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The Difference Between Film and Digital Photography

Nov 7th, 2009
by andihong.
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There are many differences between film and digital photography. To most amateur photographers they do not matter much. They prefer the convenience, ease of use and lower cost of digital cameras and are not going to revert to the film age. However understanding the differences can help taking even better photos and can also help when debating with friends about the future of film.

Following is a list of differences that are important to understand. The differences are listed in no particular order.

The sensor: The most obvious difference between film and digital is the sensor used to take the photo. With film cameras a film sensitive to light is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo “printed” on the film. To take a new photo the film has to be rolled and a fresh “clean” film is place behind the lens. With digital cameras a fixed electronic sensor (sometimes known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its “value”. Put together all the pixels comprise one photo. To take a new photo the photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

What does a different sensor mean? The main difference is in the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller in size than a 35mm film the depth of field will be much higher and in fact in most compact digital cameras almost infinite. The result is that blur backgrounds can not be created.

The cost of a photo: Photos taken with a digital camera literally cost nothing. The photos are kept in erasable memory and thus can always be discarded at no cost. Also the photos you would like to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer’s hard disk. With storage prices going down the cost of saving a photo on disk is practically zero. Film does cost money. With a film camera you have to pay for the roll of film, for developing the negative and for printing the photo. Every time you press the shutter button you spend money.

The capacity: With ever growing storage capacities digital cameras today can hold hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos on a single media. You can always have a few more in your pocket and changing is very fast. The result is that a digital camera has practically infinite capacity. You can shoot as many photos as you want and at the end of the day just dump them on your computer’s disk. Film cameras’ capacity is very limited. A roll of 36 photos can only hold 36 photos. After a roll is used changing to a new roll can take time and is not easy to do in scenarios such as darkness or a harsh environment. For that reason many professional journalists carry a few cameras on them and instead of changing rolls they turn and use another camera just so that they do not miss a shooting opportunity.

The feedback: One of the most important features of the digital camera is instant feedback. Almost all digital cameras include a small LCD screen. Once a photo is shot you can go back and watch it on that screen. The ability to see how the photo looks like results in better photos. If the photo is not good you can take another one. Being able to see the photos on the spot results in an educated decision how to fix a photo or how to better compose it. It takes a lot of the guessing away from photography. With film cameras there is no way to know how the photo on the film will look like when printed.

New shooting angles: Just a few days ago I took a great photo with my digital camera that I would have never taken with my film one. I shot a cat that was resting on little rock. I held the camera in my hand and positioned it down where it almost touched the ground and I started shooting. I probably took 50 or more photos. I immediately looked at the camera’s LCD to review my photos and make sure they were focused and had the cat in them. The result was one great photo looking at the cat from the ground. I can not imagine myself just lying down on the dirty ground with a film camera looking through the viewfinder and perfecting that one shot.

With digital cameras you can actually take photos without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. Overhead shots where you raise the camera over your head are much easier to do since you can still see what the camera is shooting by just looking up at its LCD screen.

Correcting photos: With digital cameras photos can be corrected using photo editing software. Some correction abilities are built-in to the cameras but many more are available as software packages for your PC. With film cameras what you get is what you get. After the film is developed it is very hard to make any corrections. Usually if corrections are absolutely needed the negative or the printed photo will be scanned (i.e. converted to digital) corrected and then printed again (in a long and costly process).

Changing conditions: Every roll of film is designed for best results in a specific environment. For example there are indoor and outdoor films or films with different light sensitivity. If conditions change rapidly a film camera user will have to either shoot with the wrong film, change the roll (and usually lose photos that were not used in the current roll) or use another camera with a different film in it. The results of shooting with the wrong film can be distorted colors (reddish photos for example), a grainy photo and more.

With digital cameras the characteristics of the sensor can be changed instantly for each photo taken. With a click of a button the camera can be put in an indoor or outdoor mode, low light, night photography etc. Some cameras will automatically sense the scenario and set the sensor mode accordingly.

