From Film To Digital Photography Technique
By Rika Susan
Photography remains just that when you convert to digital
cameras: you still have to know how to compose and shoot
pictures to get the best results. The way you see your
subject, and visualize the resulting image doesn't change
in any basic way.
However, digital photography technique has some of its own
challenges and rewards, and there are exciting new
techniques and technologies to understand and to master!
These are 10 of the things you will need to look out for:
1. Bigger isn't always better: having more pixels doesn't
always translate into better images, as the size and
quality of the pixels are also important. 6 million pixels
of a bigger size can actually give you a clearer image than
8 million of a smaller size.
2. Optical zoom is more important for your image quality
than digital zoom. Optical zoom delivers more detail to
your camera sensor, whereas digital zoom is more of a
cropping function applied to existing data (detail)
captured by the sensor.
3. Digital photography technique relies on sensors which
are often less discerning than film where it comes to
rendering detail in shadows and highlights. You should
therefore be careful not to "blow" your highlights: if
they're not captured to start with you can't adjust them
afterwards in your software processing!
4. While there is a general acceptance of the grain
sometimes visible in film prints, the human eye is
particularly good at seeing regular patterns, such as
row-and-column "noise" in some digital prints. When you
purchase your digital camera, it is a good idea to check
the reviews regarding noise levels for particular models!
5. What about black and white shots? Digital cameras take
pictures in color, therefore the most basic element of the
digital darkroom (eg Photoshop) you will need to master is
how and when to turn your digital color images into exactly
the black and white image you want.
6. Digital photography technique gives you the freedom to
choose on a per-shot basis many settings you were locked
into or restricted to, when using film, such as film speed
and white balancing.
7. When purchasing a digital camera you will have the
option of models which produce only JPEG files (which are
processed on board by your camera), or some which give the
option of RAW files, which are unprocessed. The assumption
is that RAW files can then be processed on your computer
with more powerful software to achieve the desired results.
RAW converters are improved all the time. Over time you
will get better results from your existing RAW format
picture files by applying the latest converters when they
become available. (RAW is like wine: it improves over time,
just let it lie until the right converter comes along...)
8. The LCD screen drains battery power. Use the viewfinder
to compose your photographs. Most digital cameras will let
you switch between the two.
9. You will need to figure out how to use the histogram
function - once mastered it is an indispensible tool to get
balanced pictures. Some cameras show the histogram in real
time for easy correction of your exposure.
10. Digital cameras are susceptible to artifacts and
aberrations that film cameras are not, such as those
resulting from JPEG file compression, oversharpening, etc.
However, most of these problems can be dealt with by
applying the correct sofware solutions before printing.
For more information visit
http://www.Best-Digital-Photography.com/index.php . Rika
Susan researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the
Web. Copyright of this article: 2005 Rika Susan.