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Digital Camera - Mode Setting Control
By John Steele

Most digital cameras today have a mode setting knob. It's probably the most important control on your camera. The nice thing about the mode setting knob is that you can set it on full automatic and forget it. When the camera is in full automatic it does four things for you; it will:

1. Focus the Lens

2. Set the Aperture (size of the lens opening)

3. Meter the Light and Distance

4. Set the Shutter Speed

All you need to do is snap the picture and you will get a decent exposure. But if we take a closer look at the mode setting knob we'll see it has other features as well. The typical digital camera will have the following settings on its mode knob.

Landscape: The landscape icon usually looks like a mountain with a cloud over it. This setting presets the camera with a small aperture and helps keep your image in focus. It also sets the shutter speed fast enough to eliminate a blurred image. This setting can also be used for night landscapes, though it is not the preferred method. As you become more proficient with your camera you will learn ways to customize the settings to get better low light photos.

Sports Setting: This icon typically looks like a figure running. It locks in a faster shutter speed to freeze the subject and background. The camera will use the center of the viewfinder for focusing.

Portraits: This icon is easy to find it usually looks like a persons profile. This setting opens the aperture for a shorter depth of field. It keeps your subject in focus, but blurs the background for a more pleasing composition.

Night Portraits: In this zone the icon usually has a star or moon in it. When shooting in this mode the flash mechanism fires to fill the background and correctly illuminate the subject. The night setting can be used when shooting in very low light conditions.

Close-up: The close-up icon often looks like a flower, usually a tulip. This setting is used when you want to take pictures with great detail like plants or insects. This area of photography is often called macro-photography and is an art form in itself.

Think of the different basic zone modes as tools to be used in different picture taking situations as they arise. You will get average pictures with the automatic settings. Some of them will be quite good. But the better cameras contain advanced settings sometimes referred to as Creative Zone Settings. These controls give you much more creativity in the pictures you take, and can be used to provide greater adaptability as changing circumstances arise. http://www.digital-id.info/

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Improve Your Digital Photography Using Depth of Field (DOF)

By Jeff Galbraith

Depth of field (DOF) is probably a term you have heard used in photography often enough, but what does it really mean, and how can you use it to make your digital pictures better?

The term depth of field refers to how much of your picture is in sharp focus. For example, in portrait shots you will notice that the background is often blurred and soft looking, while the subject is clear and sharp. Pictures like this have a shallow depth of field.

You have probably also noticed that in landscape shots everything in the picture is often sharp and clear, all the way from the dead tree in the foreground to the mountains off in the distance. Pictures like this have a deep depth of field.

There are two main things that affect depth of field:

1.) The aperture (or F stop) setting--this refers to how wide the shutter opens.

2.) The focal length of the lens--this refers to how much the lens “zooms in” your subject.

First we’ll take a look at the aperture settings. Most digital cameras have an aperture range of about F2.8 to F8, and this range usually compresses to about F4.5 to F8 when using full zoom. These aperture ranges vary somewhat from camera to camera, but we will use F2.8 to F8, with a full zoom range of F4.5 to F8, as our example.

At the lowest setting (F2.8), the object you focus on will be sharp, but objects in the background will appear softer and out of focus. At the highest setting (F8), everything from the foreground of your picture to the objects off in the distance will appear sharp and in focus.

Now the focal length--we’ll use a digital camera with a 4 times zoom (35mm to 140mm focal length) as our example. At the 35mm end of your zoom range (no zoom), pretty much everything in your pictures will appear in focus. However, at the 140mm end of your zoom range (full zoom), only the object you focus on will appear sharp.

So how does all this translate into making better pictures with your digital camera? Well, it’s like this:

Set your camera to “aperture priority”. Your camera’s manual will have simple directions on how to do this (it’s quite often just a matter of turning the dial on top). Once you have your camera on “aperture priority”, you will be able to select the aperture setting that you want, and the camera automatically chooses the correct shutter speed.

If you want to take a picture where only your subject is in focus (like a portrait for example), first, zoom in rather than get close, and second, choose an aperture setting with the lowest number possible, in this case F4.5.

If you want to take a picture where the whole scene is in focus (like a landscape for example), first, zoom in very little or not at all, and second, choose an aperture setting at or near the highest number possible, in this case F8.

So, don’t be shy, take your camera off of “auto” and try the “aperture priority” setting--you’ll be glad you did.

For more digital photography tips, high quality prints, free wallpaper, and eBooks, visit my web site: http://www.jeffgalbraithphotography.ca

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Understanding Digital Camera Zoom Lenses

Understanding Digital Camera Zoom Lenses

By Michael Huddleston

There are two types of zooms used with digital cameras: optical and digital.

Optical Zoom
An optical zoom changes magnification by moving glass in the lens, changing the image falling on the sensor. Using an optical zoom maintains picture quality.

