Everyone knows how to take a picture, just click the shutter release and there you have it. But wait, there is more. Was the proper lens opening/shutter speed selected for the situation? Was a tripod used?
Anyone can take a picture, this is true, but to consistently take good pictures is another thing. I included some articles that may be of help. I will add new ones, delete old ones and edit current ones from time to time.
To be a good photographer we first need to know our equipment. Don't let the camera take the picture. We should set the camera to take the picture we want. We need to know how the camera records images. It does not see the latitude we see (whether its film or digital). Knowing this can help us get those nice rich black backgrounds.
With the new digital cameras, photography just got easier and faster. We don't need to guess if the picture came out, we can see it in the viewing screen. We aren't limited to 36 pictures as in film, but now with the right memory card, can take hundreds of pictures.
The use of a tripod was a must if you really wanted to get sharp pictures. This was true with film and the early digitals. Now the new digitals have "Image stablization" which lets us get sharp pictures by hand holding. It is still a good idea to use a tripod with the longer lens.
With film we were aware of how the image was recorded on the various ISO films. With digital we need to be aware of the resolution. With film we have grain, with digital we have noise. The same applies to both, the higher the ISO setting, the more distortion (grain or noise). The nice thing about digital, is they are finding ways to reduce noise, either in the camera and/or in professional software programs for the computer.
We should know something about the subject we are photographing. This is particularly true when photographing wild animals such as bear or elk or deer in rutting season. |
