Your ACD Guide to Digital Photography Take better photos and enhance your digital photography experience. Table of Contents Table of Contents Forward Introduction: The Benefits of Digital Photography Part I. Camera and Technology Tips Tip 1 - Getting the Right Digital Camera Tip 2 - Digital vs. Film (Analog) Resolution Tip 3 - Optical vs. Interpolated Resolution Tip 4 - Reducing Shutter Lag Tip 5 - Speed Up Click-to-Click Processing Tip 6 - LCD Viewfinder Pointers Tip 7 - Improve Your Photos Using Metadata Tip 8 - Your Next Digital Camera: Night Sky Photos As Litmus Test Tip 9 - Memory Card Care and Corruption Tip 10 - Your Next Digital Camera: Is It Time for a CMOS Image Sensor? Tip 11 - Optical vs. Digital Zoom Tip 12 - Digital Focal Lengths Tip 13 - Using Digital Zoom Tip 14 - ISO Settings Tip 15 - Bulb and Time Settings Tip 16 - Demystifying Large Memory Cards Tip 17 - Scanners: Resolution and Bit Depth Tip 18 - Scanner Cleaning Tip 19 - Fast Photo Scanning Tip 20 - Batteries in Winter Tip 21 - LCD Display and Saving Batteries Tip 22 - Batteries Tip 23 - Converting Negatives and Prints to Digital:Good Reasons and Ideas Tip 24 - Alternative Image Formats Tip 25 - Bit Depth Tip 26 - What Is Metadata?/Why Is It Helpful? Tip 27 - GIF vs. JPG Tip 28 - Hints on Web Sharing Your Digital Photos Successfully Tip 29 - Resolution: DPI, Pixels and Printing Tip 30 - Photo Printing Paper: Choosing the Best Tip 31 - Resolution for Digital Prints Tip 32 - Upsampling Images for Print 1 www.ACDSYSTEMS.com Table of Contents Part 2. Photography Tips Tip 1 - Flash Photos Done Right Tip 2 - Translucent Impressions Tip 3 - Black and White Photography: Good Times to Use It Tip 4 - Using EV Compensation for Effect Tip 5 - Portraits in Three Layers Tip 6 - Fantastic Urban Foregrounds Tip 7 - Impressive Winter Landscape Photos Tip 8 - Special Low-Light Effects: Bulb and Time Mode Tip 9 - Night Photography Ideas Tip 10 - Phantasmic Fog Photos Tip 11 - Phenomenal Fall Photos Tip 12 - Landscapes and Scale Tip 13 - Mastering Indoor Flash Exposure Tip 14 - Group Photos Made Easy Tip 15 - Rare Rainy Day Photos Tip 16 - Controlling Color in Indoor Photos Tip 17 - Sharp Action Photos Tip 18 - Landmarking Landscape Photos Tip 19 - Better Digital Photo Color Tip 20 - Portrait Photos that Impress Tip 21 - Flash and Action (Flash Freeze) Tip 22 - Using Depth of Field Tip 23 - Low Light Campfire Photos Tip 24 - Light and Color Richness Tip 25 - Chasing Lightning Tip 26 - Fabulous Flowers Tip 27 - Macro Photos & Framing Tip 28 - Sunset Techniques Tip 29 - Detail & Mystery at Dusk Tip 30 - Moon Shot Hints Tip 31 - Mountain Prospects Tip 32 - Sunny Day Techniques Tip 33 - Fantastic Waterfall Shots Tip 34 - Beating Background Noise Tip 35 - Action Panning Techniques Tip 36 - Shutter Priority Tip 37 - Using Lens Perspective Tip 38 - Take some photos for me? Please? Tip 39 - Falling Light & Texture Tip 40 - Tough Focusing Tip 41 - Light and Contrast Tip 42 - Black and White Photography Hints Tip 43 - Lighting Scenarios and Effects Tip 44 - Pre-Focus and Moving Subjects Tip 45 - Pre-Focus and the Rule of Thirds Tip 46 - Alternative Landscapes: 5 Ideas Tip 47 - Window Tableaux From family fun to office knowhow, you'll find lots of useful and time-saving digital photography information right here. www.ACDSYSTEMS.com 2 Table of Contents Ideas to inspire and techniques to take you there. Tip 48 Tip 49 Tip 50 Tip 51 Tip 52 Tip 53 Tip 54 Tip 55 Tip 56 Tip 57 Tip 58 Tip 59 Tip 60 Tip 61 Tip 62 Tip 63 Tip 64 Tip 65 Tip 66 Tip 67 Tip 68 Tip 69 Tip 70 Tip 71 Tip 72 Tip 73 Tip 74 Tip 75 - Fixing Indoor Light with White Balance Watch Those Windows Why Zoom? Four Good Reasons What's Your Angle? Don't Forget Those Legs Festive Photos I: Glittering Lights Holiday Posed Portraits: Steps to Success The Art of Sunstars Aperture: Light and Focus Long Exposures -- The Art of Blur Low Light Experiments Intrepid Hiking Photos Cool Action Seasonal Reflections Bug Portraits Sports Photos ­ The Defining Moment Architecture I: Perspective and Color Architecture II: Night Shots Silhouettes Pet Portrait Tricks Fill Flash and Range Water Photography I ­ At the Beach Water Photography II ­ Reflections Water Photography III ­ Morning Steam Cool Macro Lock and Shoot Festive Photos II ­ Preparing for Group