Photography 101: Digital Photography Basics

A simplified digital photography course aimed at new photographers out there who want to know where to start.

by Kelly Paal

If you really want to learn digital photography the first thing you need is a good and reliable camera. It must, and I repeat must, be able to shoot in fully manual and fully auto focus modes. To really learn digital photography you must understand the equipment. You’ll need to learn how manipulating the shutter speed, aperture, and focus will have a dramatic effect on your digital photos. Meters, if you have a camera that can work in a fully manual mode it should have an internal meter suitable for what you will be doing. Tripod, you’re going to need one whether it’s portrait work or landscapes you’ll need one eventually to improve your digital photography. Luckily you don’t have to spend a lot here. Just something lightweight and durable. Flash, you can buy a separate camera mounted flash, which is great if you can afford it. Consider what kind of digital photography that you will be doing though. If you’re going to do mostly nature and landscape digital photography, you may only need the fill flash that comes with most cameras today. If you plan on doing portraiture only you will definitely need a camera mounted flash that has an adjustable angle.

Film Speed
ISO setting to be exact. Slower speeds (25 to 400) are intended for portraiture and landscape digital photography. Faster speeds (600 and above) are intended for actions shots and photojournalism. So first you need to know what you going out to digital photograph and make sure that you have the appropriate film for the job.

Shutter Speed
Now that you have the camera loaded with film consider the shutter speed. Do you want to blur motion, or freeze it? If there is no motion at all what shutter speed do you need to expose the scene with natural light. Shutter speed plays a very important role in digital photography. From 1/60th and down to the bulb setting will blur most motion. For example if you want to blur the water in a waterfall, a setting of 1/30th should work. (You’ll need a tripod though.) 1/125th is a normal setting for most shots. On many cameras the 125th setting is marked in a different color to make it obvious. If you want to freeze action you’ll need to start with 1/500th and work up from there. The faster the motion the faster the shutter speed needed to stop motion. Many digital photography cameras go up to 1/2000th of a second. If you’re trying to use natural light alone in a scene you will want to determine the aperture first and then see what shutter speed you need to properly expose the scene for available light. (Keep in mind sometimes there isn’t enough light.)

Aperture
These are the set of numbers on your lens closest to the body of the camera. They can go from 1.8 to 22, and they are also referred to as f-stops in digital photography. These numbers determine how much light reaches the film inside of your camera. Most internal meters will blink on the appropriate aperture for the shutter speed that you’ve set, or the speed you’ve set will blink if your f-stop is correct for the speed. Both the f-stop and shutter speed can be changed to expose the scene correctly in digital photography. Consider that the faster the shutter speed the more light will be needed to expose the scene correctly. This makes logical sense if you think about it. If the shutter isn’t open as long, fast shutter speed, then there is less light able to make it to the film and so the scene must be brighter to expose correctly. To learn, bracket your digital photography shots. Take the first shot at the aperture suggested by your meter, move one stop up, take a photo, one down, take another photo.

Flash
I personally like shooting with natural light whenever possible and at most I use a fill flash in digital photography. But if you’re going to do portrait work then most of the time you may be indoors and you will need a flash sometimes. For the amateur the fill flash units that are on the top of most of today’s cameras are wonderful for basic work. You will have to read your manual on your particular flash unit to learn what it can and can’t do. This is where the camera that is fully manual and fully auto is great for the amateur. You can usually set it so that the camera will meter and set the flash output accordingly and then you still can control the shutter speed and aperture.


About the Author: Kelly Paal is a freelance nature and landscape photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

Choosing the Right Compact Digital Camera

A Handy Guide to Selecting the Right Digital Camera

by Rajendra Varma

Having the right digital camera is the most basic requirement for any photographer. There are cameras with many different levels of sophistication in today's market. While those with a little more experience will gravitate towards more the more advanced digital SLR cameras, for most of us a compact digital camera will be more than sufficient. There are also the so-called mid-range, "pro-sumer," digital cameras that bridge the gap between digital SLR cameras and the compact digital cameras. The choice comes down to the type of digital photos you plan to take and the amount of photographic experience you may have.

