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Flash Digital Photography-Using Flash With Digital Cameras
By admin | January 11, 2009
The Beginner Buyer’s Guide To Digital Cameras, Or The Ins And Outs Of Megapixels.
by: Warren Lynch
The most important part of buying a digital camera is making sure that the one you select meets all of your needs.
Digital Camera 101
Better digital cameras uses a chip called a “Charged Coupled Device” (CCD) instead of film. Light enters the camera, through the open shutter, and strikes the CCD where it is converted to digital data before being stored in the camera’s memory.
While that is the simple description, things can get pretty complicated from there.
Megapixels & Resolution
Resolution is a measure of how many pixels are used to make a digital copy of an image. Pixels are tiny dots of light that make up a digital image.
The quality of a digital camera’s image is usually measured in ‘Megapixels’ where each megapixel represents one million pixels.
Here’s how to determine how many megapixels you’ll need depending upon the type of photos you will be taking and what you intend to do with them.
1 megapixel
Almost obsolete, you might still find these in cell phones, PDAs, and desktop “web” cameras. They’re OK if you only intend to email pictures to other people and those people aren’t going to be printing them.
1.1 to 2 megapixels
Only slightly better than the 1.0, this resolution is OK for an average 4×6 snapshot, but it isn’t going to be a production quality image.
2.1 to 3 megapixels
This is the beginning of the decent camera range. You get very good 4×6 images and reasonably good 5×7 images. These cameras are low cost and provide a good platform for beginners.
3.1 to 4 megapixels
You are qualified to say that you have a “pretty good” camera. You get professional quality 4×6 images, real good 5×7 and 6×9 shots, and somewhat decent, but not great 8×10 images.
4.1 to 5 megapixels and up
People will be saying “Hey, great pictures!”. You can count on professional images all the way up to 8×10’s. Of course, as the megapixel count goes up, so does the price.
If you are only going to be viewing your pictures online, such as posting them at a photo site or using them on your web pages, keep your money in your pocket and pick yourself up something in the 1.5 megapixel range.
If you will be shooting pictures that will be printed at a print house, such as for brochures, postcards, etc, then you will need at least a 5 megapixel camera if not higher. Of course, you’ll also need to have a fat wallet or a lot of open to buy on your credit card because, even thought prices are steadily falling, these puppies aren’t cheap!
Once you’ve solved the megapixel puzzle, the rest of a digital camera’s features, such as lens types, storage capacity and shutter speed are pretty routine and easy to understand. You shouldn’t have a problem deciding on those features.
Join Photopheed’s Daily Digital Dose and see Warren’s Tips. Warren Lynch has been shooting commercial photography since 1979 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clients include Makers Mark Bourbon, Heaven Hill, Yum Brands, GE, Fruit of The Loom and many more highly recognizable brands. Have him make your product more recognizable too. Visit his website at www.wlynch.com or just him a call at 1-502-587-7722.
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About The Author
Warren Lynch http://www.wlynch.com Sign-up for Photopheed’s Daily Syndicated Newsletter, the Daily Digital Dose and also receive Bi-Weekly Digital Photography Tips and Techniques from Warren Lynch an award-winning commercial photographer . http://www.photopheed.com
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Fortunately, we no longer have to deal with buying flashes for our cameras anymore. Flash digital photography is now a real term used both in words and in the photography industry. The flash (instead of being put on top of the camera like it used to) is now built right into the flash digital cameras themselves.
Today, our digital cameras come with a built in automatic flash and, even better, is the feature that allows you to change the setting, depending on how much light is available. Some digital cameras even come with a setting that will let you know when the lighting isn’t right for the setting you have it set on. Then you will need to change the setting yourself.
The best way to use flash with your digital camera is to first read the instruction manual on how the settings are set up and how you should use them. You should also learn how to use the settings by then taking that knowledge and working with your camera hands-on. Try it outside at different times of the day, in different areas, in your studio (if you have one), in your home and anywhere else you might be taking pictures. By doing this, you can see first-hand what settings work best for what type of lighting.
Unfortunately, some digital cameras have the flash too close to the lens and that can lead to red eyes in your pictures. Fortunately, you can get a digital camera that has a setting to help reduce red eye or you can fix the problem with your photography software.
You should also play with the settings with different areas where shadows could show up. This will help you determine how far away from your subject you can be before the shadows disappear. This happens because the flash didn’t reach those areas. The camera manufacturer will usually list the maximum flash strength and how far away you can be when taking a good shot. You certainly don’t want to lose any perspective and/or depth in your pictures.
You can reduce both of these problems of red eye and poor depth by getting a flash device that is separate from your camera. You will just need a detachable flash component that is simply powered by a bracket on the camera along with a cable that all work together to help the flash inside the camera to work with the external flash unit. This will help your flash digital camera by providing an extra source of flash and reduce the amount of red eye and poor depth coming out in your pictures.
Your flash digital camera can provide you with a wealth of creative photography opportunities. You just have to know how to use it and this is easy to learn. By using the steps outlined in this article and by playing around with your flash settings, you can get a great number of beautiful pictures using flash digital photography.
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