The myth of quality: While it is true that film photography has its advantages the claim for superior quality is no longer true. As digital camera evolved the quality of high end digital SLR cameras is superb and in many ways even better than film. When considering quality you should also consider the quality in terms of composition and the scenario caught in the photo. With digital cameras’ high capacity, zero photo cost and instant adaptability to changing conditions photographers can produce better compositions and experiment more to get the best photo possible.

Longevity: We have also paged through old photo albums of our grandparents. The photo looked a a bit yellow, scratched and just plain “old”. Storage of printed film photos or even negatives results in quality deterioration. Digital photos on the other hand never lose their quality. A digital photo will be identical today and 500 years from now. As long as we remember to refresh the digital media every now and then and to back it up our photos can literally list forever and not lose their quality.

Posted in: Digital Photography.
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Guitar Techniques – Developing Your Style

Nov 7th, 2009
by andihong.
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If you are a new guitarist who is curious about the guitar techniques you will be learning in the future or if you are looking to develop a little more style in your guitar playing, this article will tell you about some commonly used guitar techniques. I am also going to describe how to play a flamenco guitar technique that I think you will enjoy playing around with. I am not attempting a complete list of the things you can do on the guitar because each guitar playing style has its own techniques but hopefully you will get some ideas of where to go next in developing your technique.

Left hand guitar techniques can pretty much be moved from one musical genre to another. One exception I can think of is the technique of fretting bass notes by wrapping your thumb around the guitar neck. This technique is not used in all genres even though you are welcome to try it out in whatever you are playing, but it is downright frowned upon in classical guitar playing.

One technique that is used in classical and rock guitar playing is the use of the right hand to damp the sound of the strings. You put the side of your hand over all six strings and then pluck with your fingers or use up and down strokes with the pick. If you try it on your electric guitar you will instantly recognize the sound from numerous punk or metal tracks. A variation on this technique is to have your hand “floating” above the strings and bring it down to damp your notes just after you have played them.

Common to all kinds of plectrum guitar styles is the invention and use of strumming patterns. The “pattern” is varied by whether you use up or down strokes with your pick and in what order. A basic pattern is made by just alternating up and down strokes across all six strings in time with the music. Once you are comfortable with this technique you can vary it by using two up strokes together or two downstrokes followed by upstrokes, or you can just play the three bass or treble strings.

Whether or not you are exclusively a plectrum or finger-style guitar player you should at least experiment with the flamenco strumming technique known as rasqueado. With this style of strumming you are making use of each of your four fingers alternately to produce a completely different effect from plectrum strumming. To start you can rest the thumb on the sixth string and just strum the fourth, third, second and first strings. Begin by having all the fingers curled up, then drag each one across the strings in succession starting with the pinky. Play slowly at first and just use downstrokes.

Once you are used to playing down strokes using this flamenco technique, you can stop resting your thumb on the sixth string and follow your fingers down with it. So now you are playing five down strokes in succession. You can play a series of these rasqueado and join them up by performing an upstroke with the thumb. To summarize, you do downstrokes with the pinky, ring finger, middle finger, first finger and thumb. This gives you a long continuous strum. Then to begin another rasqueado, you bring your thumb up across the strings and start again with the pinky.

Posted in: Techniques.
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How to Transfer our Favorite Pictures With Digital Photography Software

Nov 7th, 2009
by andihong.
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Digital cameras are used for many events and special occasions. To transfer our favorite pictures from the camera to the computer we need to use special software that will facilitate this. This software is known as digital photography software, and you will find many varieties of it available on the market.

This digital photography software can sometimes be found with the digital camera that you buy. In the digital photography software there are various items to be found. These different programs will allow you to manipulate the pictures that you have taken when they are finally on your computer.

There are different types of digital photography software that can be found and used. You will need to make sure that all of the features in the software work properly before you download any of your stored images. The software can be ZoomBrowser EX 5.1, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, PhotoStitch and ImageBrowser 5.1 among the many varieties.