The first thing to focus on is the key features that you are most likely to use. Do not look for a camera that has everything, especially if you are a beginner or a casual photographer. Only go for digital SLR cameras if you take your photography seriously since the amount of tweaking and setting changes can be overwhelming for beginners. The features below are a guide to what to look for when choosing the right compact digital camera for you.

Megapixels
The resolution of the digital camera is a measure of the number of pixels that make up an image. Higher resolutions mean the camera can capture more detail and the digital photograph can be enlarged to a larger size for viewing or printing without losing sharpness and quality. Even though the number of megapixels is not as important today because most digital cameras have a higher resolution than what is really needed, it is the most advertised feature of digital cameras. The latest crop of compact digital cameras have 10 megapixels, or 10 million pixels. It is important to realize that a 3 megapixel digital photo is sufficient for printing a 8x10 photo. Click here to read more about megapixels in digital cameras.

However, being able to take digital photos at higher resolutions allows you the freedom to crop the images later and still maintain image quality. With a 5 megapixels digital camera, you can crop extensively and still have enough pixels to print a high quality 8x10 photo. It is this freedom to crop and edit that justifies buying a high resolution digital camera.

Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom
Zoom is another important feature to look at when choosing a digital camera. Zoom is a measure of how many times you can enlarge a scene, commonly called "zoom in." Optical zoom is achieved by changing the focal length of the digital camera by adjusting the physical zoom lens, and is the true zoom. Digital zoom is an emulated zoom that achieves a similar result to what happens when an image is magnified on your computer. Even though the image gets larger, the number of pixels in a given part of the image remains the same, and there is an associated loss in quality with digital zoom.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to look at the optical zoom of a compact digital camera, especially if you are planning to shoot, for example, animals or birds from a distance. Unlike digital SLR cameras, which support add-on lenses, most compact digital cameras only have the optical zoom that is built-in. A 10X optical zoom is more than sufficient for most applications, but you should not settle for anything less than 3X optical zoom.

Battery Type and Life
Almost all compact digital cameras come with either proprietary batteries or standard AA batteries. Proprietary batteries, which are most often Li-Ion battery packs, last longer than AA batteries and will have built in chargers. However, finding replacement batteries is harder, and can be especially frustrating if you run dry in the middle of nowhere. Compact digital cameras with standard AA batteries generally have a lower battery life but you can find them anywhere in the world. One more thing to realize is that compact cameras with proprietary batteries tend to be smaller than those with standard batteries.

Shutter Speed
Although shutter speed is an important digital camera feature, most novice users it is generally overlook it since most compact digital cameras automatically sets it. Faster shutter speeds are, however, needed for taking action shots with a lot of motion, such as sports events or a flock of flying birds. If you anticipate taking such shots, and would like to have the option of manually setting the shutter speed, a camera with fast shutter speeds like 1/2500 sec is essential. Taking action shots with a slow shutter speed will make the photo blurry, while a faster shutter speed allows the action to be frozen.

Aperture
The aperture, or f-stop, is an adjustable opening in a digital camera lens that controls the amount of light that reaches the image sensor. A larger opening allows more light to enter through the lens, but reduces the depth of field, meaning that only objects close to you will be in focus. The smaller the aperture size, the greater the depth of field and objects near and far will be in focus. The aperture is how you can blur out parts of the scene to focus attention on the subject. Having the ability to set the aperture size on your compact digital camera may be important depending on the type of photos you intend to take.

The shutter speed setting is connected to the aperture setting. A sufficient amount of light is required to produce a good digital photograph. Increasing the shutter speed means more light will enter through the lens, and therefore the aperture needs to be reduced to avoid too much light hitting the sensor, a problem called overexposure. Conversely, increasing the aperture requires the shutter speed to be reduced to compensate for the extra light.

