Digital photography has come about as a result of the convergence of both IT and photography. Both technical and aesthetic aspects of digital photography are derived from conventional photography, and hence a good knowledge of photographic skills also help to make or break a picture.

Inevitably, digital photography brings with it new techniques and means to capture an image. Basic photography skills such as lighting, exposure and composition are naturally important. But there are many new areas that a digital photographer should pay attention to:

1. Shutter Lag

Tip: Keep the camera still for a few seconds even after you depress the shutter release button.

For conventional cameras, the time lag from the moment your finger depresses the shutter release button till the moment the shutter opens is virtually negligible.

On the other hand, for most digital cameras, there is a noticeable time lag which varies across the many camera models. Response time is especially slow on the cheaper models. For some makes, there are small beeps or clicks to let the user know when the picture has been taken. For others, the image taking process is so quiet that you may not even know if the camera has responded.

You may think that this is an advantage over conventional SLRs with the noisy slap of the mirror, or the sound of the shutter of a rangefinder. On the contrary, many professionals miss the reassuring slap of the mirror in an SLR!


2. Optical vs Digital Zoom

Tip: Try not to use the digital zoom function.

Cheaper camera models come only with digital zoom, whilst the high-end ones come with both optical and digital zooms. Optical zooms work basically like your conventional zoom lens whereby lens elements in various groups are moved to change the focal length of the lens.

Digital zooms are only present in digital cameras, and basically work by utilizing only a smaller portion of the CCD element. (The CCD, or charge-coupled device, records picture information.) This reduces the angle of view and hence gives the impression that you are closing in on a subject far away.

Image quality obviously suffers when a smaller area of the CCD is used to represent the same image size. There is a noticeable increase in "noise" in the final image, which can be compared to graininess in conventional film. Hence, image quality is high for optical zooms and rather poor for digital zooms.


3. LCD vs Viewfinder

Tip: Use the LCD for more accurate frame coverage.

It is true that using the LCD to compose your photographs is the fastest way to drain your batteries. In fact, it is advisable to switch off the LCD and use the viewfinder (for cameras that have a viewfinder!) to conserve battery life. In addition, most LCDs are very difficult to view under bright sunlight, and using the viewfinder helps in composition.

On the other hand, most viewfinders suffer from parallax error as the image is slightly "off" from the actual image. This is most prominent when your subjects are closer to the camera, as in portraiture or macro shots. For accurate frame coverage, compose your images with the LCD.


4. ISO Setting

Tip: Use the default ISO setting.

As digital cameras were made for photographers, so-called film speed settings (based on ISO ratings) were incorporated. Many digital camera users are stumped as to the need for ISO when there is no film involved. This is an example of how legacy requirements affect even the design of new high-technology products!

Manufacturers of digital cameras usually rate their CCD's sensitivity to the equivalent of a film's sensitivity. Hence, if a CCD is rated at ISO 80, this digital camera is as sensitive to light as a normal film rated at ISO 80 is.

In the more expensive digital camera models, there is usually an option to increase this ISO setting to perhaps ISO 200, 400 or maybe even more. This gives the photographer more flexibility for action shots or even for low-light situations.

Unless you really need to, don't change the ISO setting as it is comparable to pushing a film. You will be able to get the shot but the results may not be very pleasing due to increased "noise".


5. White Balance & Colour Temperature

Tip: Use the white balance "auto" setting. If you get strange colour tints, try to calibrate the white balance or change to preset settings to suit the colour temperature of the light source.

Colour temperature measures the colour quality of a light source. The concept of colour temperature is based on the radiation emitted by a black-body and is very technical and complicated. To the photographer, the lighting is "warm" if there is a yellowish hue, and "cool" if there is a bluish hue.

Digital photography brings a whole new dimension to the area of colour temperature in photography. Previously, in conventional photography, the photographer had to use colour correction filters to correct for the various colour temperatures. There was also the choice of tungsten or daylight-balanced film. For digital photographers, things are less complicated as colour temperature correction is usually automatic.

White balance is quite a new term for conventional photographers, although videographers have long been using it. Basically, white balance is what the camera perceives as true white. A white object may be yellowish-white under tungsten lights, slightly greenish-white under fluorescent lights, or slightly bluish-white on a cloudy day. Basically, the camera tries to adjust the colour balance to achieve a tonality of white that is "correct".

In most cases, the white balance is quite satisfactory. If the predominant light source for a scene comes from a tungsten light bulb, the image will appear yellowish. Most digital cameras automatically correct for it, and produce an image without the yellow hue. Certain top-end models allow you to calibrate the white balance by selecting an area in the scene that is white. This option gives you the highest accuracy.

