Crop Corner

I have always enjoyed helping people with their photography but have shied away from making specific equipment recommendations. But now, after producing several instructional DVD's on digital photography, the #1 question from clients, family and friends is: "Brian, what digital camera should I buy"? This is a question that is hard to answer. Why? Buying a digital camera, or any other type of camera, is as personal as buying a new suit of clothes. What your budget is, what your needs are and what your taste is, can be totally different than mine. What I find important, camera lens, camera weight, and the camera viewfinder could be like short or long sleeves to you. So what's my answer, what's my advice to those who look to me for digital camera recommendations? Here are some facts and simple questions that `you' should be aware of before buying your first digital camera.

When you're shooting a great photograph, there are many components to keep in mind. To create a perfect composition, you must consider more than light angle and quality, depth-of-field, and shutter speed. You must consider what we call Design Concepts. Specifically, you must think about line, color, value, shadows, isolating, framing, pattern and texture, shape and form, and reflections. In this, the first of three articles that will eventually address nine different concepts and how they work together, we'll examine the first three concepts.

ePHOTOzine editor, Peter Bargh, explains why he doesn't have a problem with digital imaging being the replacement to photography as we knew it. Since the age of 15 I've been dabbling in almost every kind of photography. Following a career in journalism, working for Practical Photography and then launching the first digital imaging magazine, I went on to create ePHOTOzine. Every so often someone on our forums pops the question "Is photography art?...it's a very emotive subject and our moderators are always to hand ready to remove expletives and abusive comments. The trouble is, as all the photography magazines have found out for years, is art and photography evoke passionate feelings and extremely strong views. This has become more so since the rise of digital technology.

Raise high the mainsail! Batten down the hatches! All hands to the poop deck! Port outbound, Starboard home! OK, we admit it. We don't know much about nautical terminology or naval protocol. A sextant is a useless tool in our hands, and we never know when to tack. But we do know a few things about cameras and boats - the most important being that they go well together. At the risk of punning - photo opportunities abound on the bounding main! So, even if you can't tell a barkentine from a frigate, read on and enjoy these boating photography tips and creative ideas that will help you take great boat photographs. Then ... Mark Twain! ... and meet us under the Mizzenmast!

Before I begin this topic, I want to correct a misconception about lights for digital capture, especially strobes. Some people think you need special "digital" lights and that equipment used previously with film won't work. The manufacturers have encouraged this thinking with expensive hot shoe-type flashes that sport features designed to "enhance" the digital experience. The Nikon SB-800 and the Canon 580EX are examples that come to mind. Don't get me wrong. These are fine little strobes and if you have a DSLR that is fully compatible with those "enhanced" features (and don't mind the cost), fine, go for it. But you don't need them and anyway, hot shoe flashes are not really suitable for studio work, the subject of this article.

In a previous article, I mentioned Adobe DNG as an archive strategy for preserving RAW files. Here, I'm going to spell out my step-by-step procedure for utilizing this tool. You'll need Adobe's DNG converter (it's a free download from their Web site). You will also have to make certain decisions about your existing proprietary RAW files but I'll get into that as we go along. In case you are unfamiliar with DNG, here's a brief explanation. DNG is an open-source (meaning publicly documented) program for preserving RAW files, unlike the proprietary files your camera creates. RAW files from any camera can be converted to this format and you can even embed the original proprietary file in case you want to extract that in the future. DNG also embeds the metadata. Proprietary RAW files generally create separate "sidecar" files for this which can get misplaced or lost. Additionally, you can set the DNG preferences to include a JPEG preview. That's very handy when perusing a bunch of RAW files anywhere on your computer other than in Bridge or Camera Raw. You can see what images those cryptic file names actually represent.

As I mentioned in a previous review, I had a chance to go to Germany in June. Since I have gone completely digital in my photography, I have the need to plug in equipment for recharging batteries and general usage. As I was leading a tour of college students, I also decided to take my laptop, in order for us to easily view everyone's photographs. It also allowed us to download images onto CDs when our digital cameras' storage cards filled up. This allowed us to take more pictures and provided a safe backup of images.

Even if you are on an easy hike and reasonably close to civilization, get in the habit of paying attention to where you are going and where you have been by noticing natural landmarks. Recently, I heard about several situations in which nature photographers put themselves in jeopardy by not using good sense. As I discussed the safety issue with friends, we shared ideas on factors to be kept in mind when you're working in a wilderness setting. Prior to my workshops, I give participants a stock pre-trip lecture about not leaving gear lying around or walking away from your camera bag, not reaching into rock crevices without looking (you never know what you're disturbing), and the necessity of telling someone when you're going to go off on your own. These are basic safety tips. However, photographers can tend to forget other precautions, as well, in the quest for the perfect photograph.

I was in Florida at Natural Bridge State Park, when I spotted a beautiful black butterfly with blue highlights resting atop a flowering weed. I approached it hurriedly and tried to set up as close as I could to take the shot. The heat was awful. Just as I was almost ready, the little bug departed to another flower several feet away. This scene repeated itself over and over, so many times that I became exhausted. At some point, I just shot as fast as I could and stopped trying to catch a good angle, etc. With my tongue hanging out, I dragged my camera and tripod back to my car.

As a keen photographer you may be considering having your own website. The main purpose could be to showcase your work, although you may also be considering an option to sell a few images as art prints. Creating a web site to showcase your work is fairly easy to accomplish which is why so many have a go using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web design program. The trouble is, like any DIY project, you really need some knowledge beforehand and, in many cases, with ISPs, hosts and the black art of IP addresses to contend with, its often better left to the experts.