Shoot Pix Like a Digital Avedon
If you want to take good digital photographs – not just snapshots of the kids for Grandma and Grandpa -- you need to make a certain investment in time and money.
A recent article in the Baltimore Sun on digital photography provided a number of good pointers. Here are some of the key points from the article:
1. Search for a camera based on a number of features, such as the resolution (6-10 megapixels) is recommended.
2. Interchangeable lenses provide greater flexibility in terms of shooting objects far away or even up close. Some digital cameras have a “macro” setting, which permits ultra-closeups, perfect for getting a picture of a wildflower.
3. If you're committed to 1 & 2 above, then you probably will want a single lens reflex camera (digital SLR, in photo-speak), which will set you back $600-$1,000. The gold standard for professional and high-quality amateur photography is Nikon.
4. Talk to someone at a good camera store and tell him or her just what you plan to photograph most often – landscapes, flowers, portraits, sports – the type of photographs you will take most often will go a long way toward determining the kind of camera and lenses you buy.
5. Gear isn't everything. You must develop your eye and learn ways to compose and expose photographs. Betterphoto.com offers online photo classes, and better -- offers books, The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography and The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography.
Comments
This post is perpetuating an unfortunate but prevalent myth about photography and what is required to take great shots. The first step to making great photographs is very simple - have your camera with you! By wasting your money buying a 27.2 megapixel digital SLR with vibration reduction technology and a diamond-studded shutter release, the money won't be there for a beautiful and inspiring vacation on which even a toddler could take spectacular photographs.
The number of megapixels in a camera is a horrible and nearly useless indicator of the quality of the images; it matters only when blowing up an image, in print, to extremely large sizes.
David Pogue of the New York Times discusses the "megapixel myth" here and here; both links are taken from Ken Rockwell's page on it here.
Ken Rockwell also has a great page comparing a $150 camera to a $5,000 camera - check that out to see the difference between the two for computer images.