Curious about digital photography?
Having a digital camera, whether you have a plan to make a career out of photography or you are simply a hobbyist, is obviously important. But before buying a digital camera, there will be a lot of things to take note of. Camera accessories are one but an important feature is photo software. Many are available in the market while you can also download some in the internet. Also, digital cameras cost more out of the box than regular cameras, but offer the convenience of immediate viewing, multiple image storage, computer connectivity - and there’s no film to develop. Compare additional features you might want: interchangeable lenses, steady-shot, burst mode, auto exposure, automatic white balance, voice memo, variable shutter speeds, manual focus and self-timer.
Some of today’s film purists look at digital photography as an unnecessary evil. Is it an unfair advantage that the digital photographer can take a photograph, upload it to their computer, do a little image editing, then have a finished product ready to present to a client (or a personal framed print, suitable for hanging), all in a matter of a couple of hours or less? This is called capitalizing on available technology, and if you’re still one of those that haven’t embraced the tools that are available today, then shame on you! In no way does this mean that film photographers should ditch their 35mm cameras and darkrooms. Much of the work performed in the darkroom is similar to what we do today in Photoshop. We cloned in trees that didn’t exist, removed power lines that distracted from the shot, enhanced colors that were bland, and if we couldn’t do it in the darkroom it was sent to the lab’s airbrush specialist. This person who was definitely an artist and highly skilled in what she did, also took ordinary images and made them extraordinary. One of her specialties was taking old photos that had been bent, folded, and manipulated, and airbrushed everything back to perfection. Digital photography and image processing is not a whole lot different from how things were done 25 years ago.
It is usually taken for granted that white is white, with no variations. However, all artists would agree that this is wrong, including photographers. The white balance of a camera can make or break a picture, meaning you must learn to control it. In order to regulate it, you must set your camera to manual or custom white balance, and take a picture of something white. It must fill the screen, and should not be in shadows. If the result is not to your preference, you can always use your photo program to tweak the picture.
Quality sports shots are somewhat difficult to come by. Most people have limited access to events to photograph them. The further away you are from the event, the harder it becomes to capture the event in a pleasing manner. You may need a flash with a high output for photographing indoor events.The new modern flash systems produce great results. Some sporting events like gymnastics and others are no-flash events. It is best to talk to an event official before using your flash.
JPEG (pronounced “jay-peg”) is a standardized image compression mechanism. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the original name of the committee that wrote the standard. JPEG is designed for compressing either full-color or gray-scale images of natural, real-world scenes. It works well on photographs, naturalistic artwork, and similar material; not so well on lettering, simple cartoons, or line drawings. JPEG is “lossy,” meaning that the decompressed image isn’t quite the same as the one you started with. (There are lossless image compression algorithms, but JPEG achieves much greater compression than is possible with lossless methods.) Making image files smaller is a win for transmitting files across networks and for archiving libraries of images. The real disadvantage of lossy compression is that if you repeatedly compress and decompress an image, you lose a little more quality each time. This is a serious objection for some applications but matters not at all for many others.
Redeye is a common occurrence in photographs. It occurs most often at night, because the pupils dilate to let in more light. When this happens, the flash of the camera reflects to the very back of the retina, creating redeye. Many cameras have settings to compensate, flashing a red light into the eye before taking the picture in order for the pupils to contract. However, if it is too dark, this setting won’t make much of a difference. There are several ways to account for this, one of which is having the subject of the photograph look away from the lens. If there is still a problem, most photo editing programs have red-eye removal.
Good photos result from the following elements: always having your camera with you; being in the frame of mind that you THINK about taking pictures when a good opportunity presents itself; experience in knowing what the camera can do and can’t do, such as how to adjust your camera to compensate for poor lighting conditions or anything else that doesn’t happen to be just right;have patience; taking lots and lots and lots of photos– the average professional photographer takes around 120 shots for every ONE that he/she actually uses and gets paid for; and finally, luck.
Last 5 posts by James Beck
- Digital Cameras - Unlock the marvels your software promises you - October 7th, 2008
- Digital photography: Is your digital camera the best one for you? - October 6th, 2008
- SLR Tricks of the Trade - October 2nd, 2008
- Taking Away the Background - October 2nd, 2008
- Digital Cameras - Start thinking more about your digital photography - September 30th, 2008
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