Shots Landscapes in Perspective 3 www.ACDSYSTEMS.com Forward Forward Credits Writer and Editor Kris Butler, ACD Newsletters Editor Whether you are a seasoned digital photography enthusiast or a new digital camera owner, this guide offers you tips and tricks for taking better photos and using your digital camera to its full potential. To receive ongoing articles on digital photography, as well as related software and equipment, you can sign up for ACD E-Mail Newsletters in the ACD Community at: www.acdsystems.com/English/Community/Newsletters/Signup/index To enter any ACD photo contest, simply sign up for a newsletter, check the details on the Enter Contests page in the ACD Community, and send in your photos. Contest details can be found here: www.acdsystems.com/English/Community/Contests/index We hope you'll find this guide useful and fun to read.Thank you for using ACD digital photo software. On behalf of all the staff at ACD Systems, Production Assistant Christopher Corbett Kris Butler ACD Newsletters Editor Contributing Writers Robert Cooper, Charles Edwards, Stephen Canning, and Frederick Kristjanson Graphic Designer Steve Schmidt Copyright ACD Systems 2004. All rights reserved. 4 www.ACDSYSTEMS.com Introduction Introduction: The Benefits of Digital Photography Have you explored all the benefits of digital photography? While film photography still has much to offer, digital photography has become easier and more cost effective than ever.The fact you have a digital camera means you already recognize some of the key advantages. However, the list below includes details and insights you may not have considered yet. No Film Once you have made your investment, you can forget about the continuing cost of film, as well as the concern that the roll will run out at the wrong time. Although memory cards do fill up, they can be changed quicker than film. Plus, if you run out of space, you can always delete a few shots that are not that great and make room for more. A good rule of thumb is to delete only those photos that have clearly not worked out. Why? First off, even the biggest camera LCD screens are small compared to a computer screen, so it can be hard to distinguish important details in photos that are not obviously flawed. Also, the light levels on your LCD screen are not an accurate depiction of the actual light levels in the photo ­ it may look too dark or light, but wait until it's on your computer to be sure.Finally, many "OK"photos can be made to look great with a little help from photo editing software. Instant Previews Share the moment that you just captured right away. By looking at the preview screen on your camera, you immediately know if the shot has generally worked out or not. Is uncle Ted's head partially cut off because he's so tall? Simply try again and delete that shot to save memory card save. (See note.) New Sharing Options When you switch to digital photography, a whole new set of electronic sharing options opens up to you.With the right digital photo software, such as ACDSeeTM , you can choose to send images by e-mail, share them free online using ACD SendPixTM , or if you are computer savvy and have you own website, generate HTML photo albums for quick web posting. Environmental Benefits Without traditional developing, the use and disposal of photographic chemicals is reduced substantially. For more information on ACD SendPixTM free online photo sharing, go to www.sendpix.com. Print Savings When you go digital you can pick and choose the photos you'd like to print. So, while digital prints can be more expensive than traditional prints, you don't pay for prints you don't want. www.ACDSYSTEMS.com 5 Introduction License to Experiment Since you no longer have to worry about paying for shots that don't work out, you can experiment to your heart's content. At-Home Printing Convenience In addition to getting your digital shots printed through traditional labs, there are many home printers that provide brilliant quality.With a fairly modest investment in a high quality inkjet printer, you can literally make prints within minutes of taking a shot. Also, software packages like ACD FotoSlateTM let you print out great album sheets (no cutting) or professional-style portrait sheets, just like the ones you get at the studios. Video