Understanding Digital Photography
The First Step to Taking Better Pictures

Understanding digital photography is simple, especially if you already have a knowledge of film photography. Here are some simple tips that will help you understand digital photography and your digital camera.

Just like film cameras, digital cameras combine principles of science and art. In order to take excellent pictures you need to have an eye for a good image. That requires you to be able to envision what you want a photo to look like even before you take it. Don't worry. If this doesn't come naturally to you, you can develop it over time.

When I first started taking photography classes my teacher gave each of us an empty slide frame. He told us to carry them around with us all the time and when we felt like we saw something we wanted to photograph to hold that square up to get used to trying to frame a photograph. It was a useful and fun thing to do as teenager, but could apply to adults too. If you can't carry your camera with you everywhere try carrying an empty slide frame. It will help you develop a photographic eye.

You don't have to wait until your eye is developed to start taking pictures though. Part of understanding digital photography is getting out and actually taking pictures. The more practice you get the better you'll get at photography.

First familiarize yourself with the terms commonly used in digital photography. Some are the same as film photography and some are completely new. Review digital photography terms here. Knowing the jargon used by people who are into digital photography will help you keep up with the conversation.

Types of Cameras

There are several types of digital cameras on the market today. I'll only give a brief overview of them here because I have a page that goes into this in more detail on the site already.

Subcompact cameras are ultra-small point and shoot cameras.

Compact cameras aren't as small as subcompact, but they're still pretty small. These cameras are also largely point and shoot, but a few have some manual settings.

Fixed Lens or Super Zoom cameras are larger than a compact and often look similar to a DSLR. These cameras are known for their zoom and wide angle capacities.

DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex. These cameras are larger than the other types and allow you to take better quality pictures. They also have more manual functions which give you more control over the end result of your photography.

Find out more about cameras by reading my types of digital cameras page.

Once You Have Your Camera

Once you have your camera study the manual and find out all the features it offers and how to work it properly. That might seem like quite a boring task. I think it's boring too, but in order to take the best pictures you possibly can you need to know what your camera can do. Knowing your camera is part of understanding digital photography.

Get extra memory and batteries for your camera. You never know when you might need them.

Now you're ready to familiarize yourself with the methods used to take good pictures. Light is one of the most important elements of photography. Knowing how to manipulate light can make the difference between taking an average photograph and an excellent photograph. You also need to pay attention to composition. A good rule to remember is called the rule of thirds.

Getting the principles of focus, light and composition will help you take pictures that you'll look forward to showing others.

Practice Makes Perfect

Get out and experiment. You can read all you want about digital photography, but all that reading won't do you a lick of good if you never put it into action. Getting out and taking pictures will help you become a great photographer. The more pictures you take the more you'll know what does and doesn't work.

truly understanding digital photography will definitely take practice, but it's enjoyable practice.

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