Shooting Modes
Except for the low-end compact digital cameras, most will have a few shooting modes. The basic automatic mode will have the digital camera take care of all the settings, allowing you to simply point and click. There are, however, more advanced modes that allow you more control over your photography. Shutter priority mode lets you manually set the shutter speed, and the digital camera will adjust the aperture accordingly to allow enough light to enter the lens. Aperture priority mode lets you set the aperture while the camera takes care of the shutter speed. Full manual mode lets you adjust both aperture and shutter speed manually to achieve certain effects. Although more complicated, once mastered, the manual mode allows for the greatest freedom and flexibility in your digital photography. If you would like to have this option, look for a compact digital camera that allows manual modes.

Although there are a wide variety of compact digital cameras available today, by focusing on your needs and personal preferences, it is possible to narrow your options and make the right choice. Some research into the different compact digital cameras will let you be more informed when you are looking for one.

How To Master Digital Photography Basics

by Connie Fillmore

With the advent of digital cameras, the cost of photography has plummeted considerably, with the result that there has been a surge of interest in the field. Greenhorns in this area however, need not fret. Sharpening up on your digital photography skills is easy, provided you have the basics at the tip of your tongues, or is it, at the tip of your lenses!

Mastering the basics of digital photography, first and foremost involves knowing all about pixels and resolutions. These are the parameters that have a direct bearing, and quite a lion's share on the quality of the images being generated. The more the pixel count, the better the resolution or clarity of the picture and the better it turns out when enlarged. So it is obvious that the fastidious photographers prefer robust pixel values. However, with the market flooded with digital cameras of various makes, you can hope for a good bargain. Let us discuss a few basics of digital photography.

Zoom And Tele Lenses
Going digital has also meant that you can click away merrily at anything and everything under the sun. This will only help you get well up on the nitty-gritty of the zoom modes. The Optical Zoom of a camera is worth tinkering with. The "Telephoto" mode makes your subject appear larger while the "Wide Angle" mode is all about cramming a lot of a scene into your picture and hence the elements of the picture appear smaller.

Focusing
 Toying with the controls of your digital camera is a good way of getting a hang about the different picture modes and hence be able to put them to good use. For instance, instead of relying on the instruction manual, see for yourself that the Portrait Mode actually sharpens your subject and de-focuses the background. For those who are not yet comfortable with the exposure, focus and flash parameters can take the help of the Auto Mode in the awkward initial stages.

Lighting
There is no such thing as a photography gene. Good photographers weave magic with their cameras, but this magic is all about getting the lighting and flash issues straightened in their photographs. Shooting in the early morning light is advisable if you want to avoid the harsh glare of the midday sun and in case of night photography, filming during the twilight hours or just as the moon is rising gives you the best results. You should not shoot with the sun directly in front of the lens.

Using the Flash
The flash is quite a lure for the novice photographer but results are not always satisfactory. This is because improper use of the flash function leads to the marring of good photos. In fact, the flash really leads to underexposure, and thus ungainly shadows in night photography. While you are using this feature, inch closer to your subject and thus make sure that all the areas of the picture are equally lighted up.

Shutter Speed
The shutter speed is one area that many newcomers to digital photography is quite oblivious to. But you will be amazed at the dramatic results that mere varying the speeds can bring about. The rule of thumb: fast shutter speeds "freeze" the action, while slow values will result in a blur. Slow shutter speed also let more light enter into the camera, so this is an option worth considering when you need to shoot in low light conditions.

The basics of digital photography are not hard to master. And being well versed in them will help you capture reality in all its essence.

Photography 101: Aperture and Depth of Field Demystified

It is imperative to understand how photography and cameras work in general, in order to have more control over how your photos turn out. Three things directly influence how photos are captured on both film and digital cameras:

1) Aperture: the lens opening

2) Shutter Speed: the speed of opening and closing the shutter, which determines how long the subject matter stays on the film that comes through the given aperture

3) The speed of the film (a.k.a. ISO setting), which directly influences what choices of aperture and shutter speeds you can use


ISO Setting
Before your camera can detect aperture and shutter speed for a particular subject, it must be told how many worker bees are loaded into the camera (i.e. the film and its corresponding ISO or film speed). The more worker bees there are, the less time they need to capture the same amount of light, so the ISO setting directly impacts the aperture and shutter speed settings.

