title: Python Boto DynamoDB: Retrieve Only Specified Attributes From A Record
body: <p>I'm trying to tune performance for a high volume site.  I'm using the boto.dynamodb2 libraries.  How can I retrieve only the specified attributes from a record given it's primary hash key (no range)?</p>
  
  <p>As a secondary question, will this affect how we are billed by amazon?  Amazon charged per record or per Kilobyte of data read (whichever unit is larger).  If, for a given record, I have 3 attributes that only total 100 bytes, and a 4th a attribute that totals 63KB, I request only the first 3 (smaller) attributes.  Do I get charged for 1 unit, or am I still charged for 64 units?</p>