Digital Cameras & Digital Photography

sue webster asked:


Understanding Digicams And Their Resolution Settings

Digital cameras, or digicams, have become the standard for photo taking, slowly eliminating the need for traditional film cameras. Even if you are considering replacing your old film camera, you are going to want to pay close attention to the one thing that remains a constant between the two types of camera on the market: resolution. Most photographers cringe when they hear that word because it is an important part of how clear and sharp a photograph turns out when they are developed – either in a computer screen or in a photo lab. When it comes to digicams, the resolution is the amount of pixels that fit in an inch of space. The more pixels in that space, the sharper and more vivid the picture is going to be.

When you consider how a picture looks on a computer screen, you know that the more pixels covering an area make the image look better. This is the same concept used in the way a digital camera recreates the image it took a picture of. A picture that has 100×100 pixels in a one inch area is going to be beautiful compare to a picture that is 100×100 pixels spread out over four inches. This is why when you print pictures from a photo that has been scanned into your computer and enlarges sometimes comes out grainy or blurry. If you enlarge something too much, it will distort it, changing the resolution.

The resolution of a digicam is in megapixels. That means there are 1,000,000 pixels in an inch of space. The more megapixels you have, the sharper the picture will be. If you are going to be using your digicam for everyday photography and picture printing, you want to make sure you purchase a digicam that has a resolution around thee to four megapixels. This will give a clear picture with vibrant color without strapping your wallet. If you are going to use your camera for professional photography, you will definitely want higher than four megapixels to ensure the best photos you can get.

Deciding on the resolution for your digicam is really going to depend on how good you want the hard copy to look. High-resolution digicam photos are going to look better than a photo taken from a standard film camera, but low-resolution digicam photos should stay displayed on the computer and never printed. When you are reading the information on how pictures will print from your digicam, you want to make sure you have at least 300 pixels per linear inch of print to get good resolution. The higher your pixels, the better the picture will be. Before printing, make sure your printer can handle the higher resolution. Some cannot handle anything over 600 pixels per inch resolution and will cause your computer and printer to freeze when trying to print.

You can find a great range of digicams as well as many other electronic gadgets at GadgetsAuction.com

Sutocu asked:


With the onset of the 21st century, photos can be manipulated and altered in many ways using digital imaging and computer aided techniques. Digital photography started a significant change in photographic technology and changed the nature of photography significantly.

Nowadays, the number of photos you can take is much higher, so you can afford to make mistakes. Also, a photograph can often be remedied on the personal computer, even if it was spoiled by too much lighting. While that has made photography more beginner friendly, it is still far from an easy hobby.

Photography has been present for more than a hundred years and yet new innovations are taking place even this day. Looking at it, one has to surmise that photography will develop again in the future. It’s never too late to get into photography and even now it’s too early to stop learning more about it.

Cameras have certainly come a long way since the early camera obscura. Today the digital point and shoot cameras used by many fit easily in one hand and are fully automated. You even need none of the film rolls present in cameras from a couple of decades past, but can store hundreds of high quality photographs on a memory card less than a square inch in size.

If this is the state of photography today, what may the future hold for us? Technologies such as high dynamic range (HDR) imaging and specular reflection have already been developed. They will probably enter the consumer market within the next few years. More long term plans on photographic technology include various forms of 3D modeling.

Regardless of which one of these technologies you will have in your digital camera a few years from now, one thing is certain: your camera will still not take the pictures without your guidance. Choosing the target, the angle of view and cropping the photograph will still be left for you to take care of and excel in.

michael wong asked:


Personally, digital photography is here to stay and it is pretty much how photography is going to be from now on. Manufacturers are going to refine their skills and pack more juice into the digital cameras. Nowadays, you can add special effects to your picture immediately on some of the compact digital cameras.

With all these technology backing you up, you are now more likely to be able to take great photos. So, what you need to do now is to choose the right camera. Always look at what you need. When you have problem choosing the camera, get the retailers or professionals to help you. They will are experience enough to fit the best camera to your needs.

