With a little knowledge and some practice digital photography is a snap. There's no film to buy or process so it saves time and money. Shots can be viewed immediately and deleted or saved as desired. Plus digital cameras give a photographer flexibility and options unheard of until recently.
Keys to Better Photography
Camera technology has improved dramatically in recent years. Even so, it's unlikely the camera will ever be able to perceive and capture images exactly as the human eye sees them. The eye can discern a much wider range of colors and range of dark to light. It is also able to instantly focus on objects at any distance and has a broad field of view.
The photographer's objective is to faithfully reproduce a live three dimensional scene as a two dimensional image. Basic understanding of the differences and how to compensate is the difference between an average photo and one that is truly outstanding. Fortunately digital cameras and associated software make these adjustments easier than ever.
Color Gamut and Dynamic Range
Most digital cameras allow white balance adjustment, eliminating red, blue or green casts and making the photo more natural. For example, if a scene is primarily water and clear blue sky the camera's logic may mistakenly introduce too much red trying to balance the color temperature. Solutions include selecting an appropriate scene mode or manually adjusting white balance.
Even sophisticated cameras have limited ability capturing a full range of lights and darks. Under or over exposing a shot is one way to correct this. For best results the photographer must decide which elements of the scene to emphasize. For instance, a dark or shaded interior shot looking through a large archway into a brightly lit exterior can be under exposed to reveal detail in the shaded area. Another solution is to take multiple shots, each one adjusted for part of the scene, then superimposing them for the final image.
Depth of Field and Field of View
Depth of field is simply the range of sharp focus at any given distance from the camera. The closer the photographer is to the primary subject, the shorter this range is. This can be desirable if the objective is to emphasize a person or object while leaving the rest of the scene less defined. Ways to extend depth of field include moving the camera further away from the subject or using a smaller aperture (higher F-stop).
Most digital cameras have an optical zoom feature allowing the photographer to choose a wider or narrower field of view. In some cases though, a wide angle shot will distort perspective or cause a loss of desired detail. This can be overcome by taking multiple photos in a panoramic array and using software to combine them into a single image. This allows the photographer to capture more detail in each shot. The photo software then adjusts perspective when the pictures are merged, digitally creating a more pleasing and life-like photo than a single wide angle shot would have provided.
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