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.

[techtags: San Antonio Photography, San Antonio Photographers, Senior Portraits, Family Portraits]

Shooting RAW With Your Digital Camera.

Are you looking to get the best quality from your digital SLR? If the answer is yes you need to forget about the auto modes and set your digital camera to RAW.

Setting your digital camera to raw will open up a whole new world of photography. Correctly processed raw images are sharper and contain more accurate colours. The extra information stored when shooting raw will give your image more detail - leaving you more room to experiment in your digital darkroom.

Raw explained: Raw files are a doorway to top-class image quality, which will also allow you maximum control. A raw image contains all the unprocessed data that reads directly from the camera’s sensor. A raw image file does not contain the finished product and you will have more work to do with the digital file but your final image quality should be first class.

For great results you will need to invest in a RAW converter that will enable you to maximise quality and control. A RAW converter is a piece of software that allows you to make all the changes that your image needs. Once you have made all the changes you can save your image to JPEG or to whichever format you need.

Shooting RAW will open amazing new avenues for an amateur photographer or a professional starting to use digital technology for the first time. Pictures with poor colour can be transformed into reasonable images, but this should not be a licence to get sloppy.

The standards of photography are still the same. Your RAW image needs to be exposed correctly; the RAW converter is not capable of making a blurred image sharp; and it can’t change the depth-of-field.

The only frustration when shooting RAW is the extra time spent on the computer, but once you get used to all the new tools with your software, you will soon realise that the changes were worth it.

The true benefits of shooting RAW are quality, control, image flexibility and easy image correction. But be careful - you should always aim for the best results using your camera first.

About the Author

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer. For more tips you can visit his photography directory. To view his images visit his on-line gallery of flower pictures or see his travel site.

[techtags: San Antonio Photography, San Antonio Photographers, Senior Portraits, Family Portraits]

One thing that both newcomers to digital photography and even more experienced photographers find most challenging is getting the correct exposure for their digital photos. One of the great things about digital photography is that we can use PhotoShop and other photo editing software to make corrections after the digital photo has already been taken, but it’s certainly better to get the exposure right to begin with.

Most people take their digital camera out of the box, make sure the exposure setting is on automatic and never change it. However, using all the settings on your camera is not really that complicated. It just takes a little information and some practice. Here are some tips for taking more control over your digital photos.

First, decide what you want to emphasize in your photo. That’s the object or area of the photo where you want the exposure most correct. Are you taking a digital photo of a child against a dark background? Do you want to be sure the child’s face or clothing is correctly exposed, or do you want to emphasize what’s in the background?

Second, choose whether you want the camera to decide on the exposure, or whether you want to make some or all of the decisions about exposure yourself. Most modern digital cameras give you a choice of exposure modes, including so-called programs. For example, there might be a stylized symbol of a mountain for landscape photographs or a profile of a runner for action photos.

If you select one of these modes, the camera can then use one of its internal programs to make decisions about shutter speed and camera lens aperture. The camera will select the settings the manufacturer has decided is best, on average, for these kinds of photos. The problem is, you may not be in an average situation for your landscape or action photo. If so, it’s time to get into a more lands-on mode, and take more control over how your digital photos will look.

In addition to auto exposure, nearly all digital cameras come with settings for aperture priority, shutter priority and manual modes. The aperture setting determines how large the opening is in the lens that lets the light through. The shutter speed is how long the lens stays open. The larger the aperture, the more light comes through, so if the aperture increases (more light), the shutter speed must also decrease (open a shorter period of time) to make a correct exposure. If you select the aperture priority mode and set the aperture you want, the camera will select the correct shutter speed. If you select the shutter priority mode and set the shutter speed you want, the camera will select the aperture to compensate.

Manual mode gives you total creative control. How to use manual mode is covered in another article in this series. Just remember the best part of digital photography is, if the photo didn’t come out like you wanted, you can always try again.

[techtags: San Antonio Photography, San Antonio Photographers, Senior Portraits, Family Portraits]