Then you need to practice digital photography with your camera. Always keep your camera close to you. You never know when the best subject will comes out. When you are taking your pictures, remember to take more shots and different angle of your subject. With digital photography, all your pictures will be converted to digital storage and you need not to worry about spending money for films.

After that you need to compare the photos you have taken. This is the trial and error stage where you find out the best way to photograph your subject. Which of them looks better? Ask yourself why you this picture is better than the other? Think about what will happen when you change the white balance to photograph the same subject. Sometimes, challenging yourself is how you improve your digital photography skills.

During the comparison of your photos, you also need to recall what you did to the photos. This is because when you move forward with digital photography, you are supposed to consistently pump out great photos. You are supposed to know how to position yourself to take great photos of your subject. You are supposed to know how to use your flash under different circumstances instead of trial and error with your pictures.

The last tip to taking great pictures is that you must constantly update yourself. Go online, read magazines and visit exhibitions to find out how other photographers are taking their photos. It is even better that you can talk to other photographers and have them comment on your work.

Cindy Heller asked:


In early days, photography only belonged to professionals. However, when roll film cameras and digital cameras were invented, photography became widely available for public. In the era of digital photography, the most inexperienced individuals can take pictures easily. The best advantage of digital photography is that you can see the picture immediately after it is taken. If you don’t like it, you can just delete the picture without wasting any film.

Nowadays, digital cameras are everywhere and digital photography becomes very popular, especially when camera phones were introduced. It is unnecessary to bring rolls of films anymore as a tiny memory stick is enough to hold hundreds of pictures. Many other inconveniences are also eliminated by digital photography. You do not need to wait for the processing process of the films because you can just simply put the pictures into the computer and share with others. You can delete pictures that you don’t like and it is unnecessary to go back to the store if there is something wrong with the prints.

One of popular aspects in the world of photography is airbrushing. Airbrushing used to be a painstaking process, but it became much easier when digital photography came. After you master how to use photo editing software, it becomes very easy to edit pictures and improve their quality. It is virtually impossible to differentiate whether a picture is edited or real, which sometimes may create an issue.

Photo storage and sorting are very simple in the world of digital photography. Perhaps you still remember how you need to spend days to glue and tape photos into photo albums. Now, it is easy to sort and categorize photos into separate files in the computer. There is no problem whatsoever if you want to see and print them in the future as long as you have a good filing system.

In addition, with a photo album, normally only two persons can watch the photos at the same time. On the contrary, a digital photography album can be transferred to a compact disk and played in the DVD player so the whole family members can see the photos together. You can add some music and change to a slideshow format to make it more interesting, especially if you want to show it in a big gathering of some sort.

Tips to enjoy your digital camera

Some people are intimidated with technology including using a digital camera. They get used to the old film camera and feel that a digital camera is too confusing. Surely there are differences in using film and digital camera, but if you know how to handle a digital camera properly, you will enjoy it. The following tips are useful to make you have enjoyable experiences with your digital camera.

The first tip and also the most logical one is that you must read the manual book. You will know how to use your digital camera and understand what capabilities that it has. Read the manual before taking photos even if you have used other digital cameras before. There may be some features that you never know before. Without reading the manual, after a long time, you may end up finding that the camera has certain capabilities that you never think before.

The next tip is to make sure that your digital camera works, especially on important occasions. Extra memory cards and extra batteries will do the trick. You don’t want to face with full memory card or even worse, died battery, when you find a special moment that you want to capture quickly.

Many people tend to use low resolution setting so they can save many photos in the memory stick. This is not a good idea because you reduce the quality of the photos significantly. It is better to select midway setting for general use and the best setting for capturing special moments. Lastly, you should take photos as much as possible to familiarize yourself with a digital camera. After a short period of time, you will enjoy your digital camera and leave the old film camera behind.

mike legg asked:


My first tip for taking digital photography for anyone whether they are beginning, or have some degree of experience is “don’t be frightened of your camera”. Get used to handling your camera so that you feel comfortable with it. Make sure you know where all the controls are, and familiarise yourself with their functions. This is one of the basic beginning photography tips that often gets overlooked as it is such an obvious one.

