Photographer Coach

This is part 6 of a 6 part series on getting to know your digital camera. Read part 5: Aperture Priority.

So we’ve seen how aperture setting (also referred to as the “f-stop”) and shutter speed control the amount of light reaching the film (or digital sensor). A theoretical proper exposure requires the right combination of aperture and shutter speed. The combination can be adjusted for a variety of purposes: Read the rest

This is part 5 of a 6 part series on getting to know your digital camera. Read part 4: Setting Proper Modes on Your Camera.

In most cameras, the diameter of the image hole (aperture) is adjustable (either manually or automatically) with something called a diaphragm: Read the rest

This is part 4 of a 6 part series on getting to know your digital camera. Read part 3: Pinhole Cameras.

Based on what you now know about camera basics, lets get into how to properly expose the film/image sensor. See all those little icons around your camera’s main control button? They all attempt to automate proper exposure, depending on what you want to photograph. Wait-why do I need to tell it? Isn’t it automatic? Aren’t digital cameras supposed to be so much more sophisticated than plain old film cameras? Read the rest

This is part 3 of a 6 part series on getting to know your digital camera. Read part 2: What the Camera Makers Assume You Already Know.

The pinhole camera is proof that fundamental principles do not change. Euclid demonstrated the image-forming possibilities of the pinhole in 300 B.C. In the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci is credited with giving a description of the pinhole camera more or less as we think of it today. Read the rest

This is part 2 of a 6 part series on getting to know your digital camera. Read part 1: Digital Cameras for the Impatient.

If you bought the camera with the intent of being creative, you’ve probably already read the manual and figured it out. You can stop reading now and go get a cup of coffee. The rest of you, those who want a camera simply for documenting things and events, read on. Read the rest

The scenario: You just bought a cool digital camera, or received it as a gift. You’ve used it in the “auto” mode (because the instructions and controls are way complex) and have gotten less-than-stellar results. Did the ads lie? Is the printing machine at CVS screwed up? Did you screw up? Well, possibly yes to all these questions. Read the rest

So you want to buy a digital camera, and you don’t know where to begin. Well, based on my photographic experience– 25 years with film, three with digital- I shall present to you some major pitfalls along your path. This is just my opinion of course, but as Walter Cronkite said, everyone’s entitled to my opinion. Read the rest