Amazon.com (ISBN 0201354020, Paperback)

The title of Real World Digital Photography doesn't adequately indicate the scope and sheer practical usefulness of the information within. The book not only gives a clear breakdown of how to choose and use a digital camera, it also covers everything from sound photographic advice (lighting, framing, and cropping) to manipulation of digital images (primarily in Photoshop). This latter section is especially well-written, covering everything necessary for color correction: levels, histograms, the unsharp mask filter--all explained clearly but without an overwhelming amount of detail.

This book is aimed at neither the casual consumer nor the professional digital photographer with $50,000 to spend. Rather, it is perfect for several types of professionals: graphic designers, design students, real estate and insurance agents, and many others. It shows how digital cameras work (what makes both the inner workings and the output differ from that in traditional film cameras); which camera to buy for your needs and budget; and how to take, edit, archive, and store pictures.

Many basic terms get clarified--for example, how JPEG compression works--and there are lots of sidebar tips such as how to progressively downsample an image in a way that preserves the most detail. The book also explains how to print the images on inkjet or dye sub printers. (Did you know not to convert an RGB image to CMYK before sending it to the printer? Let the printer do the conversion.)

A lot of the information and explanations in Real World Digital Photography will still be useful long after the featured cameras are considered yesterday's technology. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Types of cameras and which to buy, how they work, the mechanics of digital imagery, setting up a digital "darkroom" and desktop studio, the basics of good photography, Quicktime VR, digital correction of images, preparing images for print or Web, and archiving digital images.