull a project like this together. I’m not only delighted to be working with them, but I also get the honor and privilege of thanking them here. I’ve written more than 50 books, and in each book I write, I always start by thanking my amazing, wonderful, beautiful, hilarious, and absolutely brilliant wife Kalebra. She probably stopped reading these acknowledgments 30 or more books ago because I keep gushing on and on about her, and despite how amazingly beautiful, charming, and captivating she is, she’s a very humble person (which makes her even more beautiful). And even though I know she probably won’t read this, I just have to thank her anyway because not only could I not do any of this without her, I simply wouldn’t want to. She’s just “it.” It’s her voice, her touch, her smile, her heart, her generosity, her compassion, her sense of humor, and the way she sneaks around behind the scenes trying to make sure my life is that much better, that much more fun, and that much more fulfilling—you just have to adore someone like that. She is the type of woman love songs are written for, and as any of my friends will gladly attest, I am, without a doubt, the luckiest man alive to have her as my wife. I love you madly, sweetheart! I also want to thank my crazy, fun-filled, wonderful 16-year-old son Jordan. He won’t read this either, because as he says, “It embarrasses him.” And since I know he won’t read it (or even let me read it to him), I can safely gush about him, too. Dude, you rock! You are just about the coolest son any dad could ask for—you dig Bon Jovi, you’re always up for a game of Black Ops, you play drums (just like your dad), you love to go to the movies with me, and you get as excited about life as I do. You are nothing but a joy, and I’m so thrilled to be your dad (plus, you’re such a great big brother to your little sister). I am very, very proud of you little pal (which is a relative term, since you’re 6′1" now). I also want to thank my beautiful, hilarious daughter Kira, who is the best-natured, happiest little girl in the whole wide world. You’re only seven years old, and you’ve already been reflecting your mom’s sweet nature, her beautiful smile, and her loving heart for many years now. You’re too young to really know what an amazing mother you have, but before long, just like your brother, you’ll realize that your mom is someone very special, and that thanks to her you’re in for a really fun, exciting, hug- and adventure-filled life. Also, thanks to my big brother, Jeff. Brothers don’t get much better than you, and that’s why Dad was always so proud of you. You are truly one of the “good guys” and I’m very, very lucky to have you in my life. My personal thanks to my friend and fellow photographer Brad Moore, who shot most of the product shots for this edition of the book and worked as first assistant on many of the shots I took throughout the book. You’re absolutely invaluable and an awful lot of fun. Special thanks to my home team at Kelby Media Group. I love working with you guys and you make coming into work an awful lot of fun for me. I’m so proud of what you all do—how you come together to hit our sometimes impossible deadlines, and as always, you do it with class, poise, and a can-do attitude that is truly inspiring. I’m honored to be working with you all. Thanks to my Editor Kim Doty, who is just the greatest editor ever, and I couldn’t imagine doing these 9 books without her. Also, thanks to Jessica Maldonado (my awesome book designer and our newest co-host on Photoshop User TV) for giving the book such a tight, clean layout, and for all the clever little things she adds that make the book that much better. Thanks to my in-house Tech Editor Cindy Snyder, who puts everything through rigorous testing and tries to stop me from slipping any of my famous typos past the goalie. Thanks to my best buddy Dave Moser, whose tireless dedication to creating a quality product makes every project we do better than the last. Thanks to Jean A. Kendra for her steadfast support, and an extra special thanks to my Executive Assistant Susan Hageanon for keeping everything running smoothly while I’m out traveling and writing books (and for making sure I actually have the time I need to write books in the first place). Thanks to my publisher Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel, my way cool Editor and friend Ted Waitt (BT), marketing maverick Scott Cowlin, and marketing gunslinger Sara Jane Todd, along with the incredibly dedicated team at Peachpit Press. It’s a real honor to get to work with people who really just want to make great books. Also, thanks to the folks at iStockphoto.com for enabling me to use some of their wonderful photography in this book when I didn’t have the right image to illustrate my point. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my good friend Bill Fortney for helping tech edit the first edition of this book, and it’s infinitely better because of his comments, ideas, and input. Bill is just an amazing individual, a world-class photographer, a testament to how to live one’s life, and I’m truly honored to have gotten the chance to work with someone of his caliber, integrity, and faith. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the talented and gifted photographers who’ve taught me so much over the years, including Moose Peterson, Vincent Versace, Bill Fortney, David Ziser, Jim DiVitale, Helene Glassman, Joe McNally, Anne Cahill, George Lepp, Cliff Mautner, Kevin Ames, David Tejada, Frank Doorhof, Eddie Tapp, Jack Reznicki, and Jay Maisel. Thank you for sharing your passion, ideas, and techniques with me and my students. Thanks to my mentors whose wisdom and whip-cracking have helped me immeasurably, including John Graden, Jack Lee, Dave Gales, Judy Farmer, and Douglas Poole. Most importantly, I want to thank God, and His Son Jesus Christ, for leading me to the woman of my dreams, for blessing us with such amazing children, for allowing me to make a living doing something I truly love, for always being there when I need Him, for blessing me with a wonderful, fulfilling, and happy life, and such a warm, loving family to share it with. 10