Wondering how to use your digital camera? Wonder no more
by David Peters
It is important to realise that there is no such thing as a perfect camera, one that will be the best for everyone. Although we sometimes talk about 'cameras of the year' or 'top picks', such lists and awards are really of little consequence. The camera that wins most accolades may not be the one that is most suitable for you. The important thing you need to do is to think about what you want from a camera; you need to know what the various specifications mean, and to work out which is the best for you. Even those aspects that can easily be quantified - such as the number of pixels the sensor records - are not always straightforward. For some people a 2 megapixel (Mp) camera may be a better choice than a 4 Mp model. Even where image quality is important, you cannot assume that a 5 Mp camera will necessarily give better results than a 3 Mp model. As in life, other things are seldom equal.
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.
White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, however digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB). An incorrect WB can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts, which are unrealistic and particularly damaging to portraits. Performing WB in traditional film photography requires attaching a different cast-removing filter for each lighting condition, whereas with digital this is no longer required. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid color casts created by your camera's AWB, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting conditions. A digital camera's auto white balance is often more effective when the photo contains at least one white or bright colorless element. Of course, do not try to change your composition to include a colorless object, but just be aware that its absence may cause problems with the auto white balance.
Action photographs are quite popular, though they are difficult to take properly. Speed is essential to taking clear pictures for indoor sports and activities. The shutter speed is crucial, for if it is too slow you will lose the picture, as the movement will have continued past the shot you wanted. The results can be erratic, so the highest quality won't be assured. Make sure when taking pictures of indoor sports that your camera is on a setting with a fast shutter, such as rapid fire mode.
JPEG is a format that makes changes to your photograph, such as adding lighting specifications or white balance. This is usually the best thing to save your picture as, because the results are generally satisfactory and the computer is smart about interpreting the data. However, sometimes you may want to take the raw photograph, which is the picture that has nothing added to it such as light specifications, and edit it yourself. You should do this if you are unsatisfied with the picture taken by the camera, as it is easier than trying to edit a JPEG image. In general, JPEG images are not as detailed as raw images which makes editing them difficult.
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.
Did you enjoy this article on learning digital photography? Want to learn more about it? Do not give credit to anybody's advice until you flip through this free article This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.
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