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"Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing)."
From ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
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"Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print - my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey - from the subject before me?"
From ~ Ansel Adams
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"The very secret of life for me...was to maintain in the midst of rushing events an inner tranquillity. I had picked a life that dealt with excitement, tragedy, mass calamities, human triumphs and suffering. To throw my whole self into recording and attempting to understand these things, I needed an inner serenity as a kind of balance."
~ Margaret Bourke-White
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Quick Definitions !!
MEGAPIXEL = One-million pixels, a unit of measurement in an image. This number will determine the quality of the image. Think of it as the number of dots in your picture. A low density of dots will result in a poor image.
DPI= "Standing for dots per inch, this refers to the resolution of an image. The higher the DPI, the better the detail of an image. It is a measurement of the number of dots found in a one-inch square of an image."
IMAGE FORMAT = "This is the manner in which digital images are stored. There are numerous ways to store an image, and the most popular are jpeg, gif, tiff, bitmap and the more complicated raw files. You can identify which format is used by looking at the end of the file name after the period. For example, picture.jpg is a jpeg file."
PICTBRIDGE = "This is a universal direct-print standard adopted by most digital camera manufacturers. It allows digital camera users to connect directly to printers which have this feature to print without the use of a computer liaison."
SOURCE: Michael Carr at about.com
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Digital Photographer's Resources
Digital Photograph from NASA
"One hundred and sixty years after the invention of photography, an enemy rose above the horizon. Digital imaging threatened to sweep away film, make the darkroom redundant, and exile
the hard-won craft skills of picture-making. In a short time, the threat grew as numerous new enemies appeared, in the shape of more and more digital cameras, scanners, image-manipulation software, and the Web, all banding together to raze conventional photography to the ground.
Photographers watched with steadily increasing apprehension, but the threat turned out to be the best friend photography could have hoped for. Instead to opposing conventional photography, digital technologies have in fact revitalized whole swaths of photographic practice. Traditional techniques--in use of both
the camera and lens, as well as darkroom manipulations--fully retained their relevance as the foundation upon which many digital advances were based; this is reflected in references to film-based techniques. Indeed, the union of conventional photography with digital technology has turned out to be incredibly fertile, providing us with new worlds of practical, creative, and enjoyable potentialities."
~~Tom Ang. Digital Photographer's Handbook. 3rd Edition. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2006.
In photography, digital is to film as HD DVDs are to video cassettes; but, for those who have not yet fully entered the digital age, this page points to some of the resources available to ease the entry into the wide world of digital photography. Many of these resources are online sites that explore and explain some of the possibilities of digital photography or provide lists of software to help you in the process, but there are also lists of print sources for those of you who would still rather curl up with a book than with your computer.
If you have not yet purchased a digital camera, think carefully about what you want to do with your camera. Do you simply want to get better photos of family gatherings and the places you visit and then share them electronically or do you expect to try you hand at a new form of artistic expression? In any case, the first step is to thoroughly explore, and play with, all the possibilities of the particular camera you will use. It is not just the number of pixels to be considered but the whole range of capabilities. The software that comes with the camera will undoubtedly allow simple cropping and a “quick fix” to adjust color and eliminate red eye.
More complex manipulations of visual elements require additional software packages with costs that vary greatly, as do their capabilities. Photoshop Elements, at just under $100, will probably allow for all the enhancement and manipulation required for most amateur photographers, including those experimenting with faux-photography. Before investing in the complete Adobe Photoshop and/or Corel Painterr, be certain that these powerful software packages are necessary and appropriate for what you want to accomplish. Some software is so complex that the amount of both time and money involved may not be worth the investment. |
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Outstanding Opportunities to Learn
Adobe Photoshop Basics Course Online or send for email copy! It will only help if you have Photoshop on your computer.
Adobe Photoshop Elements Basic Course Oline offers free tutorials for the use of this software.
About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange:
This curriculum offered electronically through the Getty Museum, which focuses on Dorothea Lange and her photography, helps photographers to visualize history and explore their own creativity through art and writing activities. This also gives you access to the Getty for additional resources.
In looking for a comparative chart of cameras and other media you will find ViewScore: A Product review to be quite useful.
Kodak
Education Site. This site includes excellent details and courses on digital
imaging.
Although primarily designed for young people, this website offers a great deal of sound help if you are willing to browse through the website to find needed information.