There are different types of digital camera software that you can use for Windows computers and ones for Mac computers. A few of these differences are found in the browser programs. The ImageBrowser 5.1 is to be used with Mac computers and it allows you to view, archive and manage your digital photographs. This is true for the Windows version, the ZoomBrowser 5.1.

To make these many different types of digital photography software work you will need access to device drivers. These drivers that you must have in your computer’s hardware should be TWAIN for Windows 98/2000. For Windows ME you should have WIA installed.

Besides these digital photography software you also need to have a Picture Transfer Protocol or a PTP on your computer. This Picture Transfer Protocol provides the support that you need for your digital camera to connect to any Windows XP (SP1 – 2) or Mac OS X (v10.1.5 – 10.3). With this transfer protocol you don’t need to look for the various requirements that are needed for device driver installation.

By looking at these various digital photography software you can gain an idea of the types of software that you will need to buy. The different kinds of software that is available today should not be that expensive.

You will however need to see if these various programs are compatible with your computer and your digital camera. The various features that are found with digital photography software, allows the camera enthusiast to create the masterpieces that they want.

Posted in: Digital Photography.
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Home Light Bulbs – Helping you to See the Difference

Nov 7th, 2009
by andihong.
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Lighting can make a big impact on a person’s health, mood and ability to perform their job. Many businesses have realized using the proper light bulbs can increase a person’s ability to think through complex situations, enable a person to make an informed decision and create a positive atmosphere. However, the realization of using the proper light bulbs has not been carried over into the home to enhance one’s home life, but there are many reasons why it should.
The typical household light bulbs are incandescent 60 watt GE light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs can light up a room well, but it is estimated that over 20% of electrical usage in a home comes from lighting a house and out of that amount only 10% is light producing. The other 90% is heat producing, but the heat produced is not even sufficient for completely heating up a room. Halogen light bulbs used in garages and outside are similar to the incandescent light bulbs only they produce even more heat and use more power. With the increase in technology many other light bulbs have been created that provide a higher percentage of light at a lower cost.
Fluorescent light bulbs have become a popular alternative to the typical household light bulbs, because not only can they light up a room, but they last a longer amount of time and use a fraction of the electricity compared to the incandescent light bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs come in many sizes and there have been some that are made to fit into the light sockets of the incandescent light bulbs. In addition to the reduced cost of usage the fluorescent light bulbs can be purchased to produce a more natural light.
Another low energy using light source is LED light bulbs (LED is short for light emitting diodes). LED light bulbs are commonly used in computer screens, remote controls and digital clocks, but they are beginning to be looked at as the future of lighting. LED light bulbs generate a significant amount of light, but they do not spread the light around the room like the incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs. They do provide an excellent low cost light source for specific areas that need to be lighted such as reading areas. Some manufacturers have made products using LED light bulbs for times when there is no electrical source and items need to last a long time on batteries. A flashlight produced by Sylvania with LED light bulbs, called Dot It Lights has been making its way into the market successfully.
In addition to the higher cost of incandescent light bulbs there is a health factor that the scientific community has studied. The type of light incandescent light bulbs provide is considered an unnatural light. Unnatural light is considered light that is different from the light produced by the sun. The scientific studies have shown that if a person spends a significant time indoors or without natural light their health will decline. Some of the common health problem symptoms are fatigue and depression, but there have been a few studies that have shown lack of natural light can cause cancers as well.
Many light bulbs are now being designed as full spectrum light bulbs. Full spectrum light bulbs are not a specific type of light bulb, but rather a description of the light the light bulbs produce. Full spectrum light bulbs produce light that is similar to the natural light of the sun. In many areas of the world where the sun does not shine these lights are used to promote a healthy environment. Due to many people spending a lot of time inside full spectrum light bulbs should be used in the home to ensure a person receives natural light, or close to natural light, throughout the day to promote a healthy body.

