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The Digital Photography Book

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers

PC Photo Digital SLR Handbook

Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter Series)

Never load another roll of film.

Gone are the days of waiting for technicians to develop your photos, only to discover there isn't a good one in the bunch. Digital photography lets you take and tweak as many photos as you like (for free!) and share them in an instant. Teach yourself to:

Use shooting modes, such as manual, portrait, and panoramic
Adjust your camera's basic and advanced settings and features
Take, save, and share your photos, as well as avoid common pitfalls

Digital Photography Basics

Digital photography is a relatively new technology in which photos are captured and stored on light-sensitive microchips rather than on film. The main practical difference between digital and film photography is that digital photography typically requires the use of a computer to view, edit, and print photos. Even so, you need only a basic familiarity with computers to enjoy the many advantages that digital photography offers.

Though most digital cameras work the same way and offer similar basic functions, the individual buttons and menus differ from one camera to another. This guide will help you learn basic digital photo techniques. Consult your camera’s manual for exact instructions on how to apply those techniques to your particular camera.

How Digital Cameras Work

A digital camera records images onto a light-sensitive sensor that’s covered in tiny photo-sites, each of which contains one pixel. Pixels are the tiny colored dots that make up digital photos.

The camera records the information about the light that strikes each pixel and stores that data as a series of numbers—hence the term “digital.” When you view a digital photo on your computer screen, you’re actually seeing a tightly packed arrangement of millions of pixels (one million pixels is called a megapixel).

How Digital Cameras Store Photos

A digital camera stores the data that compose each image as files on a small, removable memory card, which you insert into the camera. Each photo you take gets its own file. After you’ve shot a bunch of photos or filled the card to capacity (storage amounts vary widely), either:

Connect the entire camera (with the card still inside) directly to the computer using a supplied cable
Remove the memory card from the camera and pop it into a memory card reader, which connects to the computer

Digital Photo File Formats

Digital photos can be stored in a number of different types of files, called file formats. The main difference between file formats is how they compress, or condense, the data in image files. Some file formats, such as RAW files, don’t compress the data at all. In general, most entry-level digital photography uses compressed files for two reasons:

Storage: Compressed files are smaller than uncompressed files, letting you store more pictures on memory cards and computer hard drives.
Viewing and editing: You typically have to convert uncompressed files with special software before you can view and edit the photos they contain.

Most digital cameras store each image as a jpeg, a common type of compressed image file. The camera automatically names each image with a series of numbers and letters followed by .jpg or .jpeg—for example, DSC123.jpg.

How to Set Image Size and Compression

Regardless of the specific file format your camera uses to store images, your camera gives you the option to choose the image size, or pixel dimensions, of the photos you take. Some cameras also allow you to choose the amount of compression the camera uses when storing photos (usually high, medium, or low).

As image size increases: File size (memory consumed) and photo quality increase proportionately.
As compression increases: File size and photo quality decrease proportionately.

For everyday shooting, it’s best to choose the largest image size and smallest compression option. This combination ensures the highest quality possible, but it also means that you can store fewer photos on your memory card. If you need to conserve memory or you’re shooting photos whose quality can be poor (such as photos you intend just to email and not print), lower the image size or increase the amount of compression before shooting. On most digital cameras, you can change settings like these by pressing the Menu button on the back of the camera.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer