Photography, like so many other things in modern life, has gone digital. As a result, a large and growing number of individuals are opting for cameras that make pictures using pixels instead of film. There are still plenty of traditional photographers out there -- professionals, diehards, artists and purists -- stubbornly holding onto their SLR cameras, 35mm film and darkroom equipment like bulldogs. But for many people, the ease and convenience of digital photography is just too tempting to resist. That's particularly true as the PC, which is helping to integrate digital photography into the mainstream, becomes a standard fixture in typical homes.
In this workshop, professional photographer Rick Sammons discusses some of the advantages, capabilities and special features of digital photography, and provides practical advice for successful use of digital cameras and related accessories. He also covers the role of the computer -- and specialized image software -- for displaying, printing, manipulating and electronically sharing your digital pictures.
Digital photography is one of the fastest-growing hobbies today. Amateur photographers in increasing numbers are opting for the ease of use and convenience that digital technology allows. Even professionals are integrating digital photography into their work.
Note: This workshop describes some of the fundamental principles of digital photography, and some of the functions and features that are uniform and universal to most digital cameras. The basic principles described are applicable to nearly all digital cameras, but the controls and computerized interfaces may differ somewhat for each individual model of camera. It's important to read the manual and instructions that come with your camera to learn exactly how it operates, and to understand the features and controls that may be specific to that model.
Shooting, Previewing and Saving Digital Pictures
Most consumer-based digital cameras (figure A) look outwardly like the familiar point-and-shoot 35 mm camera, but their technology for recording and storing pictures is very different.
The most obvious feature distinguishing digital cameras from film-based models is the LCD screen located on the back of the camera body (figure B). The LCD screen, resembling a miniaturized TV screen or computer monitor, is able to display a picture electronically just seconds after it's taken. No more waiting for days or weeks for your film to be developed and printed. With a digital camera, you can look at each picture instantly -- right after you take it.
When you press the shutter-release and take a picture, the camera will give you a preview display of your image almost instantly. If you like your results, do nothing: the camera will store your picture in its internal memory. If, however, you're not happy with the picture, it can be instantly deleted using the camera's delete menu-option. Simply select "delete" from your camera's menu (figure C) to erase the picture from the camera's memory, and try again for a better shot. By previewing and deleting in this way, you can save only your best shots and throw away the ones you don't want. This frees up more of the camera's memory so you can continue taking more pictures.
The LCD screen can also be used for framing your picture precisely at the moment you take the shot. In that mode, it's used in lieu of a traditional viewfinder and shows you exactly what's included in your picture as you compose your shot, thereby eliminating the guesswork that's inherent with some cameras' viewfinders. This is particularly helpful with macro and close-up photography.
Storage of Images
While traditional cameras record images on film, digital cameras store pictures electronically on digital recording media, usually referred to as a memory card. Sometimes termed "electronic film" or "e-film," the memory card (figure D) is inserted into a slot in the camera, much like a floppy disc is inserted into a computer's disc-drive. The images you shoot are stored on the card. Depending on the storage capacity of the card, the image quality (i.e., resolution) and size of the pictures you've taken, a single memory card may hold as few as a dozen, or as many as a few hundred. The memory card is removable and can be safely taken out of the camera so that the images can then be transferred to a computer drive.
With the images stored on your computer, you can then print out the ones you like best, e-mail some of them to friends as e-mail attachments, create digital slide shows, etc. After you have stored up a large number of digital images on your computer, you may want to organize them into categories and transfer them onto some form of electronic storage media -- such as Zip disc or CD-ROM -- for permanent archiving. Depending on the resolution and size of the pictures you've taken, you should be able to store hundreds of photos on a single disc.
Before digital photography, pictures had to be stored as prints and negatives in bulky envelopes or boxes. Much like computers, word processing and e-mail have revolutionized filing and office work, resulting in "paperless" offices, one of the advantages of digital photography is that it allows large volumes of pictures to be stored in a tiny amount of space -- inside your computer or on a disc.
Electronic Pictures vs. Prints
Some people shy away from the switch to digital photography because they like the "substance" of real printed photographs. They feel that pictures on a computer monitor don't offer the same qualities as pictures you can hold in your hand.