Posted in: Light.
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What are the Most Essential Digital Photography Accessories?

Nov 7th, 2009
by andihong.
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There are many things that you will need in your quest for digital photo-taking, and I have to tell you that they are legion. It’s just as bad and maybe even worse, than the masses of stuff you need with a good film camera. However you look at it though, just as with a film camera, most of these digital photography accessories are stuff that we buy just to please ourselves.

There’s really only a very small amount of these digital photography accessories that can be truly thought of as essential to the serious photographer. Everything else is just for the fun of it really. Since digital photography accessories can be anything that you need, want, or see from one given moment to the next, I thought it best if I separated them out for you. You know, just to make your life somewhat easier.

In actual fact I did this for myself a few years ago when I was still on film cameras because I found that no matter how hard I tried, I always wound up buying something that was useful, but which wasn’t useful to me. Like the fisheye lens that I bought a few years ago, just before I got into my digital stride. It’s a digital photography accessories that is useful yes, just not for me.

Needless to say, I still have it. I’ve used it only once, but since the thought that I might actually get around to using it crosses my mind every time I try to part with it, I’m still the proud owner of a completely useless fisheye lens. If you’ve been a photographer of any sort for any length of time, then there’s a better than even chance that you’ve also indulged at some point in time and have bought digital photography accessories that’s absolutely useful – just not useful for you.

So to that end, I started out writing a list of the digital photography accessories that I absolutely must have in order to get any sort of photography done, but instead came up with a list of all the things that I needed, wanted and saw just that morning in my favorite photography magazine. Obviously that wasn’t going to get me anywhere fast, and I have to say that I ditched the list at that time.

Luckily for all you readers out there going through this with breathless anticipation, I found it just the other day that there are digital photography accessories that you should-have, or that you might want to look at getting at a later point in time. And the digital photography accessories that you want and that you will get at some point in time.

Posted in: Digital Photography.
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Digital Photography – What a Beginner Needs to Know

Nov 6th, 2009
by andihong.
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Do you have a digital camera? You started it possible? No really, beginning with the peculiarities of a digital camera, you can begin to enjoy his or her digital camera to take beautiful photos because of the technology built into that little device.

Digital cameras can help films, it seems to me, I autofocus of the mountains, a beautiful flower or small. When I first bought my camera, the seller was very convincing. And I quote, all you have to do is point and click. I was instantly sold for that perfect camera.

In the days and weeks go by, I began to be familiar with the digital camera, digital photographs and suddenly became a passion for me. I would like to take more than just ordinary pictures! I dug through my old wardrobe and found the leadership of this digital camera, and he started reading. I learned about quality, that the 300 dots per inch will provide better quality than 72 dots per inch. If only I learned so much earlier! I learned about shutter speed and exposure, white balance and, as remove red eye effects … digital photography becomes very interesting!

Do you have a problem shooting through the window? Every time I take a picture in the window, it is always reflected in the picture. Sometimes thinking so small, so I can only after I moved it to your computer. If I knew, stand closer to the window, I would have reduced the thought that reflects on the shiny surface of the glass.

Have you tried to take pictures in the dark? if you try to use flash with the camera, the picture could be too bright. Especially if you use it in the jungle, you will scare away most of the animals. There is a way to use the camera to take pictures without flashes in the dark. That is to increase your light. You can manage your shutter speed by lowering it. To reduce the shutter speed, so you go more light cameras and brighten up the dark picture.

In addition to the light current light reflected from the image then is absorbed slide. The longer shutter to close his lead, a high exposure, and the brighter the image. You wonder how cats can see well at night? Their eyes less sensitive to light a candle in the darkness can lid in general place for them. It takes some practice, and I read you excerpts. Experiment and testing, it is important to know that this is the right speed.

Because the digital camera is becoming cheaper and cheaper these days, digital photography now has many amateur digital photographers. The younger generation will be able to stay on the program in many of the leading digital photo images of the past is a growing hobby.

Posted in: Digital Photography.
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