Chapter 3, "How to Shoot Like a Pro," gives you advice for taking pictures in real life situations. You have learned how to control your camera; now you will see how to use it. In this chapter you will learn more than a dozen important camera techniques such as how to shoot outdoor portraits, how the pros shoot building architecture, the best way to get action shots, and how to take pictures in a museum. These can be especially difficult since most museums don't allow tripods or flash use.

Chapter 4, "I've Taken Great Pictures, Now What?," shows you the basics for working in the digital darkroom. So many pictures never see the light of day because many people don't know what to do with them once they have been downloaded to their hard drives. Here you will learn about the different products that can be used to display them on the web, to create a slide show, or even send them via email to friends and family.

Chapter 5, "Printing Made Easy," will give you simple solutions for getting prints of your images. Anyone can produce great prints worthy of framing either from a printer, a lab, or dedicated photo printer. This chapter takes the mystery out of printing and will help you get your images on paper.

The Digital Photography Companion is geared for the novice and the hobbyist photographer who is either just starting out or has been using their camera as a point-and-shoot tool and now wants to do more with it. Derrick Story has done an outstanding job of beginning at the beginning, taking you to the end without complicating the topic with a lot of jargon and simply presenting what you need to know. Think of it as your cousin Derrick showing you how to use your camera to take pictures.

By the time you are done with this book, you may choose to move to new levels and you will have a strong foundation from which to do that. If not, you will still have that strong foundation for taking great pictures, and others will certainly admire this. If you are just getting started in photography or are frustrated by not being able to use the camera that you have, The Digital Photography Companion will give you the confidence to take great pictures. I highly recommend this book.