Selected Museums for Digital Photography
MOCA: The
Museum of Computer Art MOCA is one of the most heavily-trafficked, comprehensive, frequently-updated
and respected computer art museums on the Web. Extraordinary images using a variety of technologies.
The George Eastman House of International Photography and Film The photography collection includes more than 400,000 photographs and negatives dating from the invention of photography to the present day. The collection embraces numerous landmark processes, objects of great rarity, and monuments of art history that trace the evolution of the medium as a technology, as a means of scientific and historical documentation, and as one of the most potent and accessible means of personal expression of the modern era. More than 14,000 photographers are represented in the collection, including virtually all the major figures in the history of the medium.
Australian Center for Photography, Paddington, Australia Established in 1973, it is the ACP's mission to promote and enrich the understanding of photo-based art in Australia and this is achieved through a dynamic mix of exhibition, education and publication.
International Center of Photography,New York The International Center of Photography is a museum, a school and a center for photographers and photography. ICP's mission is to present photography's vital and central place in contemporary culture, and to lead in interpretation of issues central to its development.
Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, JapanThe Museum embraces photographic art made in the affirmation of life. Work from all countries from 1900 to the present is represented.
American Museum of PhotographyThis is a virtual museum with with outstanding exhibits including "How the Camera Learned to Lie." Their site presents the text and photos to make the points most clear.
Maya-Archaeology.org
Maya-archaeology.org covers Mayan, Olmec, Teotihuacan art, architecture, deities, hieroglyphic writing and the latest digital photography, 35mm film and flatbed scanner technology for recording the artifacts and pyramid-temple and palace architectural remains of these fascinating ancient civilizations. New, helpful hints to improve the quality of your photography, especially for professional photography in museums or on archaeological expeditions.
Selected Books for Digital Photography
Aaland, Mikkel. Photoshop CS2 RAW: Using Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge, and Photoshop to Get the Most out of Your Digital Camera. O'Reilly Media, Incorporated, 2006.
The primary focus of Photoshop RAW is, as the title suggests, Photoshop editing technique: automating RAW workflow, correcting exposures, extending exposure range, manipulating grayscale and working with the new DNG (Digital Negative) open standard that Adobe supports.
Ang, Tom. digital photographer’s handbook. 3rd Edition. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2006.
Clear and jargon-free text that demystifies technical elements in digital photography. Excellent images to support directives.
Beardsworth, John. Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers. O'Reilly Media, Incorporated. 2005.
Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is the only recipe-format book that covers blending modes specifically for digital photographers.
Beardsworth, John. Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook: 62 Easy-To-Follow Recipes for Creating the Classic Styles of Great Artists and Photographers. O'Reilly Media, Incorporated. 2006.
The book tells you all you need to know to turn your original digital photographs into images that mimic the styles of great photographers and painters. From advice on how to develop an eye for appropriate subject matter to 62 detailed recipes that demonstrate exactly how to create an "original" van Gogh, Vermeer, Edward Weston, or Andy Warhol (among others), this book is an authentic guide to understanding and simulating the work of great artists-and a whole lot of fun.
De Wolfe, George. George DeWolfe's Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006.
Renowned photographer and lecturer George DeWolfe shares his established, straightforward, and effective method for shooting, editing, and printing high-quality black & white and color digital images in this full-color book. He explains his "16-bit workflow" technique for taking great digital pictures, preparing them on a computer, and consistently producing beautiful fine art prints. You'll also learn how to set up a successful "closed loop" environment--one in which the photographer does everything on his or her own, sending nothing out for development.
Kenworthy, Chris. Photoshop Filter Effects Encyclopedia. Ilex Press Ltd, O'Reilly Media, Incorporated. 2005.
Careful instructions on the creation of digital effects.
Digital Photography Magazines
The websites below are the official sites for printed magazines, but these online sites themselves provides a wealth of information including reviews, tips, and buying guides, articles, tutorials, and examples of outstanding photographs. If you like what you see on the website, check your news stand to compare the hard copy content. Magazines from the UK have been included because their site is so useful, even if the print version may not be readily available.
Digital Camera: Guide to Electronic Photography and Imaging
Digital Camera: The Magazine for Today’s Photographer
(The home of both Popular Photography & Imaging and American PHOTO Magazines)
Shutterbug: Tools, Techniques & Creativity
What Digital Camera: The UK’s Best Digital Photography Magazine
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