On the other hand, there are times when we do want to retain the yellow hue to give an image more life. Play around with the various white balance settings to attain the most pleasing colour balance.

'Auto' setting


'White Preset' setting (Camera calibrated with a piece of white paper)

Compare the "whiteness" of the namecard at the bottom right. Note that colour varies between output devices.

6. Aspect Ratio

Tip: Compose images with the knowledge that the aspect ratio is 4:3, and not 3:2.

On the commonly used 35mm film format, the size of the negative is 36x24mm, which translates to an aspect ratio of 3:2. For most digital cameras today, the aspect ratio is usually 4:3, as can be seen from an image size of 800x600 pixels, or 1600x1200pixels.

This means that the image from a conventional 35mm camera is longer than that from a digital camera. In such a case, digital photographers should bear in mind the difference when composing an image.

Image scanned from 35mm film


Image taken on Nikon Coolpix 950

7. Long Exposure

Tip: Expect poor results with most digital cameras.

Most digital cameras, even the high-end models, do not allow the user to manually adjust the shutter speed, and hence are unable to handle low-light situations with long shutter speeds.

Only those with aperture-priority modes, such as the Nikon CoolPix 950, are able to capture relatively good shots. Do expect a slight increase in "noise" again, especially in the shadow areas.

Night Scene - 8 second exposure on Nikon Coolpix 950

8. Image Quality, Size & Resolution

Tip: Use the settings that suit your needs best. If you just need to send an image via email, try to go for a low image size and quality, as the file size is smaller.

If you need to print the image, always go for the highest image quality and size, though the relatively large file size would mean a need for more storage space, and also take longer processing time both on your computer and on your digital camera.

Most people always face the greatest difficulty in understanding the differences between image quality and resolution. Equating dpi (dots per inch) to resolution is a very common misconception.

Image quality is primarily dependent on the compression technique and level of compression, and also directly affects the file size. If an image is saved in TIFF, the quality is the highest and as there is no compression that affects the image quality, the file size is also very big.

If an image is saved in JPEG, the quality is not as high as TIFF as it undergoes compression. The image quality is then dependent on the amount of compression. The higher the compression, the smaller the file size, and the lower the image quality. Conversely, a low compression would mean a larger file size, but better image quality.

Image size is basically how big an image is, and is usually expressed as x by y pixels - eg. 1600 x 1200 pixels. This means that there are 1600 horizontal pixels and 1200 vertical pixels. This equates to 1,920,000 effective pixels, which is the common specification for 2 megapixel cameras.

Image resolution, on the other hand is used when the image is to be printed or viewed on a monitor. Common values are 300 ppi (pixels per inch) which is used for printing, and 72 ppi for viewing on monitors. For the example of 300 ppi, this means that 300 pixels are squeezed into a length of 1 inch. If an image composed of 1600 x 1200 pixels is printed at 300 ppi, we will get a size of 5.33 x 4 inches.

To get a high image quality, try to use settings such as "Hi", "Fine", "Super Fine" or "Uncompressed". Some cameras also let you set the size of the image, but most simply link the image quality and image size, and this is what causes the confusion.

Child Portrait (comparisons based on left eye)


JPEG - high compression


TIFF - uncompressed

9. Tweaking the Image

Tip: Most images from digital cameras are not at their best. Tweak the colour balance, levels, brightness and contrast for a more pleasing image.

Whilst the quality has improved tremendously over the past 2 years, images taken on most digital cameras still lack the punch of conventional photographs. But, digital photographers have the benefit of using simple image editing tools to boost the quality of their images. In the past, conventional photographers had to spend many hours in the darkroom just trying to get that perfect image.

There is no fixed rule as to how to tweak your image, as this differs from camera to camera. Experimentation needs to be done, but in general, the images from digital cameras are rather cold, and the contrast is lacking. If this is the case with your images, try to increase the levels of red and yellow, and push up the contrast slightly.

Other creative avenues could be changing the image to black and white, applying special- effects filters available in your graphic manipulation programs, or even montaging several photographs together.


10. Printing the Image

Tip: For best quality, send your images to a commercial lab. You can also do it yourself with the high-end photo printers that perform very well when used with photo quality paper.

Commercial labs today accept digital images in both JPEG and TIFF formats. For best results try to set the resolution of your images to 300ppi. For JPEG compression, use the minimum level of compression. Photo printers today can also produce very fine images when used with specially coated photo paper. These photo paper mimic conventional photo paper with its finish and weight.

Forward panning shot while walking


Bearing the above tips in mind, digital photography need not be a hit-and-miss thing. Have fun with your digital camera today!