With all tools, it’s possible to misuse them. Ask anyone who has tried to use pliers to hammer
a nail or a hammer to loosen a lid. If you understand how pliers and a hammer work, you’re
far less likely to push them beyond their capabilities. And if you know how your camera’s
lens, exposure meter, focusing mechanism, and the dozen or so other controls work, you’ll
have fewer bad photos—whether intended for the family album or a museum wall—that are
ruined because of photographer error.
And speaking of error, if you find anything in this book that you disagree with, please drop
be a line at [email protected]. One of the things that continually amazed me is the extent to
which photographers disagree with one another about the workings of this or that principle
or tool. It’s as if the science of optics is still up for grabs. I left out much of what could be said
about photography because there is so much I could have said. If you think some omission is
particularly egregious and you’d like to see it in a future edition, please let me know about
that, too. And if you have any photos you’re particularly proud of, send those along, too.
They are finally what this is all about.
I plan to start a daily newsletter, “The Digital Daily Digest,” covering photography, cameras,
photo software, and assorted other topics that should interest professional and amateur pho-
tographers. There is so much email going on these days that this will be as brief a digest as
possible of all the day’s photography news, with links to the original stories for those with the
time and interest to read more. If you’d like to subscribe—it’s free—drop me a line at
INTRODUCTION xiii