How to take great pictures the Dan Thompson way...: Knowlege is Power...Rule 2

Know your camera...

Seems like an easy thing to do. Its a cell phone, point & shoot, or Single Lens Reflex (slr). It is either film or digital. These are the basics.

Camera Types

Need to know terms (basic information)

Popular additional equipment

So here is a brief description of each of the above cameras.

CELL PHONES

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Cell phones. These are the newest and becoming the most widely used cameras on the market. The key to these is knowing what gadgets they have put into the phone. Some of these can shoot 3D pictures and video. Others are now claiming to be as good as a point and shoot camera, and can include a flash. Thee are not bad cameras, you just need to know what you can and can't do with yours. I can shoot fixed length (no real zoom) pictures. I can shoot black & white, sepia tone ( brownish toned, old style looking pictures) and a few other options. I can do some limited videos too. The key to good pictures with your cell phone is knowing these features. Play with them. Enjoy them. I personally can't wait for my carrier to have a 3D phone...Fireworks in 3D...

Film and Digital...the cameras to follow have been and/or are being made to shoot both. They all started out with film, way back when. Film set us up with a number of terms that are still used in cameras today.

The most important one to me is ISO...this was the speed rated settings that was to denote the light sensitivity of the film. 100 speed was for bright outside or flash pictures. 400 is for general photography...almost any situation. 800 is for low light situations...remember when all the films companies were showing dark birthday cake candle pictures...that's 800 speed. If you see a higher number like 1600...3200...6400...these are rare and are mostly used for high speed action pictures...football, basketball, car racing...that kinda stuff. I personally choose to shoot 200 speed, mostly because I have a camera that I can push it up or down the light scales with limited effect. The real reason that these ISO numbers are important is that they control the "grain" of the picture. The lower ISO #, the lower the speed of the film...the lower the grain...the bigger the picture can be made with out it getting grainy. In digitals it means needing to use more pixels to get the same quality. That's why you should be aware of that setting on your camera. Don't be surprised that many digitals tend to set their autos to 400-800 and can lead to shadow and silouets when not intended.

Point and Shoot cameras

Cool camper

Sun deck view from Suncoast Casino Las Vegas, NV

Gizmo

Point & Shoot cameras can both be film and digital. Most Polaroids are point & shoot cameras. These are cameras that range currently from disposable 1x use cameras that you can get almost anywhere all the way to high end European digitals that can be more costly than many Dslrs that pros use. What defines a point & shoot, to ,is a built in lens. They can be either a fixed or zoom lens. The zoom feature on these cameras can be either optical or digital. Optical zoom means that the lens actually moves to zoom in or out. The digital zooms make the adjustments to the picture by manipulating the image digitally. I personally prefer an optical because it is the image as actually recorded, and not manipulated in a way that could effect the image in the long run. Many of these cameras will have many of the same modes as Dslrs, and have high megapixel numbers. These cameras are very popular and do a good job for basic snapshot pictures. Great for beginners.

Dslr, SLR, and Medium Format

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Bear at the Detroit Zoo

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Dslr and SLR cameras are the type that most professionals use these days. These cameras have inter-changeable lenses and have many more options on how you can choose to work within the system. I can use most of these like a point and shoot in one of the auto modes, or I can control everything. I can control speed, light, distance, focus, depth of field...all of it. I can do nothing, or everything. I control the speed it takes to shoot the pictures...from 1/3200 of a second to as long as I can hold the shutter release in. The great thing is that with this time control I can do pictures like the carnival and fireworks pictures. I can then go right to adjusting just what mode I want to shoot in, like the close-up / portrait mode as in the tree branch. You really can't miss with any of the new Dslr's that are on the market now. They are a good investment if you value your pictures as an important part of your life and memories.

No TV entertainment

SLR= Single lens reflex... camera uses a single lens that the photographer looks through, via a movable mirror cover, of the film...usually 35mm...periscope view.

Dslr = same as above, but instead of film it uses a digital light sensor device to record the image. They still have eye views, but most use the screens to set the image for the picture.

Mirrorless (Nikon 1, and similar) = Take out the mirrors, and eye view for the Dslr...keep most of the other stuff. They tend to leave out many of the upgrades and features that come in Dslrs

Medium & large format = This refers to the size of the "film" They were very popular with pros back when film ruled the roost, because bigger film meant bigger printable images w/o loosing clarity. they also had removable backs that could be changed in some cameras from Polaroid, to film, to digital backs in the later models. almost extinct.

Mega Pixel (MP)= this is the computer size of the image possible by the camera. The larger the MP in the photo then the larger prints you can make of that image. Want to put the print a billboard you'll need a 10mp or more file...most people need much less...think the images that take up your screen 400 times over.

in conclusion...yea...

There are many cameras you can choose to shoot, and they all have their pros and cons. You need to think of of what you want to shoot, how much you want to work in getting the pictures, and what you want to do with them. Don't forget to think about 5 years from now and what you will be planning to shoot then...marriages, graduations, travel...anything. These will be your history, so choose wisely, and make sure you feel comfortable with your choice. You wont go wrong when you do these things.

Good shooting...and send in some of your shots...and tips.