Digital camera & digital photography resources
for professional & amateur photographers

A new topic I have added to my seminars is the concept of digital photography changing the way you photograph.

I would like opinons on whether you see and photograph differently in digital.

Topic one is the one I notice most. I shoot things I would never have shot in film.

1. Items I will not keep

digital is free and can be easily discarded, so I shoot signs maps, travel notes, and even newspapers to remind me of what I was doing at the time on trips and vacations.

I could have taken notes when shooting film but usually forgot and what notes I took were not directly in sequence with the images.

2. Items I want but would not have done in film.

Each year my wife and I have been together we collected a christmas ornament from where we were on trips - from friends - heirlooms from relatives - memories of christmas from our youth.

This year I spent about a half hour shooting each ornament on the tree. A quick adjustment in photoshop and I now have 27 years of our life one one C with written notes on each ornament.
It was greatly rewarding.

This would have taken a week in table top shooting with film. The instant results allowed reshooting as necessary and completed quickly.

__________________
jerry

Report this to a moderator | IP: Logged

Jerry,

1 Items I will not keep:
Unless a picture is a total failure, I always keep them (on CD).
I make pictures from about everything in and around my house and I know that in twenty years or so they will have probably more value to me.
2 Items I want but would not have in film
Yes, shooting film also means spending money. In case of digital photografy it's almost free, so I make pictues from everything that comes in front of my camera.

Report this to a moderator | IP: Logged

I like your reply about the memories meaning more in time than today.

Over 35 years of photography most of my work is gone. Commercial jobs I discarded after 10 or so years; family pictures I gave to the family as I shot them and they are scattered around the country; photos that did not meet my artistic level (which I kept very high) were not kept.

So many people are now starting to collect their family pictures scan them digitally and restore them in photoshop.

Several important suggestions in this regard. Record full names with family photos. Me and my dog means a lot when written by a great aunt but which aunt and dog 50 years later when her grand nieces and nephews look at the picture. It may feel funny to type your entire name on the photo, but it will be meaningful to your relatives in the future.

Make the canvas larger around your photos and add the comments directly on the face of the image. You can crop it later for printing. It will not affect the photo quality.

__________________
jerry

Report this to a moderator | IP: Logged