Worth it just to learn about Picasa...

While no one would mistake me for a professional photographer, I do enjoy playing around with my digital camera. I figured it'd be worth taking a look at Peter Bauer's book Create Your Own Digital Photography - 5 Easy Projects In Full Color. This book gets high marks on a couple of different fronts.

Contents: Introduction; Capture Your Life Visually; Create Your Image Albums; Taking The Next Step: Improving Your Pics; Cards, Calendars, and Other Creative Projects; Advanced Image Editing; Index

This isn't a book that's going to get an intermediate photographer excited. The material is geared towards the person who just bought a digital camera and is a little overwhelmed stops, apertures, and the like), and proceeds to get the digital newbie comfortable with their new-found capabilities. A little time spent with this book before heading out on your first photo safari will pay big dividends in dramatically better pictures. Once you get past the "how do I take the picture", then you're ready for the rest of the book. That covers how to use computer software to manage your photos and improve the composition and quality. Using Photoshop Elements and Picasa, you'll learn to do the vast majority of tasks that most people need to manage. And once you get those basics down, you'll be well-equipped to explore the finer points on your own. Throw in a CD with sample software and practice photos for the projects, and it's a very nice package.

Personally, I'd seen most of this material in other books. But this book gets a five for turning me on to Picasa. I was aware that Picasa was Google's foray into digital imaging "stuff", but I was under the (mistaken) impression that it was just another site to store photos. Shows you how much I know. Picasa is free software that does a fantastic job of organizing your pictures on your computer, as well as offering a number of *very* nice features for manipulating images (like cropping, color correction, and other handy things). These are all things I *used* to do with Paint Shop Pro. No more... I went to Picasa's site, downloaded the software, and I'm hooked.

If you're still wondering how to use your camera or how to do things with the pictures once they're on your computer, this book is an excellent choice. And I'll personally be forever indebted to the author for Picasa... :)

From the Author

If you're brand new to digital photography -- or photography in general -- this is the book that'll get you up and running. (If, on the other hand, you're an experienced photographer, consider giving this book as a gift and check out my other books, including "Photoshop CS2 for Dummies.") Since every digital camera ships with its own software, and those software packages vary widely, we get you started with digital photography using the program Picasa, free from Google.com. Once you're familiar with the basics (using Picasa), you'll find your camera's own software easier to understand and use. The final part of the book introduces you to the very powerful (and very affordable) Photoshop Elements software. That's when you get to see the true power of digital imaging, where you learn just how easy it really is to take a "snapshot" and turn it into a "masterpiece." I hope you enjoy reading and using this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Best regards and happy shooting!
Pete Bauer