Nikon D90 For Dummies

Julie Adair King is the author of many digital photography books, including Digital Photography For Dummies, Nikon D40/D40x For Dummies, and Nikon D60 For Dummies. She also teaches digital photography workshops at such locations as the Palm Beach Photographic Centre.

• Introduction 1A Quick Look at What’s Ahead 1Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 2Part II: Taking Creative Control 2Part III: Working with Picture Files 3Part IV: The Part of Tens 3Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3About the Software Shown in This Book 4Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun! 5Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 7Chapter 1: Getting the Lay of the Land 9Getting Comfortable with Your Lens 10Attaching a lens 10Removing a lens 12Using a VR (vibration reduction) lens 12Setting the focus mode (auto or manual) 13Zooming in and out 14Adjusting the Viewfinder Focus 15Working with Memory Cards 16Exploring External Camera Controls 18Topside controls 19Back-of-the-body controls 20Front-left buttons 23Front-right controls 24Ordering from Camera Menus 26Monitoring Shooting Settings 28Asking Your Camera for Help 31Reviewing Basic Setup Options 31Cruising the Setup menu 31Browsing the Custom Setting menu 35Chapter 2: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 41Getting Good Point-and-Shoot Results 42Using Flash in Automatic Exposure Modes 46Exploring Your Automatic Exposure Options 47Auto mode 48Digital Vari-Program modes 50Changing the (Shutter Button) Release Mode 55Chapter 3: Controlling Picture Quality and Size 59Diagnosing Quality Problems 60Considering Resolution (Image Size) 62Pixels and print quality 63Pixels and screen display size 64Pixels and file size 64Resolution recommendations 66Understanding the Image Quality Options 68JPEG: The imaging (and Web) standard 68NEF (Raw): The purist’s choice 71My take: Choose JPEG Fine or NEF (Raw) 75Setting Image Size and Quality 75Chapter 4: Monitor Matters: Picture Playback and Live View Shooting 79Enabling Automatic Picture Rotation 80Disabling and Adjusting Instant Review 81Viewing Images in Playback Mode 82Viewing multiple images at a time 84Displaying photos in Calendar view 86Zooming in for a closer view 87Viewing Picture Data 89File Information mode 90RGB Histogram mode 92Highlight display mode 94Shooting Data display mode 95GPS Data mode 97Overview Data mode 97Hiding Photos during Playback 99Deleting Photos 101Deleting images one at a time 101Deleting all photos 102Deleting a batch of selected photos 102Protecting Photos 104Exploring Live View Shooting 105Taking pictures in Live View mode 107Recording movies 110Customizing the Live View display 113Part II: Taking Creative Control 115Chapter 5: Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting 117Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 118Understanding exposure-setting side effects 120Doing the exposure balancing act 124Exploring the Advanced Exposure Modes 126Reading the Meter 127Setting ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed 129Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 129Controlling ISO 130Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 134Applying Exposure Compensation 138Using Autoexposure Lock 141Expanding Tonal Range with Active D-Lighting 143Using Flash in P, S, A, and M modes 145Setting the flash mode 146Adjusting flash output 151Locking flash exposure on your subject 154Exploring a few additional flash options 155Using an external flash head 156Bracketing Exposures 158Chapter 6: Manipulating Focus and Color 163Reviewing Focus Basics 164Adjusting Autofocus Performance 166Understanding the AF-area mode setting 166Changing the Autofocus mode setting 171Choosing the right autofocus combo 172Using autofocus lock 173Autofocusing in Live View mode 173Manipulating Depth of Field 176Controlling Color 183Correcting colors with white balance 183Changing the white balance setting 185Fine-tuning white balance settings 188Creating white balance presets 190Bracketing white balance 196Choosing a Color Space: sRGB vs Adobe RGB 198Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 200Chapter 7: Putting It All Together 205Recapping Basic Picture Settings 206Setting Up for Specific Scenes 206Shooting still portraits 206Capturing action 211Capturing scenic vistas 214Capturing dynamic close-ups 217Coping with Special Situations 219Part III: Working with Picture Files 223Chapter 8: Downloading, Organizing, and Archiving Your Picture Files 225Sending Pictures to the Computer 226Connecting the camera and computer 227Starting the transfer process 228Downloading and Organizing Photos with the Nikon Software 231Downloading with Nikon Transfer 231Browsing images in Nikon ViewNX 235Viewing picture metadata 238Organizing pictures 240Processing Raw (NEF) Files 242Processing Raw images in the camera 244Processing Raw files in ViewNX 247Chapter 9: Printing and Sharing Your Pictures 251Printing Possibilities: Retail or Do-It-Yourself? 252Preventing Potential Printing Problems 253Match resolution to print size 253Allow for different print proportions 256Get print and monitor colors in synch 258Preparing Pictures for E-Mail 260Creating small copies using the camera 262Downsizing images in Nikon ViewNX 265Creating a Digital Slide Show 267Setting up a simple slide show 268Creating Pictmotion slide shows 269Viewing Your Photos on a Television 271Part IV: The Part of Tens 273Chapter 10: Ten (Or So) Fun and Practical Retouch Menu Features 275Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 276Removing Red-Eye 278Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines 279Shadow Recovery with D-Lighting 281Boosting Shadows, Contrast, and Saturation Together 282Two Ways to Tweak Color 284Applying digital lens filters 284Manipulating color balance 285Creating Monochrome Photos 287Removing (or Creating) Lens Distortion 289Adding a Starburst Effect 291Cropping Your Photo 293Chapter 11: Ten Special-Purpose Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 297Annotate Your Images 297Creating Your Own Menu 300Creating Custom Image Folders 302Customizing External Controls 305Adjusting the On/Off switch 305Changing the function of the OK button 305Assigning a duty to the Function button 306Changing the function of the AE-L/AF-L button 307Customizing the command dials 309Two Roads to a Multi-Image Exposure 310Index 313