Once you are comfortable handling your digital camera and have learnt how to use all the controls and functions, my next tip for taking digital photography is to take lots and lots of pictures. The beauty of digital photography is that you do not need to keep every picture that you take. You are not paying for a long processing sequence like you would be if you were using a camera that uses rolls of film, so you can be a lot more extravagant when it comes to taking pictures. Plus you may just take a prize winning photo purely by chance, and any photos you don’t want you can simply delete.

Another of the basic beginning photography tips that people often forget is to hold the camera steady. Again this may sound pretty obvious but it’s surprising just how many of us forget this simple little tip when we rush to get a good photo. It is important to actually practice holding the camera so that you automatically steady it for every picture that you take. How often have you seen the chance of a great picture only to rush it and ruin the shot? It’s far better to get one or two great pictures than dozens of blurred or poor quality ones.

My next tip is to always make sure that you have enough memory capacity on your digital camera. There is nothing worse than coming across something that would make a great picture only to find that you have no more room on your camera. Get into the habit of going through the photos stored on your camera on a regular basis, and deleting the ones you don’t want, and downloading and storing the ones you do want onto your computer, or have them printed off. Also buy a second card for your camera so that you always have a spare one with you just in case you need it.

Once you have got this far you should have loads of photos that you have taken, now is the time to study these and see if there is room for improvement. Maybe some of them are still coming out slightly blurred, so you will need to pay attention to your focusing. Remember that a digital camera has a tendency to take a little longer to focus when compared to a camera that uses roll film.

Maybe you are not happy with the lighting on some of your pictures, so try practising using the flash. The flash on a camera is not only designed to be used when taking photos indoors, it is also great for getting good sharp pictures outside as well, especially if the subject is in shade or if the natural light is low, like in the late evening.

I suppose that one of the most important beginning photography tips that I can give you is to “get out there and have some fun with your camera”. Take loads of photos and practice as you go. Use your camera as often and as much as you can. My last little tip would to be to get hold of a good book on digital photography, this way you will get all the tips for taking digital photography and learn all the usual mistakes to avoid right from the start.

William Dorich asked:


Last Christmas, the most popular gift item was the digital camera. Now millions of people are switching from film and processing into the mysterious world of digital photography and are asking themselves… “Now What Do I Do?”

I attended a MAC Computer conference not long ago where I presented a number of digital photography eBooks that I publish. A nice mature woman stood up in the audience and asked: “I switched to digital thinking I would save a ton of money on film and processing, but, in the past year I have spent a fortune on 20 flashcards.” It was difficult to keep from laughing, but the audience did as I explained to her that she was suppose to download her images from the flashcard to her computer, then erase the card so that she could take more pictures. I suggested that having one or two extra flashcards was certainly a good idea, especially if she was going on a trip and intended to take a lot of pictures.

This funny story is not uncommon–one famous television producer, who will remain anonymous, called me one night to ask: “How do I get the pictures from my camera into my computer?”

The digital world has changed how we store and listen to music; how we design and print books; and how we now take pictures and turn them into works of art in programs like Photoshop. Adapting to these new technologies can sometimes be technically taunting, but there is hope.

Jerry Rabow to the rescue. Jerry is a retired attorney with a passion for photography and he is damned good at it. I convinced Jerry that he needed to pass his great knowledge to others, especially those just getting into digital photography. I convinced him to write an eBook, and he took my advice and published Digital Photography Tutor which delivers just what the name promises: hands-on, interactive learning that is like having your personal Tutor at your side to explain how things work and show you how it is done. This uniquely enjoyable and effective learning experience will soon have you turning out fine digital photographs you thought only the pros could produce.

Jerry’s Step-By-Step tutorials not only guide you through typical procedures, but also includes 60 narrated VIDEOS to show you the actual mouse clicks. He also shows you how to use Photoshop and Elements. For more information visit www.gmbooks.com and click on Digital Photography.