That notion alone, however, should not deter you from expanding into digital photography. Digital photos can be printed easily using fairly inexpensive color ink-jet printers that are available and compatible with most modern computers. And that's not your only option. In addition to creating high-quality prints using your home computer and printer, you can opt to have digital images printed for you by printing companies accessible on the Internet, or have prints made at commercial copy and printing shops such as Kinko's™ .
Digital Photography and Photographic Options
Digital cameras typically offer a range of options for achieving many of the effects familiar to traditional photographers, including black-and-white photos, sepia-tone, etc. Some also offer some options beyond the capabilities of film photography, or the ability to create "darkroom effects" and other effects that were once available only to professional photographers using elaborate equipment.
For example, many digital cameras allow the photographer to switch from color to black-and-white without changing film -- simply by changing a setting using the camera's color-mode menu options (figure E). Digital cameras may also allow the photographer to take a series of pictures in rapid succession without having to use specialized accessories. (In film photography, this usually requires an external motor-drive to rapidly advance the film.) Most digital cameras feature internal zoom and magnification features for taking long-distance telephoto shots, and macro features for close-up photography with great detail. To augment these functions even further, many digital cameras accept external lens accessories such as macro adapters (figure F).
Once your pictures have been transferred to your computer via your memory card or a cable that plugs directly from your camera to your computer's USB port (figure G), the options for image manipulation expand even further. Much further, in fact. With photographic and image software (figure H), you can do things like lighten and darken photos, adjust contrast, adjust hue and color saturation and perform other functions that may turn not-so-great photos into good ones.
In addition, you can use a variety of specialized computer tools to create artistic and graphic designs from your photos, add special effects, create montages from multiple images, etc. There are even programs that allow you to use several pictures -- taken in a series from a fixed location -- to create an interactive 360-degree panorama, allowing the viewer to "scan the horizon" in all directions.
Finally, there are numerous options available to you for how you will actually use your photos. Those uses may include uploading them to a Web site, e-mailing them, creating a digital slide show for display on your computer (possibly with accompanying narration or music), digitally organizing and creating a photo album, or making greeting cards or photo calendars using your own images (figure I).
As with most subjects that are related to computer technology, the technical advances in digital photography keep coming, and the opportunities for creativity keep growing -- and at an ever-increasing pace. Moreover, since part of the objective behind the technology is to make high-quality photography easy and accessible to everyone, there's a strong incentive to join the phenomenon. Even many professional photographers, staunchly devoted to film and their traditional techniques, have opted to integrate digital photography into what they do. And the digital advantage is that many of the kinds of tools once available only to professionals are now within your reach.
Following segments in this series explore these and other aspects of digital photography and "digital darkroom" techniques in further detail.
RESOURCES :
Rick Sammon, professional photographer
Web site: www.ricksammon.com
Learn more about photography with Rick Sammon's new e-book on CD. More than 100 tips and photographs from Rick's travels around the world.
And check out Rick's column on Kodak's site:
Web site: www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/magazine/tips/2001_10
Rick Sammon
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
Email: RickSammon@aol.com
Website: www.ricksammon.com
Special Thanks for DIY's Digital Photography workshop, episodes 101-105
Adobe Photoshop
Web site: www.adobe.com
PC Photo magazine
Web site: www.pcphotomag
Kodak
Web site: www.kodak.com
Epson America, Inc.
Web site: www.epson.com
Kinkos
Web site: www.kinkos.com
Ulead Cool 360
Web site: www.ulead.com
The Digital Wallet
Web site: www.mindsatwork.net
The L.A. County Arboretum
Web site: www.arboretum.org
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Systems
Buffalo, NY 14240-1034
Website: www.adobe.com
PC Photo magazine
Website: www.pcphotomag.com
Online version of the magazine devoted to digital photography and related technologies.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography
Model: 002864235X
Author: Steven Greenberg
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Prentice Hall
Paramus, NJ 07652
Digital Photography For Dummies
Model: 0764506463
Author: Julie Adair King
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Hungry Minds, Inc.
Complete Digital Photography
Model: 1584500077
Author: Ben Long
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Charles River Media
Website: www.charlesriver.com/
50 Fast Digital Photo Techniques
Model: 0764535781
Author: Gregory Georges, Cris Rys
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Hungry Minds, Inc.
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