Assignment #1

I didn't want to be yet another blog that runs photo assignments or contests.  There are some very good ones out there already.  However, I find that sometimes I need a little push to get out and take pictures of something new.  Or, I need some inspiration to get the creative juices flowing.

So I will try once a week to come up with a photographic assignment.  That is a theme or subject that we can take pictures of and share.  (Of course that assumes that we have anyone else reading this blog.)

The first assignment consists of two parts:  The first is a reading assignment:

Read your camera's manual.

Yeah, I know this is boring.  And, I know that with today's cameras, you almost don't need to.  Almost.  There are so many neat features in your camera that you really are going to want to play with them.  In fact, some follow on assignments may focus on one or more of these.  By the way, a number of Camera companies have their camera manuals somewhere on their corporate web pages.

The second part is to take pictures within 60 yards (55 meters) of your home (or office).  Anything at all.  Pick one or two of your favorites and share it with us.  Let's say that the assignment is due by Sunday evening.  Not that we're getting rigorous or anything.

Of course this leads to a whole mess of new questions and how-tos.  How fun is that!

Why Digital?

It's a valid question, why digital over film?  Don't take that the wrong way, both have (and still have) important roles in photography.  Digital photography has two very important advantages over film:

• Instant gratification,
• Very low cost per photo.

Without getting too heavy, lets go over these.  Most, if not all, digital cameras have the ability to view the pictures that you've just taken.  Unlike film, which has to be processed (either by you or a finishing lab) and printed.  In the case of digital the processing is done by a small computer chip within the camera.  Pretty cool, huh?

Being able to view your photos as you take them allows you to review the composition, exposure, and focus, among other things.  Then, based upon your creativity, you may be able to re-take the photo to improve it.  Film tends to require a bit more care when taking each image.  I'm not saying that you should click the shutter willy nilly, without any thought about the photo.  I am saying that digital gives a little more freedom to do more experimentation and exploration.  This leads us to the second point:  cost.

Digital storage is extremely cheap when compared to film.  By storage I mean the memory card that goes in the camera which can hold hundreds (perhaps thousands) of images.  The hard disk in your computer can hold millions (or even billions) of pictures.  If we include the photo sharing sites on the Internet, we are approaching almost an infinite (a really big number) number of images that can be saved and shared.  We can combine that with the fact that the cost of the storage is coming down in price all of the time.  In fact, the only real cost of digital, after the initial purchase, is for printing.

I don't think it's an over estimation to say that the majority of photos taken with digital cameras are never printed.  Of course, the pictures you once took with your film camera are probably put away in a drawer, slide carousel, or album that is take out once ever couple of years.  Yet, in the digital medium we can share our photos with our friends and family via Internet sharing sites like Flickr and Facebook.

We've got lots to talk about, so let's get on with it.