Jim Miotke - BetterPhoto Basics: The Absolute Beginners Guide to Taking Photos Like a Pro

Without the help of the following people, this book would never have made it to print. First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, business partner, and best friend, Denise. When I first met Denise, it was love at first step and yet I never imagined just how amazing our life together would be. Denise and her sister Melody were my team in the trenches when it came to completing this project, and I thank both deeply. I am also very grateful to Brian and Marti Hauf for their prayerful and practical support. I feel equally indebted to many members of Team BetterPhotoincluding Kerry Drager, Karen Orr, Jay and Amy Wadley, Celia Burkhart, Brian Lobdell, and Ricardo Chavezwe are indeed small but were also mighty!

A special thanks goes to the fantastic team at AmphotoVictoria Craven, Julie Mazur, Vera Fong, Jess Morphew, Kim Small, and Abigail Wilentz. I want to thank Jim Zuckerman and Kathleen T. Carr for sharing their advice on lightning and infrared photos. I feel deeply honored to work with such great photographers as Brenda Tharp, Lewis Kemper, George Schaub, Rob Sheppard, Tony Sweet, Susan and Neil Silverman, Vik Orenstein, Peter Burian, Ibarionex Perello, William Neill, Paul Gero, Jennifer Wu, Sean Arbabi, Richard Lynch, Michael Frye, Newman Lowrance, Jim White, John Siskin, Charlotte Lowrie, Simon Stafford, Dave Pavol, Jenni Bidner, Doug Johnson, Kevin Moss and all the amazing instructors at BetterPhoto. You rock, and I salute you!

For when they are old enough to read this (its coming all too soon), I want to give a big thank you to Alina, Alex, and Julian for cheerfully modeling for me, and reminding me constantly of the joys of living in the present moment.

I would like to thank Art Wolfe, Jack Warren, Kevin La Rue, and Laurie Shupp at Nik Software; Gabriel Biderman and Tana Thomson at B&H Photo; Sam Perdue at Lensbaby; Neal and Chris at Photographers Edge; Gary Farber at Hunts Photo in Boston; Kathleen Davis at PopPhoto.com; Ben Willmore, Colin Smith, Joe and Casey at Really Right Stuff; the team at Singh-Ray Filters; Bob Krist, and the team behind the life-saving software: Adobe Lightroom.

The section lists the many contributors from my Masterpiece of the Month program who shared their images. I would like to thank each of you and I want to say Congratulations, masterpiece members! You did it!

I want to thank the 3,000+ BetterPhoto members who responded to my survey and helped me remember what it was like when I was first beginning to learn photography. With your help, I gained insight into your needs and the book is all the better for it.

And I give my thanks to the entire BetterPhoto communitythe millions of photographers who make my business joyful, special, and new each day. I live for your constant stream of positive e-mails. Keep them coming!

The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography

The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure

Available Spring 2011

The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Children

Available Spring 2011

The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography

Available Spring 2011

Outdoor Photographer and Digital Photo
www.outdoorphotographer.com
www.dpmag.com
For many years, Outdoor Photographer has been one of the best photography magazines for nature, landscape, and wildlife photographers. Youll enjoy the articles and columns by great photographers like Bill Neill and DeWitt Jones, among others. One year of this magazine can take you light years ahead in photographic understanding and enjoyment. Study each issue and take what you learn with you out into the field. OPs sister publication, Digital Photo, is a great introduction into the world of digital imaging.

Photo Life
www.photolife.com
For over thirty years, photography amateurs and professionals have turned to Photo Life as a partner in furthering their photographic skills. Covering all aspects of photography, including industry news, photographic techniques and tips, field tests, travel, digital, secrets of the trade, and much more, Photo Life has something for everyone, plus its supplemented with images and articles by some of the best photographers, including Peter Burian.

Shutterbug and Petersens Photographic Quarterly
www.shutterbug.com
www.photographic.com
Shutterbug offers excellent in-depth equipment reviews, interviews, how- to photography articles, and up-to-date announcements on new products. With an editor like George Schaub and a team of world-class photographers behind it, Shutterbug produces outstanding content each and every month. Petersens, another notable photography resource, was cancelled for several years but recently resumed as a quarterly publication.

Popular Photography
www.popphoto.com
Popular Photography provides extensive guidance on what to buy and how to take the best possible pictures and is one of the most widely read photography magazines available. This is a great magazine to turn to if you are wondering, What kind of camera should I buy?

Canon
consumer.usa.canon.com
This is the brand of DSLR that I use. Visit Canons website to learn everything you ever wanted to know about their EOS, Powershot, and Digital Elph camera lines.

Nikon
www.nikonusa.com
Just like Canon, Nikons website will tell you all you ever wanted to know about their excellent DSLRs and Coolpix cameras. (Note: If you love Nikon, also visit www.nikonians.orga great resource for Nikon shooters.)

Sony
www.sony.com
This mega-worldwide site is a portal to everything Sony. Once you get to the home page, choose Electronics > Consumer > Digital Cameras > Learning Center from the upper navigational menu for a slick introduction to their camera choices.

Amazon.com Camera and Photo
www.amazon.com
Everybody knows about Amazon.coms bookstore, but fewer people know about its online camera store. Turn to this comprehensive site for great deals on digital cameras, memory cards, and accessories. (Amazon is also a great source for photography books.)

B&H Photo
420 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
Ph: 800-606-6969
www.bhphoto.com
B&H Photo is the leader in online photographic equipment and camera sales. I love their great customer service and their prices cant be beat. Go to bhphoto.com, call their toll-free number, or visit their superstore in New York City. They continue to be the biggest and best for a reasontheyre great.

MyDigitalDiscount
www.mydigitaldiscount.com
This online reseller offers incredible deals on memory cards, adapters, and card readers. I go here when I need to add to my library of memory cards.

Regional Camera Stores
There is nothing like going into a pro camera store to get one-on-one service. In addition to the B&H Photo SuperStore in New York City, I recommend: Hunts Photo and Video in Boston, Massachusetts, and surrounding areas; Glazers Camera Supply in Seattle, Washington; Samys in Pasadena, California; Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto, California; and Calumet in Chicago, Illinois; and other locations around the world.
www.huntsphotoandvideo.com
www.glazerscamera.com
www.samys.com
www.kspphoto.com
www.calumetphoto.com

Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
www.adobe.com
Photoshop and its little brother, Photoshop Elements, set the standard for image-editing software. Elements costs about one sixth the price for the full version and has everything the beginning digital photographer could ask for. I highly recommend it as a great place to start. Advanced photographers and computer geeks might like to invest in the full programa few additional features come in handy when you want to do serious photo-enhancing.