Clips Many digital cameras now come with the ability to take short video clips, usually of 1 to 2 minutes in length. If you pick up a larger memory card (a good idea anyway), then you should be able to take several clips on a card.Video clips can be a lot of fun and in many cases if they are compressed well enough, they can even be shared with friends by e-mail. Summary These are just the most prominent benefits of digital photography. As you get into it and become familiar with your camera and software, you'll be constantly surprised by the change in the way you think about photos and in the amount of new and convenient things you can do. 6 www.ACDSYSTEMS.com Introduction Capturing Photos A world of imagination and artistry has opened up to anyone who takes up photography and this world has only grown with the dawn of digital photos.The tips in this guide will lead you into that imaginative world with a practical exploration of many photography ideas and concepts, as well as concrete pointers on how to use your equipment to your best advantage. You will also get sound advice on what to look for if you are thinking of buying a new digital camera. Of course, since digital photography is so new, you will likely already have a large film photo collection and other useful equipment, such as a scanner. Lots of great ideas await you on how to get the most from your entire collection as well as all your equipment. www.ACDSYSTEMS.com 7 Part I. Camera and Technology Tips Tip 1 Getting the Right Digital Camera Thinking of buying a new digital camera? Here are the key areas to consider when making your move from film to digital or when upgrading to your next digital camera. Specific articles that explore each of the areas listed below are also included in this section. Resolution This term refers to the quality and clarity of an image. In the digital world, it is generally measured in pixels. For printing, pixels per inch is the standard measurement (sometimes called "dots per inch,"though the two are not identical in meaning). In the case of cameras, resolution is measured in megapixels. Resolution is the one of the most important aspects of any digital camera purchase. When it comes to deciding on the right level of resolution, the most important question you need to ask yourself is:"Am I going to want to print enlargements and/or crop and edit my photos before printing them at regular size?" If you never print anything other than 4"x 6"pictures, a 2 megapixel camera should serve you just fine. However, if you would like to have the option to enlarge your pictures to 5"x7" 8"x10"or larger, consider a , 3, 4 or 5 megapixel camera.This also holds true if you want the option to perform significant edits on your digital photos, such as cropping and resizing. Basically, bigger is better when it comes to megapixels. Although, when shooting at higher resolutions, you will need more storage capacity as your image file sizes will be significantly larger. Lenses (Optical Zoom) Beware of the term "interpolated resolution."It refers to the camera's software adding pixels to the image after it is captured. Interpolated resolution is useful in some cases, but "effective resolution,"which reflects the actual number of pixels in the camera's image sensor, it the most important for determining maximum print size and editing flexibility. Be sure you're comparing "effective resolution" when shopping for a camera or you may not get what you are really looking for. Most mid-level and higher digital cameras have great zoom lenses. On digital cameras, optical zooms are measured by their magnification factor: 2x, 3x, etc. For comparison purposes, it is often easier to ask what the 35mm equivalent is.This is because the magnification measurements don't specify what size lens it is that's zooming. For instance, a 2x zoom lens could mean a 28mm-56mm zoom, a 35mm-70mm zoom, or a 50mm-100mm zoom (expressed in 35mm equivalents).These lenses would all have different properties, so it is worth asking for 35mm equivalents to be sure you understand what you're getting. 8 www.ACDSYSTEMS.com Part I. Camera and Technology Tips Exposure Modes Will the basic "automatic"mode suit your needs? Do you want shutter priority for sports? Aperture priority for portraits? Spot meteri ...