Digital cameras and digital photography

Digital cameras are beginning to be reasonably priced and they are an interesting tool for the designer, in special for web design, because they really speed up your workflow and in these conditions a very high resolution is not really necessary. The features of this type of cameras are improving constantly, and there’s already a very wide model range, both regarding their price and characteristics. Economic models work at smaller resolutions, but even so they are perfectly suited for many uses, in special for materials that will be seen in screen.

Digital cameras are very useful for detail photography; they are very comfortable to use if compared with the ordinary chemical film-based cameras. The toys in the two first pictures are only a few centimeters high, like the clock...

Advantages of digital photography

What surprises more about the way some people use these cameras is that they seem to consider them a kind of instantaneous camera: they take the photographies to directly print them as they are or, at the most, with some occasional processing. Although this is respectable, it is something of an absurdity; it is like thinking that a freezer is only for making ice cubes...

These cameras, indeed, have a long series of distinct advantages:

To begin with, it is not necessary to process any film. The photo is available immediately and it is not necessary to wait the end of the film roll, because you can continue addinging pictures later.
The camera always is ready to take photographs, as long as you have free memory to save them —and charged batteries.
With a digital camera you simply transfer the images through an USB connection and you have the files ready to edit.
The support (the memory card or the disc) is re-usable and directly transferable from a machine to another, or from the machine to the computer.
We may skip using the scanner, because the image is already digitized in a standard format (normally JPG —compressed— or BMP —not compressed.)
They have a very high light sensitivity, so photographies in conditions of little light can be taken; in those conditions an ordinary camera would usually require a special film.
We can choose between photographing in color, black and white, sepia, negative... with no need to change the film. We can apply many effects and filters, and we still have a fresh copy to save each time.
The number of copies that are needed can be obtained right away and limitlessly, with no loss of quality.

Some cameras even allow to shoot short video sequences in standard digital formats such as Quicktime or MPEG (specific equipment for digital video also exists, although this it is already another subject.) The digital video enjoys the same opportunities that the fixed images with regards to edition possibilities and management.

Some ideas for digital camera use

Creating a composition or collage using digital photographies is very easy, because it does not demand complicated tricks or laboratory equipment, only a program of photographic retouching or painting (which even can be very basic, for certain effects.) We can access immediately pictures, or a specific of the image with no need to order additional photo prints.

They are ideal for the news, articles, journalism, events, and for any publication that must renew its pictures continuously, because the time that goes from the moment you take the picture to its availability is almost none.

Estas cámaras pueden sustituir al escáner para determinados usos: por ejemplo, para preparar un catálogo online de pinturas, son ideales para fotografiar cuadros. These cameras can successfully replace the scanner for certain uses: for example, to prepare a paintings catalogue. They are ideal to photograph pictures, sculptures and other pieces of art.

Macrophotography —or at least, detail photos— with the digital camera you don’t need as many accessories as in the conventional cameras: it is not necessary to change the lenses and you don’t have to use special lighting systems.

You can see and download thousands of digital images in projects like Flickr, one of the most successful web applications for picture sharing. Flickr is really full of features and, if you still don’t know it, you definitely should take a look!