ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bill Hurter started out in photography in 1972 in Washington, DC, where he was a news photographer. He even covered the political scene—including the Watergate hearings. After graduating with a BA in literature from American University in 1972, he completed training at the Brooks Institute of Photography in 1975. Going on to work at Petersen’s PhotoGraphic magazine, he held practically every job except art director. He has been the owner of his own creative agency, shot stock, and worked assignments (including a year or so with the L.A. Dodgers). He has been directly involved in photography for the last thirty years and has seen the revolution in technology. In 1988, Bill was awarded an honorary Masters of Science degree from the Brooks Institute. He has written more than a dozen instructional books for professional photographers and is currently the editor of Rangefinder magazine. Copyright © 2006 by Bill Hurter. All rights reserved. Front cover photograph by Yervant Zanazanian. Back cover photograph by Craig Minielly. Published by: Amherst Media, Inc. P.O. Box 586 Buffalo, N.Y. 14226 Fax: 716-874-4508 www.AmherstMedia.com Publisher: Craig Alesse Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins Assistant Editor: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt ISBN: 1-58428-188-X Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2005937370 Printed in Korea. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechan- ical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher. Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................5 Effective Pixels . .27 File Types . .28 1. THE ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL CAPTURE . .6 PC Terminal . .28 Reduced Costs, Increased Shooting . .6 Shutter-Lag Time . .28 Instant Previews . .6 Lens Capability and Accessories . .29 Enhanced Creativity . .8 Removable Media . .29 Archival Permanence . .10 Dimensions/Weight . .29 Digital Retouching . .11 Battery Power . .29 Remote Capture and Wireless Transfer . .11 Price . .29 White Balance . .20 2. CAMERA EQUIPMENT . .15 Zoom Lenses vs. Prime Lenses . .15 3. LIGHTING EQUIPMENT . .30 Zoom Lenses . .15 Studio Strobe Systems . .30 Prime Lenses . .17 Power Packs . .30 Telephoto Lenses . .19 Firing Studio Strobes . .30 AF Technology . .19 What to Look For . .30 Removable Storage Media . .21 Recycle Times . .31 Types of Media . .21 Modeling Lights . .31 Write Speeds . .23 Color Temperature . .32 Card Readers . .24 Fan-Cooled Generator . .32 Image Sensors . .24 Multi-Voltage Capability . .32 CCD vs. CMOS . .24 Computer Control . .32 Sensor Size . .25 Open-Flash Function . .32 A Clean Image Sensor . .26 Heads and Accessories . .32 Things to Consider When Variations and Accessories . .32 Purchasing a DSLR System . .26 Barebulb . .32 Sensitivity/ISO Range . .26 Barn Doors . .33 Burst Rate . .27 Diffusers . .33 LCD Monitor . .27 Flats ...............................34 Playback . .27 Gobos ..............................34 Lens Conversion Factor . .27 Grid Spots . .35 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Light Tents . .36 DCS . .63 Mirrors .............................39 PSD Format . .63 Reflectors . .39 Photoshop RAW Format . .64 Reflectors, Wide-Angle . .39 RAW Format . .65 Reflectors, Narrow-Angle . .39 How JPEG Differs from RAW . .65 Reflectors, Parabolic . .39 JPEG ..............................66 Scrims ..............................41 RAW ..............................66 Snoots ..............................41 RAW File Converters . .66 Softboxes . .41 Adobe Camera RAW . .69 Spotlights . .43 Reformat Your Cards . .71 Strip Lights . .43 Umbrellas . .43 6. COLOR MANAGEMENT AND DEVICE PROFILING . .73 Umbrellas, Shoot-Through . .43 Monitor Profiles . .75 On-Camera Flash . .43 Gamma . .76 Bounce-Flash Devices . .43 Camera Profiles . .76 Handheld Video Lights . .45 Printer Profiles . .78 Soft Proofing . .78 4. GOOD DIGITAL WORKING TECHNIQUES . .46 Previewing Colors Using a Soft Proof . .80 File Size . .46 Resolution . .48 7. WORKFLOW METHODS . .81 File Format . .49 Michael Ayers’ Basic Wedding Workflow Changing Image Size and Resolution . .49 for Highest-Quality JPEGs . .81 Resampling . .49 Uploading . .81 Interpolation . .49 File Backup . .81 Step Interpolation . .50 Edit and Adjust . .81 Exposure and Metering . .50 Image Manipulation . .82 Determining Your Camera’s E.I. .50 Rename . .82 Metering . .52 Copy Again . .82 Evaluating Exposure . .54 Proof Setting and Printing . .83 Histograms . .54 FlipAlbum . .84 Evaluating an LCD Image . .56 Uploading to the Internet . .84 Camera Settings . .56 Consolidate Orders . .84 White Balance . .56 Thumbnails . .84 Contrast . .58 Album Layout . .85 Color Space . .58 Retouching . .85 Sharpening . .59 Ordering . .85 Metadata . .59 Album Ordering . .85 Print Sorting . .85 5. FILE FORMATS . .60 Folders and Mounting . .85 File Compression . .60 Shipping . .86 JPEG Format . .60 Archiving . .86.