These days, ISO on film cameras is detected by a bar code on the film's cassette, which the camera reads and then tells the light meter. On digital cameras, you can set the ISO to a particular rating by selecting it in the menu, or leave it on the automatic setting so that the camera decides which ISO speed to use. Once your camera knows how many worker bees it has, it will be able to detect which aperture and shutter speeds are ideal for various conditions.


Aperture
Aperture controls the volume of light that passes through the lens and onto the film. The volume of light is determined by the size of the lens opening (the aperture): big, medium, or small openings. Aperture works in conjunction with Shutter Speed to correctly expose an image. Depending on the lighting conditions (night vs overcast vs sunny), a given aperture will require a different partner shutter speed.

Most cameras recommend these settings automatically for you, assuming you want everything in the photo to be in focus. You can usually opt to set the aperture and have the camera pick an appropriate shutter speed (called aperture-priority), or vice versa (called shutter speed-priority). If ever you want to change the depth of field (i.e. what's in focus), the aperture-priority setting will come in handy, if not full manual where you set both aperture and shutter speed.


Depth of Field
The term "Depth of field' simply refers to a picture's overall sharpness. It is the direct result of the aperture setting on your camera. By setting the aperture (a.k.a f-stop) to a small number , e.g. f/2.8 , you are setting the lens opening to be large. Such a "wide-open" aperture limits the plane or field of focus to be very narrow: this is called a small or narrow depth of field. For example, if you're photographing a long line of fuzzy ducks extending into the distance, and you only want one duck in the middle to be in focus, then you would open up your aperture by setting it to a small number, such as f/2.8. Once you've chosen this setting, your camera will help you figure out the appropriate shutter speed to provide a good overall exposure.

By setting the aperture to a large number , e.g. f/16, f/22 or even f/32 , you are setting the lens opening to be very small: this is called a large depth of field. This small aperture allows the camera to focus clearly on things both close and far in the same shot. Continuing on with our fuzzy duck example, using a small aperture will allow you to capture the entire row of ducks in perfect focus. The near duck will be just as sharp as the far duck, as will all the ducks in the middle.

Try it out! Once you've focused on a subject, you will notice that there are areas beyond and/or in front of what you focused on that are not sharp. Assuming you want everything sharp, the laws of depth of field say to use a small aperture of f/16, f/22, or f/32. If you instead want a narrow field of sharpness in your image, the laws of depth of field say to use a wide-open aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.5.

In a nutshell, those big aperture numbers - f/16, f/22, f/32 , render the greatest depth of field or area of overall sharpness and those smaller aperture numbers , f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6 , render a minimal area of sharpness beyond or in front of what you have chosen to focus on. Again, depending on lighting conditions, different shutter speeds will be required to expose the image correctly.


Caveat for digital photographers:
These depth of field rules and example f-stops were created for those using 35mm format cameras, and you will find reference to them all over books and the internet. Digital cameras are typically closer to 38mm format, and will thus have better results narrowing their aperture (so as to get everything in focus). The claim to fame of digital cameras is to have excellent focus from near to far - infinity and beyond, but in doing so have limited ability to capture narrow focus. For example, f/2.8 on a typical digital camera will not be a large enough aperture to narrow your depth of field sufficiently to only get one fuzzy duck in focus. DSLR owners can simply purchase a macro lens to do this, but digital point & shoot owners may not have the capability to narrow their depth of field noticeably. Best to stick to landscape shots!


Author: Jennifer Clarkson is a Canadian photographer living in Ottawa. For a full explanation of digital camera features and more information about what amateur buyers need to know, please visit her website at Jennifer Clarkson Photography

Article source: Articlecat.com