Basic Digital Camera Techniques
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Am I a good photographer?
Are my photos good for my age? I’m fourteen and I love taking pictures. I just got a pretty good but basic digital camera and I borrow my dads SLR. I was just wondering how my photos looked. Do they look like a fourteen year old took them? How amateur are they? Would you say I have good potential? I’m trying to improve my technique all the time. I know my composition is very good but I’m getting practice.
All my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boncerise
My Favourite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boncerise/4198380624/
When it says ‘I know my composition is very good..’ i actually meant to say it isn’t very good. Just to clear that up
Well.. Compared to most of the people who post here asking for critiques your images are not too bad. I have to ask why you have not posted some images the correct way up..?!
For example.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/boncerise/4198361054/
But for the first time in a while I have ventured past the first page of somebody’s Flickr to see what other images they have to offer
Your images have left me thinking.. There are some good shots there, but there is a lot of room for improvement. I think you are being a little generous by saying your composition is “very good”, it is very good in some shots, but a little less impressive in others. I’m glad to see straight horizons and good use of the rule of thirds in many images, but sloppy technique in others..
For example.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/boncerise/4352456590/
(You are right, it’s not your best!, it’s awful!.. so why post it?)
I can see from the EXIF data that you are using a Samsung P&S and what would appear to be your dad’s Pentax K100. They are both great cameras for learning photography. The DSLR will be useful for learning about exposure, DOF, etc.. The P&S can stay in your pocket for all those times when a DSLR is inconvenient to carry. You do not need an SLR to produce pleasing images, through the knowledge of composition, subject matter, and lighting you can produce a wall hanger with even the cheapest of cameras, hell I use two 35mm P&S cameras costing £17 and £1 respectively off eBay to produce most of my images these days.
Overall I would say that you have potential but need some more guidance. You have plenty of years ahead of you to practice and hone this craft, I hope that you enjoy it immensely.
And on a side note, I have a lot of images taken in and around London on my website and on my Flickr. I see that most of your images are taken around London, I visit once every fortnight. Image locations range from Covent Garden to Hampstead Heath to even the Tate Modern.. You may be interested in having a look at them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfisher
http://www.ianfisher.info
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How to Use a Digital Camera : Digital Photography Techniques
Digital Camera Basics-Resolution, Exposure, Focus, And Storage
Resolution
The amount of detail that a camera can capture is called the resolution, and it is measured in pixels. The more pixels a camera has, the more detail it can capture and the larger pictures can be without becoming blurry or “grainy.” High-end consumer cameras can capture over 12 million pixels. Some professional cameras support over 16 million pixels (megapixels), or 20 million pixels for large-format cameras. For comparison, it has been estimated that the quality of 35mm film is about 20 million pixels.
Exposure and Focus
Just as with film, a digital camera has to control the amount of light that reaches the sensor. The two components it uses to do this, the aperture and shutter speed, are also present on conventional cameras.
Aperture: The size of the opening in the camera. The aperture is automatic in most digital cameras, but some allow manual adjustment to give professionals and hobbyists more control over the final image.
Shutter speed: The amount of time that light can pass through the aperture. Unlike film, the light sensor in a digital camera can be reset electronically, so digital cameras have a digital shutter rather than a mechanical shutter.
These two aspects work together to capture the amount of light needed to make a good image. In photographic terms, they set the exposure of the sensor.
In addition to controlling the amount of light, the camera has to adjust the lenses to control how the light is focused on the sensor. In general, the lenses on digital cameras are very similar to conventional camera lenses — some digital cameras can even use conventional lenses. Most use automatic focusing techniques.
The focal length, however, is one important difference between the lens of a digital camera and the lens of a 35mm camera. The focal length is the distance between the lens and the surface of the sensor. Sensors from different manufacturers vary widely in size, but in general they’re smaller than a piece of 35mm film. In order to project the image onto a smaller sensor, the focal length is shortened by the same proportion.
Focal length also determines the magnification, or zoom, when you look through the camera. In 35mm cameras, a 50mm lens gives a natural view of the subject. Increasing the focal length increases the magnification, and objects appear to get closer. The reverse happens when decreasing the focal length. A zoom lens is any lens that has an adjustable focal length, and digital cameras can have optical or digital zoom — some have both. Some cameras also have macro focusing capability, meaning that the camera can take pictures from very close to the subject.
Digital cameras have one of four types of lenses:
1) Fixed-focus, fixed-zoom lenses – These are the kinds of lenses on disposable and inexpensive film cameras — inexpensive and great for snapshots, but fairly limited.
2) Optical-zoom lenses with automatic focus – Similar to the lens on a video camcorder, these have “wide” and “telephoto” options and automatic focus. The camera may or may not support manual focus. These actually change the focal length of the lens rather than just magnifying the information that hits the sensor.
3) Digital-zoom lenses – With digital zoom, the camera takes pixels from the center of the image sensor and interpolates (alters) them to make a full-sized image. Depending on the resolution of the image and the sensor, this approach may create a grainy or fuzzy image. You can manually do the same thing with image processing software — simply snap a picture, cut out the center and magnify it.
4) Replaceable lens systems – These are similar to the replaceable lenses on a 35mm camera. Some digital cameras can use 35mm camera lenses.
Storage of Images
Most digital cameras have an LCD screen so you can view your picture right away. This is one of the great advantages of a digital camera — you get immediate feedback on what you capture. Of course, viewing the image on your camera would lose its charm if that’s all you could do. You want to be able to load the picture into your computer or send it directly to a printer. There are several ways to do this.
Although most of today’s cameras are capable of connecting through serial, parallel, SCSI, USB, or FireWire connections, they usually also use some sort of removable storage device. Digital cameras use a number of storage systems. These are like reusable, digital film, and they use a caddy or card reader to transfer the data to a computer. Many involve fixed or removable flash memory. Digital camera manufacturers often develop their own proprietary flash memory devices, including SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash cards and Memory Sticks. Other removable storage device include floppy disks, hard disks (external, or microdrives), and writeable CD’s and DVD’s.
Regardless of what type of storage they use, all digital cameras need lots of room for pictures. They usually store images in one of two formats — TIFF, which is uncompressed, and JPEG, which is compressed. Most cameras use the JPEG file format for storing pictures, and they sometimes offer quality settings (such as medium or high).
To make the most of their storage space, almost all digital cameras use some sort of additional data compression to make the files smaller. One compression routine takes advantage of patterns that repeat. The image can be reconstructed exactly as it was recorded, reducing the file size no more than 50%, often much less. Another compression routine called irrelevancy eliminates some of the more meaningless data, taking advantage of the fact that digital cameras record more information than the human eye can easily detect.
About the Author
By Brian Lee