Zoom Ranges and 35mm Equivalents
Optical zoom lenses usually have a specification called “equivalent in 35mm.” This tells you the zoom range of the digital camera compared to a 35mm film camera. Typical 35mm equivalent zoom ranges you will see listed are 35mm-70mm or 35mm-105mm.

For example:

Wide-angle means a lens takes in more than normal viewing perspective. Telephoto lenses magnify the subject, bring it closer. Using these numbers as a guide, you can get an idea of the range of zoom lenses and what they will do for you.

28mm…..wide angle
35mm……slight wide angle
50mm…..normal perspective
70mm…..slight telephoto
105mm…..moderate telephoto
135mm…..strong telephoto
200mm+…..extreme telephoto So, a 35mm-105mm equivalent zoom lens changes from a slight wide angle to a moderate telephoto. A 28mm-200mm equivalent lens changes from a wide angle to an extreme telephoto.
A 35mm-105mm equivalent zoom is adequate for most users. If you plan on doing landscapes or picture taking in small, confined areas, consider a camera that can zoom to a 28mm equivalent.

Optical Zoom as 2x, 3x, 5x…
Taking the 35mm-105mm example above, we divide 105 by 35 to get a 3x zoom. A 28mm-105mm would be approximately a 4x zoom, and a 35mm-350mm would be a 10x zoom.

Digital Zoom
A digital zoom does not change, magnification. It simply crops the image on the sensor to magnify the image. Because less sensor is used, you use fewer pixels. This decreases picture quality. When comparing cameras, always use the optical number as this is much more important. You can get the same effect as a digital zoom by using software to crop the photos.

Note About Digital Zoom
As digital cameras become more sophisticated and powerful they are becoming capable of delivering “optical tricks” that render pictures that are remarkably stable and good looking. Only recently, cameras “digital zooms” are getting much better. Like all things though some companies are better than others. Do your research.

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Organize and Share Those Precious Digital Photos

Organize and Share Those Precious Digital Photos

By Gijo George

With the arrival of Digital Cameras, Photography has become a favorite pastime for many. Each and every precious moment in life can be captured without incurring any additional expenses for films and developing. But how many of us are really careful about preserving those photographs? Digital photos are victims of premature death, even before it being printed or saved in hard disks. We lose many of those precious photographs during a hard disk crash or corrupt memory card.

The solution for all these problems is using Photo Organizing Software, which is capable of both organizing your photographs and sharing it with your friends and relatives. Picassa is a Photo Organizing Software from Google. This software helps you in many ways to organize and share those precious photographs.

With Picassa, you can actually reduce the size of the photograph without losing resolution, email it, print it and even make a CD with this software. You can edit your digital photos with the editing feature available in this software. Another feature available in this software lets you to make a screensaver with your digital photos.

The best part of this software is that it comes absolutely free of cost. Anybody who is interested in keeping his digital photos intact can start using it.

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Gijo George
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Create Photo Impact by Shooting Towards the Light

Create Photo Impact by Shooting Towards the Light

By Jeff Galbraith

“Never shoot towards the light.” We’ve probably all heard this old photography “rule,” but, for now, let’s treat it more as a general guideline. If you want to shoot some photos that really pop, that really jump out and grab you—shoot towards the light.

Silhouettes are photos where your subject is dark against a bright background. We have probably all taken shots like this by mistake—when taking a picture of a friend or relative who was standing in front of a window, or standing with the sun behind them, etc. But photos like this give us a dark subject with a bright, washed out background—not exactly what we were hoping for. This happens because the digital sensor in our camera cannot accurately capture scenes with such high contrast. However, this “weakness” can be turned to our advantage.

When silhouettes are created on purpose, they can be among the most striking and engaging of shots:
Using a sunrise or sunset as the backdrop for your subject can give stunning results—your subject becomes a bold black figure against a canvas of bright and vivid colour.

When you use a bright and cloud filled sky as your background, your subject often doesn’t come out pure
black, but comes across as dark and moody against a brooding sky.

So lets take a look at how you can use your digital camera to create silhouette shots with impact.

Here a few tips for getting better silhouette shots:

· You will need to get familiar with your camera’s exposure compensation feature to get the most out of your silhouette shots—your camera manual should contain simple instructions on how to use this feature.

· Most digital cameras have an exposure compensation range of –2 to +2 that is adjustable by increments of 1/3—don’t be afraid to try them all.

· Use “+” exposure compensation to make your shots brighter and “-” exposure compensation to make them darker.

· When shooting these high contrast shots, your camera’s default exposure settings may not give the results that your are looking for—so, shoot, then review, shoot, then review.

· Don’t completely rely on your camera’s view screen either. Taking several shots at different exposure settings will give you the best chance of getting the shot you really want—photos often look very different when viewed at home on your computer screen.

Happy shooting, and remember, don’t be afraid to shoot towards the light.
For more digital photography tips, visit Jeff Galbraith's web site: http://www.jeffgalbraithphotography.ca

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