How to Save Photos From Your Digital Camera

How to Save Photos From Your Digital Camera. Once you’ve taken photos with your digital camera, you need to store them somewhere.  You could always leave them on the memory card, but that would get rather expensive, so let’s explore a few other options.

1. Transfer your images onto your computer.  Most cameras come with a wire to connect your camera to your computer, a CD with a downloading program and an instruction booklet.  Transferring the images is fast and simple.  Once they are on the computer, you can delete the images from your memory card and start taking more photos.
2. Burn your images onto a CD. If you have a CD burner on your computer, you can make photo discs to store or share with others.  When it comes to pictures, it is often best to use a CD that can’t be written over.  This will save the heartache of losing precious photos.  Label the CD and store it where it can be gotten easily when you need to see your pictures.\
3. Store your images on a public web site.  There are many photo-hosting sites on the internet.  Some charge for the service, but many are completely free.  You have the choice to password-protect your images or share them with the world.  This option helps if your computer should crash.  Your pictures are safe.
4. Print your images and place them in a photo album.  Many people still like turning the pages of a photo album and reviewing the memories.  This also makes it possible for those without a computer to view your pictures.
5. Create a photo gift.  There are places out there that will take your digital image and place in on shirts, mouse pads, cups, calendars and numerous other items.  These make wonderful gifts and provide a way to keep a cherished picture near at all times.

These are just a few suggestions.  Using your creativity, you will come up with many more ideas.

Three Steps to Buying Your First Digital Camera

Three Steps to Buying Your First Digital Camera. You’ve decided it’s time to buy a digital camera, but which one?  The aisles are full of different brands with different features and a wide variety of prices to match.  The task can be overwhelming.  Following are the three most important things you can do to make the decision easier.:

1. Do your research.  Talk to people who have digital cameras and ask them how they like theirs.  What features do they use often and which ones are “just there”?  Go online and visit sites that review different cameras and read what they have to say.
2. Next, decide how much money you are willing to spend on a camera.  There is no sense going into debt over a camera unless it will be used as your major income source.  Decide how often you will use the camera, what places you will be using it and who else will be using this particular camera. How much money can you reasonably spare?  All these things will help you narrow your choices.
3. Evaluate your needs and experience level.  Do you have experience or is this your very first camera?  Do you have time to learn a lot of features or are you happy with a camera you can just point and click?  Do you plan on growing in photography?  If so, a digital SLR may be your choice so it can be added onto to grow with you. 

Buying a digital camera doesn’t have to be a purchase full of stress.  Do your homework and know what you are looking for, then stick with the decision.  You are the best judge of what you need, trust yourself.  Each of the above steps will narrow your choices considerably and make that final decision easier to make and you can enjoy discovering the wonders of photography with your new purchase.

What Is the White Balance Setting on my Digital Camera?

What Is the White Balance Setting on my Digital Camera? Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful winter scene and been disappointed to discover the crisp, white snow came out with a bluish tint?  This is the kind of situation your digital camera’s white balance is meant to prevent.

The white balance is a sensor that analyzes the lighting conditions and colors of a scene and adjusts so the white in the picture appears white.  This helps insure the other colors appear as natural as possible. This is one advantage digital photography has over tradition film.  With film, you buy with a certain lighting condition in mind.  If that changes, you need to either change your film or hope you can fix any errors in post-production.

Most digital cameras allow you to use either automatic white balance or choose between several preset conditions such as full sun, cloudy day and so forth.  Automatic white balance will work in most conditions.  There may be times, however when you want to “warm” up a picture to enhance the color, such as for portraits or sunsets.  The best way to do this is  set your camera’s white balance to “cloudy”.  This will deepen the colors and add a glowing quality to portraits.  It will take a beautiful sunset and enhance it to the point of incredible. 

Practice taking the same photo with different white balance settings to get a feel for the changes each setting evokes. Keep notes until you have a good idea of what each setting does.  In time, you will come to automatically sense which setting is best for your particular situation. 

White balance is a small setting that can make big changes in your finished photos.  Make it your friend and you will no longer have to worry about faded sunsets or blue snow. 

Take Better Pictures With Your Digital Camera

Take Better Pictures With Your Digital Camera. Today’s cameras make taking pictures a lot easier than the one’s of yesterday.  There is always room for improvement, however.  Use the following tips to help make your photos go from acceptable to great.

1. Always be aware of the background. You don’t want to find trees growing out of people’s heads or a passing vehicle to draw attention from your subject.  Sometimes moving your subject just a couple steps to either side can make all the difference.

2. Use available light. If your digital camera has an option to turn the flash off and it’s light enough outside to read a book then use the available light and turn the flash off. In general camera flashes are too harsh for human skin and make all of us look pale.  Indoors, where there isn’t enough daylight, place your subject by a window and use your fill flash feature.

3.  Aim your camera slightly down at the person’s face.  Also don’t shoot just face on to the person, try a little to the side, a three quarter view, so that you see more of their face. Remember camera higher looking down and a three quarter view, it will slim your subject.

4.   Remember your focus.  Get closer to your subject. Fill the frame with your subject and there will be no doubt as to what the picture is saying.

5. Never put your subject dead center.  Put your just slightly off center; not a lot just a little. When you’re shooting  groups of people, find the imaginary center line of your group and put that line just a bit off center in your view through your lens or screen.

Following these tips won’t turn you into an award-winning photographer today, but you will be on your way to better, more powerful photographs that others will comment on for years to come.

Why Digital Photography?

Digital photography is quickly becoming the preferred way to take pictures.   If you are in the market for a new camera, consider the following advantages of digital over traditional film photography.

In the long run, digital is less expensive.  All photos are recorder are on memory device within the camera and then downloaded straight to your computer.  You skip the need to keep buying rolls of film and paying for developing. You can send unlimited copies of the same picture to friends and relatives without spending a penny extra.

You see your pictures quicker.  Most digital cameras allow you to view your photos immediately.  There is no waiting and worrying about whether or not that “perfect shot” turned out.  You can take a picture of that new baby and immediately download it to your computer to share your good good news with friends and relatives. There’s no need for anxious grandparents to wait days or even weeks for a picture.

Most digital cameras have built in editing features.   Cropping and re-centering the picture to make it look its best can be done easily.  You no longer have to worry about a stray hand distracting from the main subject of your photo.  Sharpening can be done immediately to bring out the details.  Within minutes you can have a print-perfect photo.

You avoid the frustration of running out of film and having to find a store that is open in the middle of an important event or on vacation.  Depending on the size of your memory card and the setting of file size and quality, which you often control, you can store a couple hundred pictures on one tiny card.  That is the equivalent of nine or ten rolls of film. 

These are just a few of the advantages of digital photography.  It is definitely worth considering as you search for your next new camera.